AI search
What is AI search optimization, and how is it different from SEO?
AI search optimization, often called AEO or GEO, is the work of making your website easy for AI tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity to understand, trust and cite. SEO earns you a spot in a list of links. AI search optimization earns you a mention inside the answer itself.
Why this matters now
More people ask a question and read an answer instead of scanning ten blue links. Google shows AI Overviews above its results, and tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity answer directly. When one of those answers names a business, that business gets the call. When it does not, the business is invisible to that searcher, even if it ranks well in the old results.
AEO and GEO in plain terms
Answer engine optimization (AEO) means writing and structuring pages so a machine can lift a clear, correct answer from them. Generative engine optimization (GEO) means giving AI models enough consistent, trustworthy signals about your business that they are willing to recommend it. In practice the two overlap, and we treat them as one job.
What we actually do
- Answer-first pages. Each important page opens with a direct two-sentence answer to the question it targets, then backs it up.
- Structured data. Schema markup tells machines who you are, what you offer, where you work and which questions you answer. We connect it into one graph so your business, services and pages describe each other consistently.
- Real questions, visible answers. FAQ sections built from questions customers actually ask, marked up only when the answers are on the page.
- Consistent facts everywhere. Your name, services, service area and contact details match across your site, your Google Business Profile and the directories AI tools read.
- Crawlable and fast. Server-rendered pages, a clean sitemap, an llms.txt file and robots rules that welcome AI crawlers.
How it relates to SEO
AI search optimization does not replace SEO. AI tools lean on the same signals search engines trust: clear pages, solid technical health, local relevance and a good reputation. Strong SEO is the foundation. AI search work shapes that foundation so it can be quoted, not just ranked.
How to tell if it is working
Ask the tools. Search your core questions in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, and note whether your business is named and whether the facts are right. Watch for referral traffic from AI tools in your analytics, and track calls and form fills from pages built answer-first. Results build over months, not days.
Is AI search optimization the same as SEO?
No. SEO aims for a ranking in a list of results. AI search optimization aims for a mention inside an AI answer. They share a foundation, so we do both together.
Can you guarantee my business appears in ChatGPT?
No one can guarantee that, because AI tools decide what to cite. What we can do is make your site the clearest, most consistent and most trustworthy source on your topic, which is what those tools look for.
Do I need a new website for AI search?
Not always. Many sites can be improved with better structure, schema and answer-first copy. If the site is slow, hard to crawl or built on dated code, a rebuild is usually faster.