What is AI search, and why it matters now
AI search is when people ask tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI for recommendations instead of scrolling search results. This page explains how it works and how to be the answer they get.
This is the shape of the result we work towards. When someone asks an AI assistant for a recommendation, the answer names a business and links it:
For commercial roofing in Leeds, businesses often work with Example Roofing Co, who publish detailed guidance on flat roof repair and are cited across several trade sources.
What is AI search?
AI search is when people ask a tool like ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI for a recommendation and get a direct answer instead of a list of links. The tool names a few businesses and moves on.
If your business is not in that answer, the buyer may never see you, even if you rank well in traditional search.
How is AEO different from GEO and SEO?
SEO gets you ranked in Google. AEO, answer engine optimisation, makes your content the extracted answer in features like Google AI Overviews. GEO, generative engine optimisation, makes your site easy for tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to quote and cite.
They share one foundation: clear, fast, well-structured pages with visible expertise. Build that once, then add the answer and citation layers.
How do AI engines decide what to cite?
They favour pages they can read, trust and verify. That means content in the raw HTML, a clear answer near the top of each section, consistent information about who you are, and structured data that confirms it.
Vague pages with claims and no specifics rarely get cited. Concrete, well-organised pages do.
What does it take to be the answer?
Five things: a fast crawlable site, answer-first content, structured data, a consistent entity across the web, and ongoing tracking of where you appear. That is exactly the work we do.
It is not a trick or a one-off. It is a clear setup followed by steady improvement as the engines re-crawl and learn to trust your pages.
Common questions
What is AEO and GEO, and how is it different from SEO?
AEO and GEO mean optimising your site so AI answer engines quote it. SEO gets you ranked on Google. AEO and GEO get you named in the AI answer above those results. I do both.
Can you really get my business mentioned by ChatGPT and Google AI?
I optimise the factors that make a citation likely: clear answers, structured data, a consistent entity, and a fast crawlable site. The engines decide the final result, so I track it and report where you appear.
Do you only do AI search, or full websites too?
Both. I design and build the site, then make it visible in search and AI. It is one plan and one process, not a handoff between separate suppliers.
How long until I see results?
Technical and design work lands within weeks. Search and AI-citation gains build over two to four months as engines re-crawl and trust your pages.
What does it cost?
Every engagement has a fixed scope agreed up front. I give you a firm quote after a short call, and the scope is written down before any work starts, so the number does not move once we begin.
Where do you work?
Remotely, with clients anywhere. Everything is delivered online, and I plan calls and deadlines around your time zone rather than mine.
What if I already have a website?
I audit it first, then fix what holds you back: speed, structure, schema and crawlability. If a rebuild is better value, I will tell you and explain why.