AI search optimisation (AEO/GEO): getting cited by AI assistants
People increasingly ask AI assistants instead of scrolling results. Here is what helps your content get understood, trusted and cited in AI answers.
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Key takeaways
- AI answers draw on content that is clear, specific and well structured.
- Strong traditional SEO is the foundation for most AI search visibility.
- Consistent facts about your business across the web make you easier to describe accurately.
Search is no longer only a list of links. Google shows AI Overviews for many queries, and assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot answer questions directly, often with links to their sources. Answer engine optimisation (AEO) or generative engine optimisation (GEO) are names for making your content useful to these systems.
How AI answers find content
Most AI search features retrieve web pages related to the question, then summarise them into an answer, often citing a few sources. To be included, your content first needs to be found and judged relevant and trustworthy, which is why traditional SEO remains the foundation.
Write answer-first content
- Start sections with a direct, complete answer to the question, then add detail.
- Use headings phrased like the questions people ask.
- Define terms clearly, compare options in plain language and give concrete steps.
- Include specifics: prices or price factors, timelines, locations, requirements.
Content that states things clearly is easier to quote accurately.
Structure your pages
Lists, tables, FAQs and consistent headings help systems extract information. Structured data (schema markup) describes your organisation, services, products and articles in a machine-readable way.
Make your business facts consistent
AI assistants describe businesses using information from many sources. Keep your name, services, locations, founding details and contact information identical on your website, Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles. Publish an About page with clear facts.
Show expertise and evidence
Explain who is behind the content and why they know the topic. Cite reliable sources for facts. Original insight, such as your process, real examples and clear opinions, is more valuable than generic summaries that exist everywhere.
Keep pages accessible to crawlers
Make sure important content is in the HTML, not hidden behind scripts, logins or images of text. Check whether your robots.txt blocks the crawlers used by AI search features you want to appear in; this is a business decision worth making deliberately.
Measure carefully
Tracking AI visibility is still developing. Check referral traffic from AI assistants in analytics, ask new customers how they found you, and periodically test the questions your customers ask.
Our AI search optimisation service combines these steps with our SEO and content work.
Frequently asked questions
Is AEO different from SEO?
It builds on SEO. The same foundations matter, crawlable pages, helpful content and authority, with extra emphasis on direct answers, clear structure and consistent facts.
Can I control what AI assistants say about my business?
Not directly. You can make accurate information easy to find and consistent, which makes accurate answers more likely.
