How to Show Up in AI Search: ChatGPT, Perplexity & Google AI Overviews

What "AI search" actually means

More and more people don't Google a question and click ten blue links any more. They ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews or Claude, and read the single answer they get back. That answer is stitched together from sources the AI trusts — and increasingly it names them.

So there's a new question every business has to care about: when someone asks an AI "who's the best supplier of X near me" or "how do I solve Y," does your business get mentioned, get mentioned wrongly, or get left out entirely?

The discipline of influencing that is picking up two names: AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). They mostly describe the same goal — being the source AI reaches for. It's not a replacement for SEO. It's the next layer on top, and right now very few businesses are doing anything about it, which makes it a rare open door.

How AI search is different from Google

Classic SEO is a race for position — you want to be the first link people click. AI search isn't a race for a link; it's a race to be the sentence the AI writes. That changes what matters.

• One answer, not ten options. Google gives a page of choices. An AI gives an answer. If you're not in it, you're invisible — there's no "scroll to result seven."
• It rewards clarity over cleverness. AI models pull from content that states things plainly and factually. A page that clearly says "we're a web design studio in Nantwich serving Cheshire" is easier to cite than one drowning in marketing waffle.
• It cites sources it trusts, not just ranks. Being mentioned consistently across the web — directories, reviews, your own clear pages, third-party articles — teaches the model that you exist and what you do. Consistency is the currency.
• It can get you wrong. AI doesn't just omit you; it can confidently describe you inaccurately — wrong location, wrong services, outdated prices. Fixing that is as important as showing up at all.

How AI engines decide who to cite

You can't see inside the models, but the pattern across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews is consistent enough to act on. They favour sources that are:

• Clear about who, what and where. Unambiguous facts — your name, location, services, contact details — stated in plain language the model can lift without guessing.
• Corroborated elsewhere. The same facts about you appearing on your site, your Google Business Profile, reputable directories and independent mentions. One source is a claim; three agreeing is a fact.
• Structured and machine-readable. Content organised as clear questions and answers, proper headings, and schema markup (the invisible labels that tell a machine "this is a business, this is its address, this is a review").
• Genuinely useful. Pages written to answer a real question fully, not thin content built to game a keyword. AI is good at spotting filler and skips it.
• Fresh and consistent. Up-to-date information that doesn't contradict itself across the web. Conflicting details make a model hedge — or pick a competitor it's more sure about.

The practical steps to show up in AI search

None of this needs a rebrand. It's mostly discipline. In rough priority order:

• Nail your facts in one place, plainly. Have a page (an about page, a service page) that states clearly what you do, who for, and where. Write the sentence you'd want the AI to say about you — then make sure your site actually says it.
• Answer real questions directly. Build content around the exact questions your customers ask, and answer them in the first line, before the context. AI lifts direct answers; it skips throat-clearing.
• Add structured data (schema). Mark up your business, your services, your FAQs and your reviews with schema. It's invisible to visitors and hugely helpful to machines. If your site's on a decent platform, this is a one-off job.
• Get corroborated across the web. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile, get listed accurately on the directories your industry uses, and earn a few genuine third-party mentions. Every consistent source strengthens the signal.
• Keep it consistent. Same business name, same address, same core description everywhere. Mismatched details are the single most common reason an AI hedges or gets you wrong.
• Make the site fast and clean. AI crawlers, like search crawlers, read well-built sites more reliably than slow, bloated ones. We hold our builds to a 93+ performance score partly for this reason — a clean site is a legible site. That's a large part of what it means to build websites built to be found rather than just websites that look good.
• Then check what the AI actually says. Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI mode the questions your customers would. See whether you appear, and whether it's right. That read is the whole game — you can't fix what you haven't checked.

How to check if AI already mentions you

You don't need a tool to start. Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google's AI Overviews, and ask the questions a customer would — the buying questions, not your business name.

• "Best [your service] in [your town]?"
• "Who should I use for [the problem you solve]?"
• "[Your business name] — what do they do?" (this one exposes what the AI thinks you are)

Note three things: are you mentioned, is what it says accurate, and who's mentioned instead of you. That's your gap list. If you're absent, the corroboration and clarity steps above are where to start. If you're present but wrong, fixing your public facts is the priority. If a competitor keeps coming up, look at what they're doing that you're not — usually clearer content and more consistent listings.

Is AEO worth the effort yet?

Honest answer: it depends how your customers search. If your buyers are the kind of people already asking AI tools for recommendations — younger, tech-comfortable, time-poor — then yes, being absent from those answers is already costing you. If your customers still Google everything, AEO is an investment in where things are clearly heading rather than where they are today.

Either way, the good news is that the work overlaps almost entirely with good SEO and honest, clear content. You're not choosing between the two. Nearly everything that makes you legible to an AI also makes you clearer to a human and stronger in Google. That's why we'd argue this isn't a separate project to bolt on later — it's just what building to be found now means. The businesses that get this right early will be the default answer while everyone else is still wondering why their traffic dipped.

FAQ

What is AEO / GEO?

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) are the practice of making your business the source that AI tools — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews — cite when someone asks a question. Same goal, two names: be the answer, not just a link.

Is AEO different from SEO?

It's the next layer, not a replacement. SEO gets you ranked in the list of links; AEO gets you into the single answer an AI writes. The work overlaps heavily — clear content, consistent facts and a well-built site help with both.

How do I get ChatGPT to mention my business?

State your facts plainly on your own site, answer real customer questions directly, add schema markup, and get corroborated across your Google Business Profile and reputable directories. Consistency across sources is what teaches a model to trust and cite you.

Why does AI describe my business incorrectly?

Usually because your public information is inconsistent or outdated — different addresses, old services, conflicting descriptions across the web. The model hedges by guessing. Fix the facts everywhere they appear and the description tends to correct itself over time.

Do I need to do AEO if my customers still use Google?

Not urgently — but the work is nearly the same work. Almost everything that makes you visible to AI also strengthens your Google presence, so you're rarely choosing between them. Think of it as future-proofing that pays off in the present too.