How do I get my business to show up in AI search?

The short answer: make the right answer easy to find.

To improve your chances of appearing in ChatGPT search, Claude web search and Google AI search, work on three connected things: technical access, useful answers and trustworthy business information. Add a clear enquiry path so relevant attention can become a business conversation.

This is not a way to buy a recommendation or force a citation. Different products, prompts, locations and dates can produce different results. Search rankings and AI mentions are not guaranteed.

Does AI search replace SEO?

No. SEO helps people discover your website through search. AEO, or answer engine optimisation, focuses on how clearly your content answers questions and supports those answers with evidence. You may also hear “GEO”, or generative engine optimisation. These labels overlap; the important question is what work is actually included.

For an engineering consultancy, that might mean a clear capability page supported by relevant project experience. For a brokerage, it might mean an approved service page that explains who you help, what to expect and how to begin.

What matters for each platform?

What should your website actually say?

Begin with questions that come up in sales conversations. Explain who the service is for, the problem it addresses, your process, scope, constraints and what a prospective client should do next. Put a direct answer near the relevant heading, then add enough detail to make it useful.

• Engineering consultancies: describe actual disciplines, service regions, project roles and relevant experience. Help a buyer assess fit before they enquire.
• Mortgage and finance brokerages: describe your approved lending focus, service areas and next steps. Have your nominated reviewer approve lending claims, disclosures and customer-facing answers.
• Professional services: make experience, real people, contact details and substantiated work easy to verify. Avoid generic claims that could describe any competitor.

Use real project details and first-hand insights wherever you can. A page written for a specific buyer question is more useful than dozens of near-identical pages with a city or platform name swapped in.

How do we know whether it is helping?

Establish a baseline before changing content. Track relevant search queries and landing pages, identifiable referral visits, successful enquiries and which enquiries your team considers a fit.

Google includes AI-feature traffic in Search Console’s overall Web performance reporting; it is not a complete cross-platform AI visibility report. See Google’s measurement guidance ↗

We also recommend a repeatable sample of buyer questions: record the platform, date, question, answer and cited pages. Treat that sample as directional evidence, not a universal ranking or a promise that everyone sees the same result.

Measure qualified enquiries separately from visits. A useful enquiry identifies the business, service need and context. A citation without a click may still create awareness, but it is not proof of a lead or sale.

Can we start without rebuilding the website?

Yes. Start by identifying the pages and technical barriers that matter most. A focused content and search-improvement scope may be enough. A rebuild makes sense when the current structure prevents the changes you need—not simply because AI search is new.

Our SEO, AEO and AI-search work can cover a baseline review, priority service-page improvements, useful resources and FAQs, technical recommendations and enquiry measurement. The proposal specifies the pages, deliverables, review responsibilities and fee. Ongoing content and monitoring are agreed separately.

Use the AI-search readiness checklist →