Picture someone in Leeds asking their phone, “Who’s a reliable emergency plumber near me?” There’s no list of ten blue links. They get a short, confident answer naming two or three businesses. If yours isn’t one of them, you haven’t dropped down the rankings. The customer has gone before they ever saw a search result.

That’s AI search in 2026. Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot now answer questions directly, and they often recommend businesses by name. This guide explains how those recommendations happen and what you can do to earn them, without jargon or gimmicks.

What is AI search SEO?

AI search SEO is the work of making your business easy for AI tools to find, understand and trust enough to mention. You’ll also see it called GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AEO (answer engine optimisation). The names differ, but the goal is the same.

It doesn’t replace traditional SEO. It sits on top of it. AI tools draw largely on the same open web that Google and Bing crawl, so a site that’s slow, thin or badly structured struggles in both worlds. What changes is the prize. In classic search you want the click. In AI search you want to be named, cited or linked as the answer, and the click often comes later, if at all.

How AI tools decide who to recommend?

Nobody outside these companies knows the exact recipe, and anyone who claims to is guessing. Across the sites we work on, though, three questions keep coming up:

1. Can it read you? Your content must be crawlable, quick to load and clear on the page.
2. Does it understand you? It needs to know what you do, who for and where.
3. Does anyone else vouch for you? Reviews, directory listings, press mentions and links from credible sites act as second opinions.

Think of it as a job reference. Your website is your CV, but AI tools lean heavily on what other people say about you.

Seven practical steps to get recommended

1. Answer the question straight away

AI tools favour content that gets to the point. Open each page with a plain two-sentence answer, then expand. If your page is “Boiler servicing in Bristol”, the first lines should say what’s included, roughly what it costs and how to book. Save the backstory for further down.

2. Be specific about who you serve

Vague copy gets vague results. “We deliver tailored solutions for growing businesses” tells a machine nothing. “We’re a Manchester accountancy firm helping sole traders and small limited companies with tax returns and VAT” tells it exactly when to recommend you. Name your services, your towns and your customers.

3. Build proof beyond your own website

A business that only praises itself is easy to ignore. Collect genuine Google reviews, keep directory listings consistent, and earn mentions in trade publications, local press and industry roundups. Our public relations services are built around this kind of visibility, and our post on whether Google Business Profile still matters in an AI-answer world covers the local side in detail.

4. Get the technical basics right

If AI crawlers can’t reach your content, nothing else matters. Check four things:

• Your robots.txt isn’t accidentally blocking search-related bots such as OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot. Blocking crawlers that collect training data is a separate decision from blocking the ones that power live search answers, so know which is which.
• Important text sits in the page’s HTML rather than being hidden behind scripts or tabs that don’t load.
• Pages load quickly on mobile.
• You have a working XML sitemap.

It’s dull work, but it’s where many sites quietly fail. Our search engine positioning tips cover the fundamentals, and a properly built site from a web design and development team makes all of this far easier.

5. Add structured data

Schema markup is code that labels your content: this is a business, this is its address, this is an FAQ, this is a review. It won’t guarantee a mention, and Google has said no special markup is required for its AI features, but it removes guesswork. At a minimum, use Organization or LocalBusiness, Service or Product, and FAQPage wherever you genuinely have FAQs.

6. Keep your facts consistent

AI tools cross-check. If your website says you close at 6pm, Google says 5pm and an old directory lists a dead phone number, you look unreliable. Audit your business name, address, phone number, opening hours, prices and service list everywhere they appear, and fix the mismatches. A consistent brand name and description across the web helps AI tools connect the dots.

7. Show real experience

Generic, mass-produced content is exactly what AI tools can already write themselves, so there’s little reason for them to cite it. What they can’t produce is your first-hand knowledge: your own data, photos, case examples, local insight and a named author with a genuine background. Add those and your pages become worth quoting. That’s how our SEO team approaches content.

How to check whether AI recommends you?

Open ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode and ask the questions your customers would ask:

• “Best [your service] in [your town]”
• “Is [your business name] any good?”
• “Who offers [your service] for [your type of customer]?”

Note whether you’re mentioned, which sources are cited and which competitors appear. Repeat monthly, because answers vary between tools and even between attempts. It isn’t precise, but it shows gaps quickly. Also look in your analytics for referral traffic from sources like chatgpt.com or perplexity.ai. It’s still small for most sites, but it’s worth tracking.

What doesn’t work?

• Chasing tricks. Files such as llms.txt attract plenty of attention, but no major search engine has confirmed it uses them to decide what to recommend. Fine as a tidy-up, not a strategy.
• Publishing AI-written pages in bulk. Thin, samey content weakens your credibility.
• Keyword stuffing. These systems read for meaning, so repeating a phrase achieves very little.
• Buying “guaranteed AI rankings”. Nobody can promise them.

Where to start?

You don’t need to do everything at once. Take your three most important service pages. Rewrite the opening lines, add specifics, check the schema, and make sure your reviews and listings match. Then test, learn and repeat.

If you’d rather have a team handle it, get in touch or start a project with Zuplic.

Frequently asked questions

What is AI search SEO?

It’s the practice of making your business easy for AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google’s AI Overviews to find, understand and recommend. It builds on traditional SEO rather than replacing it.

Is AI search SEO different from normal SEO?

Mostly it’s an extension. Crawlable pages, clear content and strong reputation matter in both. The difference is the goal: being named or cited in an answer, not just ranking for a click.

How long does it take to get recommended by AI?

There’s no fixed timeline. Technical and content fixes can be picked up within weeks once pages are recrawled, but reviews, mentions and reputation take months to build.

Do I still need a Google Business Profile?

Yes, especially if you serve local customers. It’s a trusted source of basic facts about your business, and those facts feed many local answers.

Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT or Gemini?

No. Recommendations in AI answers aren’t something you can buy directly. Be wary of anyone who says otherwise.

Should I block AI crawlers on my website?

It depends. Blocking training crawlers is a business decision, but blocking search-related bots can reduce your chances of being cited. Check your robots.txt so you know what you’ve allowed.