Be the Business AI Tools Recommend
When customers ask ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews for help, make sure your business is the answer they get pointed towards.
Get My AI Visibility PlanWhat You Learn
Three outcomes that get your business named in AI answers.
Get Read by AI
Make your pages easy for AI crawlers to reach, parse, and quote so your facts end up in answers.
Earn Real Citations
Structure content and authority signals so AI tools cite you by name as a trusted local source.
Measure What Matters
Track mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews instead of guessing about visibility.
How to Get Cited in AI Search
AI search rewards clarity, structure, and trust rather than clever tricks. The goal of generative engine optimisation is simple: make your business the easiest, most reliable answer for an AI tool to recommend. Work through these five phases in order and you will give tools like AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity every reason to mention you.
Phase 1: Make Sure AI Can Reach and Read Your Site
If AI crawlers cannot access your pages, nothing else matters. Start by confirming the door is open.
- Check your robots.txt: Make sure you are not blocking the bots that feed AI answers, including Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot, and PerplexityBot.
- Confirm pages are indexable: Avoid stray noindex tags on key pages and verify in Google Search Console that your important pages are actually indexed.
- Keep text crawlable: Put your real content in clean HTML text, not locked inside images, PDFs, or scripts that bots may skip.
- Be fast on mobile: Quick, mobile-friendly pages are easier to crawl and reflect the experience AI tools expect from a source worth quoting.
Phase 2: Write for Extraction
AI tools lift short, self-contained passages. Make your answers easy to pull out cleanly.
- Answer first: Use a BLUF opening that states the answer in the first sentence before you add context or background.
- Keep paragraphs short: Stick to two or three sentences so a single idea can be quoted without extra clutter.
- Use question-style headings: Clear H2 and H3 headings phrased the way customers ask help AI match your content to a query.
- Add lists and tables: Bullet lists and simple comparison tables are easy to extract and often appear directly in AI answers.
- One idea per section: Give each topic its own block so the meaning stays clear when it is taken out of context.
Phase 3: Add Structured Data and FAQ Blocks
Schema spells out your facts in a format AI tools can read without guessing.
- Mark up the essentials: Add FAQPage, LocalBusiness, Organization, and Article schema so your key details are machine-readable.
- Write a genuine FAQ: Answer the real questions customers ask, with concise replies of roughly 100 to 200 words each.
- Match your markup to your page: Keep the questions and answers in your schema identical to what visitors actually see.
- Keep details consistent: Make sure the name, address, and services in your schema match the rest of your site exactly.
Phase 4: Build Off-Site Authority and Entity Consistency
AI tools trust businesses that other trusted places mention in a consistent way.
- Get on the right lists: Earn placements in local "best of" round-ups and reputable directories that AI tools already read.
- Keep your NAP consistent: Use the same name, address, and phone number across Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, YouTube, and social profiles.
- Earn local mentions: Press, community sites, and trusted local publications all reinforce that your business is real and recognised.
- Add expert quotes with attribution: Named, credited expertise signals genuine experience that AI tools weigh when choosing who to cite.
Phase 5: Keep Content Fresh and Measure Citations
AI visibility is not set and forget. Review, refresh, and track what is working.
- Run a 90-day refresh cycle: Revisit key pages every quarter to update facts, prices, and examples so your content stays current.
- Track your share of voice: Run a fixed set of prompts in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews and note how often you are mentioned.
- Watch AI referral traffic: Check analytics for visits arriving from AI tools, not just classic search rankings.
- Tie it back to leads: Measure enquiries alongside citations so you know which prompts and pages actually bring customers.
Social Proof
A clear process built on real local experience.
FAQ
Straight answers about getting found in AI search.
What is the difference between SEO and AI search optimisation?
SEO earns ranked links on a results page. AI search optimisation, or GEO, earns mentions inside the answer the AI writes for the user.
Can a small business actually show up in ChatGPT or AI Overviews?
Yes. Clear, well structured pages and consistent local signals help small businesses get cited even when bigger competitors are ignored.
Does adding schema markup help me get cited by AI?
It helps. Schema like FAQPage and LocalBusiness makes your facts easier to parse, so AI tools can extract and trust your information faster.
Do I need to write a blog to be found in AI search?
Not always. Strong service and FAQ pages can earn citations, but helpful articles that answer real questions give AI tools more to quote.
How long does AI search optimisation take to work?
Expect a few months. AI tools need time to recrawl your pages and pick up the new structure, mentions, and consistency signals.
Do customer reviews matter for AI search visibility?
Yes. Genuine reviews and consistent local mentions build the trust signals that AI tools weigh when deciding who to recommend.
Will AI search replace Google entirely?
Not soon. Traditional search and AI answers run side by side, so it is safest to optimise for both rather than abandon one.
How do I measure whether AI search is sending me leads?
Track citations across a fixed set of prompts in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews, plus AI referral traffic and enquiries over time.
Want to be the answer AI tools recommend?
I will help you structure your site, signals, and content so AI search puts your business in front of customers.
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