AI search optimization in five parts
AEO, GEO and AI SEO are overlapping labels for the same work. SEO earns you a ranking. AI search optimization earns you a mention or a citation inside the answer itself.
If you want the definitions first, start with what answer engine optimization is. Otherwise, here's the work in the order we'd do it, with one first action for each part and the chapter that covers it.
| Part | What it means | First action | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Access | AI tools can crawl, index and quote your pages | Check robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot and your key pages are indexed | Get into Google AI Overviews |
| 2. Content | Pages answer buyer questions with evidence | Rewrite one service page answer-first, with proof | Optimize content for AI answer engines |
| 3. Brand and third parties | One clear description, present where answers look | Write one company description and use it everywhere | Improve brand visibility in AI search |
| 4. Structured data | Schema labels facts already on the page | Add Organization and Service markup that matches the page | Does schema markup help AI search? |
| 5. Tracking | The same prompts every month, each result logged separately | Pick 20 to 40 buyer prompts and log the answers | Track Google AI Overviews |
One exception to the order: log your prompts before you change anything. Without a baseline, you can't show what the work moved.
Where AI answers get their sources
AI answers pull from your pages and from what other sites say about you. Independent studies show where the mentions come from:
- "Best X" lists. In Ahrefs' study of 750 prompts (December 2025), "best X" lists made up 43.8% of the pages ChatGPT cited.
- Lists can drop fast. Seer Interactive found ChatGPT's listicle citations fell 30% from December 2025 to January 2026. That's one month of data, but it's a reason to treat lists as one channel, not the plan.
- LinkedIn. A Semrush study (March 2026) ranked LinkedIn the second most-cited domain across ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode and Perplexity, cited in about 11% of responses.
- Directories. Temso found Clutch made up 15% of ChatGPT's citations for design-agency prompts in Q3 2026, across 107,627 citations. One directory can dominate a category.
An AI summary also means fewer clicks. Pew Research found Google users clicked a regular result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without one.
So third parties get you named. Your own pages get cited when they're indexed, eligible and answer the question directly.
Fix access and content first
Let AI tools reach your pages
Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode have no extra requirements, no special schema and no need for new machine-readable files. A page has to be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet.
ChatGPT works differently. OpenAI's crawler docs say sites that block OAI-SearchBot won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers. GPTBot only collects content that may be used for training, and the two settings are independent.
Check robots.txt and any bot rules on your CDN or firewall, because a blanket AI-bot block can take you out of ChatGPT search. For Google's side, read how to get your business into Google AI Overviews.
Write pages an answer can quote
Put a direct answer under each heading, back it with sourced numbers, and keep key facts in HTML text, not images. Write for the question your buyer actually asks.
The GEO paper, accepted to KDD 2024, found its methods raised source visibility in generative engine answers by up to 40%. Our chapter on how to optimize content for AI answer engines covers the writing in detail.
Treat schema as a label
Structured data tells machines what the facts on a page mean: your company name, services, people and reviews. It won't make a weak page quotable. Read whether schema markup helps AI search before you spend time on it.
Get named beyond your own site
Answers lean on what other sites say about you, so this is where most of the new work sits. Four jobs, in order:
- Write one company description. One or two sentences on what you do, for whom and where. Use it word for word on your site, LinkedIn, directories and partner pages so every source agrees.
- Complete the directory and review profiles your buyers use. As the Clutch figure shows, one directory can supply a large share of citations in a category.
- Earn places on credible lists in your category, with case studies and numbers the publisher can check.
- Post on LinkedIn from the founder's profile. In the Semrush study, the median cited post had 15 to 25 reactions, so you don't need a big audience to be cited.
Our chapter on how to improve brand visibility in AI search engines covers each job in more depth.
Track it like a pipeline metric
Pick the prompts your buyers would type, such as "best [category] for [industry]" or "[competitor] alternatives". Run the same set every month in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, and log each engine separately.
For each prompt, record five things in separate columns:
- Mention: are you named?
- Citation: which URL is linked, yours or a third party's?
- Accuracy: is the description of you right?
- Visits: AI referral traffic in your analytics.
- Leads: inquiries that came from an AI answer.
Don't blend them into one score, because each points to a different fix. A mention with no citation points to third-party work. A wrong description points to sources that disagree about you.
Google began rolling out generative AI performance reports in Search Console in June 2026, starting with a subset of UK site owners, Semrush reported. They show impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no click data. For the Google side in detail, read how to track Google AI Overviews.
In-house or with help, and where to start
Your team can do the first round itself. Start with these six actions:
- Write one company description and use it everywhere.
- Check robots.txt, CDN bot rules and indexing for your key pages.
- Rewrite your top service page answer-first, with proof.
- Complete two directory or review profiles your buyers use.
- Publish one founder LinkedIn post a month.
- Log 20 buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google.
Help pays off when the work outgrows your team: technical fixes across many pages, content at volume, outreach to lists and directories, and a monthly report someone has to own. Our chapter on what AI SEO services are and how they work explains what you'd be buying.
Be wary of guarantees. Nobody controls what an AI answer says, so nobody can promise a citation. Paid placement isn't a shortcut either: OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT in the US in February 2026, labeled as sponsored and kept separate from answers, and says ads don't influence ChatGPT's answers.
Buyers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews who to choose. We improve the pages and sources those answers draw on, from $3,500 a month. Campaigns run for a six-month minimum.
Send us your top 10 buyer prompts and the competitors you lose deals to, and we'll scope a campaign around them. See our SEO and AI search services or get in touch.
