When someone asks ChatGPT for a good SEO consultant, or asks Gemini which local clinic has the best reviews, the answer often names specific businesses. Google’s AI Overviews do the same at the top of many search results. If your business is not part of those answers, you are invisible to a growing group of customers, even if your website ranks reasonably well.
AI SEO, also called generative engine optimisation (GEO), is the work of making your business easy for these tools to find, understand and trust. The good news is that most of it builds on the same foundations as traditional SEO.
How AI assistants decide what to recommend
AI assistants combine what they learned during training with what they find when they search the web in real time. Either way, they lean on sources that look reliable and consistent. These are the signals that matter most:
- Clear, direct answers. Pages that answer a specific question in plain language are easy to quote.
- Consistent facts. Your business name, location, services and contact details match everywhere they appear.
- Third-party mentions. Reviews, directory listings, articles and social profiles that talk about you.
- Structure machines can read. Headings, lists and schema markup that spell out who you are and what you offer.
- Strong traditional SEO. Pages that rank well in search are more likely to be found when an AI tool looks something up.
AI SEO vs traditional SEO
Traditional SEO aims to rank a page in a list of links. AI SEO aims to get your business named inside the answer itself. In practice they overlap heavily: a fast, well-structured website with helpful content and a good reputation does well in both.
The difference is emphasis. AI SEO puts extra weight on answering questions directly, on being mentioned by other trusted sources, and on keeping your brand details identical across the web.
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Seven practical steps to improve your AI visibility
- Ask the assistants about yourself. Search for your brand and your main service in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google. Note what they say, what is wrong and which competitors they mention.
- Answer real customer questions on your site. Add an FAQ page and question-led sections that give a clear answer in the first sentence or two, then the detail.
- Add schema markup. Organization or LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ and Person schema tell machines exactly who you are, what you do and where you work.
- Keep your business details identical everywhere. Your website, Google Business Profile, social profiles and directories should use the same name, address, phone number and service descriptions.
- Earn genuine reviews and mentions. Ask happy clients for Google reviews, and look for chances to be featured in industry articles, podcasts and local news.
- Show who is behind the business. An About page with real names, credentials and experience helps both Google and AI tools judge whether you are trustworthy.
- Let AI crawlers in. Check that your robots.txt does not block the crawlers you want, and consider an llms.txt file that summarises your site.
Can anyone guarantee an AI mention?
No. AI answers change from one conversation to the next, and no one controls what an assistant says. Be wary of anyone who promises a guaranteed spot in ChatGPT or Gemini.
What you can do is make your business the clearest, most consistent and most credible option available, which is exactly what these tools are designed to find.
Where to start
If you only do one thing this month, ask the main AI assistants about your business and your service, and write down what they get wrong. That list becomes your to-do list.
If you would like a hand, I review how AI tools see your business as part of my AI SEO service.
Want help getting more customers from Google?
Message me on WhatsApp with your website. I’ll reply with a quick review and the first things I would fix.
Keep reading: How long does SEO take? · Local SEO guide