AI search optimisation — be the business AI recommends

AI search optimisation is the work of making a business easier for AI assistants to understand, trust and cite. It is also called generative engine optimisation (GEO), answer engine optimisation (AEO) or AI SEO. The names differ; the job does not. Your website, reviews, public profiles, service pages and mentions on other sites all have to state the same clear facts, in a form Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity can read.

The service is connected to our SEO services because AI search systems lean heavily on crawlable content, strong pages and trusted sources. Google's own guidance says the fundamentals still matter for generative AI features. That means useful content, technical access, structured data, clear entities, real expertise, local and product information where relevant, and a website that meets normal Search requirements. There is no shortcut file that replaces those foundations.

For UK brands, the commercial reason is simple. Buyers are learning to ask AI tools for recommendations, comparisons, cost guidance, best-fit suppliers, local providers and next steps. If your company is absent, unclear or misdescribed, the assistant may name a competitor. If your facts are strong, consistent and supported by real proof, the brand has a better chance of being cited when the answer matches what you sell.

Advice in this area is confusing and full of unsupported promises, so our method begins with evidence. We learn which questions matter, which sources the answer engine trusts, which competitor facts are repeated, and which parts of your website are too vague. That makes the work practical: improve the facts, improve the pages, improve the proof, then test again.

Strong AI search work starts with the boring parts that work. The website must be indexable. Important pages must be easy to crawl. The business name, services, locations, team, reviews, phone number and profiles should be consistent. Service pages need direct answers that can be lifted cleanly, then deeper explanation for a human buyer. Schema should match visible content. Google Business Profile should be accurate for local companies. Reviews should be real and active.

A small text file called llms.txt can help some crawlers discover guidance, yet it does not replace a useful website, trusted mentions or clear facts. Markup claims should be treated carefully. We do not sell fake guarantees, artificial review schemes or inauthentic mentions. The work has to survive the same quality test as classic SEO: would this help a real buyer learn, compare and decide?

Measurement is also different from old ranking reports. We track questions, answer appearances, citation sources, competitor mentions, branded and non-branded questions, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode where available, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity. We connect that with Search Console, enquiry data and page performance. The useful question is not only whether you rank — it is whether the market's answer engines understand why your company belongs in the shortlist.

The work also needs restraint. Some advice online tells brands to chase every mention, rewrite every page for robots, or flood the web with shallow answers. That creates weak signals. A better plan is to create pages a buyer would actually trust, then make those pages easier to parse. Clear wording, named people, consistent services, sensible internal links and visible proof usually beat clever tricks.