AI Search Optimisation
Your customers are asking ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews for recommendations. We make sure the answer includes you.
More of your buyers now start with a question typed into an AI assistant, not a list of blue links. When someone asks an AI who the best option in Brisbane is, your business either gets named or a competitor does.
AI search optimisation is the work of making sure it is you. It is the natural next step beyond traditional SEO, and it rewards businesses that publish clear, credible, well-structured answers to the questions their customers actually ask.
The buzzwords, decoded
AI search does not replace SEO, it sits on top of it. The businesses being named in ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews are, overwhelmingly, the ones that already earned trust and rankings the traditional way, then took the extra steps to be quotable, structured and recognisable to machines. This page sets out how we think about answer engine and generative engine optimisation, and how we apply it.
We hold ourselves to the same test we set for clients: show up as the answer, not just a link. That is why we publish this openly and do the work on our own site first.
AI search optimisation services
AI visibility audit
We measure where you appear, and where you do not, across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews, then benchmark you against the competitors AI actually names.
Answer-ready content
We structure your pages so AI can lift a clean, quotable answer: real questions as headings, the direct answer up top, supporting detail beneath, and the FAQ formatting answer engines favour.
Structured data and technical AEO
We implement the schema and technical signals, including AI crawler access and an llms.txt, that let AI systems parse, understand and trust what your site says.
Entity and authority building
AI cites sources it trusts. We strengthen your brand as a recognised entity through author credentials, consistent business information, reviews, and the third-party lists and directories AI reads.
Measurement and reporting
We track mentions, citations and AI-driven traffic over time, so you can see the return in the answer box, not just in the rankings.
The AI platforms we optimise for
ChatGPT
The most-used AI assistant. We make your business easy for it to find, quote and recommend.
Google AI Overviews
The AI summary above Google's results. We help you become one of the sources it cites.
Perplexity
The answer engine that shows its sources. We build the citations that get you listed.
Google Gemini
Google's assistant across Search and Workspace. Same foundations, another surface.
Microsoft Copilot
AI answers across Bing and Windows. We keep your entity consistent so it names you correctly.
Google AI Mode
Fully conversational search. We optimise for the follow-up questions, not just the first.
How AI search actually works
Strip back the jargon and it comes down to one shift: people are getting answers instead of links, and the businesses that are clear, credible and easy to quote are the ones being named.
The shift to answer engines
For twenty years, search meant typing a few words and choosing from a list of blue links. Now buyers ask full questions and get a written answer straight back, often without clicking anything. They ask ChatGPT to recommend a supplier, ask Perplexity to compare options and cite its sources, and read Google's AI Overview before they ever reach a website. Being named in that answer is the new front page.
AEO, GEO and AI Overviews are one discipline
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is about being chosen as the direct answer. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is about shaping how AI describes and cites you. AI Overviews are Google's version sitting above the results. They overlap by roughly 90 per cent, so we treat them as one job rather than three, and optimise for all of them at once.
How AI chooses who to cite
Answer engines do not invent facts from nowhere. They draw on pages they can crawl, understand and trust, and a large share of what they quote comes from content that already ranks well. They also lean heavily on third-party lists and directories. That is why strong SEO fundamentals remain the entry ticket, and why being on the lists AI reads matters as much as your own site.
Answer-ready content and structured data
The content that gets quoted leads with the answer, uses real questions as headings, and keeps paragraphs short and factual. Layered on top, structured data (FAQ, Organisation, Product and LocalBusiness schema) removes ambiguity about what your page claims, so a machine can lift it cleanly. It was a nice-to-have for classic SEO. For answer engines it is close to essential.
Entity and authority
AI reasons about entities: your business as a named thing, connected to services, locations, people and reviews. Consistent information across your site and the wider web, named authors with genuine expertise, steady reviews and mentions on trusted sites all make you a recognisable, quotable source. This is broader than keywords, and it compounds over time the way traditional authority always has.
Measuring AI visibility
Rankings and clicks no longer tell the whole story, because people increasingly get their answer without visiting your site. We track how often AI assistants mention and cite you, whether they describe your business correctly, and your presence in AI Overviews, alongside your normal rankings. The goal is being the named, trusted source, and the qualified clicks tend to follow.
The through-line is simple: be the clearest, most credible source on the questions your customers ask, and you win across every AI surface at once. If you would rather we handled it, that is what our team is for.
From invisible to cited
Audit
We find out how visible you are in AI answers today, and why.
Prioritise
We map the highest-value questions your customers ask and where the quick wins are.
Build
We create and optimise the content, schema and authority signals that earn citations.
Measure
We report on mentions, citations and traffic, then keep improving.
AI search questions
Guides & insights