How to Increase Your AI Search Visibility
Updated: Aug 21
In this guide, you’ll learn strategies to get your content cited in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
Intro
The landscape of online search has shifted in the AI era. When modern users look for answers, products or services, they’re no longer just presented with a list of websites.
Instead, they use conversational models like ChatGPT or scan Google's AI Overview, which provide immediate solutions. This has given rise to 'zero-click search' and transformed how brands compete for attention online.
To help you stay relevant in the AI search era, this article shows you how to adapt to the changes. So, let's look into how to increase your AI search visibility...
In Simple Terms, what is AI Search?
AI search (also known as generative search) is changing the way we find answers. As the name suggests, it produces AI-powered responses to queries we submit to information sources like ChatGPT and Google.
Given that AI answers queries directly, users often don’t need to click through to websites to find information. Marketers refer to this as ‘zero click search’.
What are Some Examples of AI Search Tools?
ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Claude are examples AI search tools. Known as AI chatbots or large language models (LLMs), they provide conversational responses designed to replicate human dialogue.
Google’s AI Overview also provides AI-generated responses. This is a direct, AI-powered summary that sits above the traditional search listings.
Example 1 – ChatGPT and Google Gemini (LLMs)
When you type a query (or ‘prompt’) into ChatGPT, it will produce a natural, human-like response. As users can refine their queries in real time, it’s literally like having a conversation, hence the word ‘chat’. In 2023, Google launched its own AI-powered chatbot called Gemini.
ChatGPT and Gemini are known as large language models (LLMs). They get their information during a process called ‘training’, where they are fed vast amounts of text, including digitised books and web pages. From this text, they also learn language patterns to produce the human-like responses.
Example 2 – Google’s AI Overviews
When you submit a query to Google via the search bar, it will respond with a concise AI-powered summary. This appears at the top of the traditional search listing and is known as an AI Overview.
Google’s AI Overview typically includes links to websites where it has sourced (or ‘synthesised’) the information. Google provides these links to ‘support’ or ‘corroborate’ the answer, serving as a starting point for users to explore further.
The AI Overview also includes a ‘Show More’ option. When you click this, the overview transitions into an interactive AI conversation.
What's the Difference Between SEO, LLMO, GEO and AEO?
Recent changes have resulted in new AI search optimisation techniques and related acronyms. These include LLMO, GEO, and AEO.
But what do they mean? Here is a brief breakdown of each plus a summary of SEO for context:
SEO – Stands for search engine optimisation. This means optimising your web pages so they appear in traditional (or ‘organic’) search engine listings for specific keywords. Key platforms include Google and Bing.
LLMO – Stands for large language model optimisation. This means optimising your website so you get brand mentions and citations on conversational AI search platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Claude.
AEO – Stands for answer engine optimisation. This means optimising your content so it is cited in Google AI Overviews, which are AI-generated summaries that appear at the top of search results.
GEO – Stands for generative engine optimisation. This means tailoring your content so it appears in AI-generated responses across multiple platforms, including ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s AI Overviews and Perplexity.
TIP – To avoid overcomplicating matters, consider optimisation for LLMO, AEO and GEO to be part of one combined strategy. I provide guidance for this below.
Other Terminology
Across the internet, marketers use a variety of terms when writing about AI-driven search platforms. These include AI search engines, answer agents, answer engines and search models.
For simplicity, I’ll use AI search tools and AI search platforms in the tips below.
How to Increase Your AI Search Visibility
In order to appear in AI search results, it's important you do the following:
Structure your content so AI search platforms can easily interpret and extract it.
Rank in the top 10 for organic search results, as Google's AI Overview cites from high ranking content.
Optimise for technical SEO so search engines can efficiently crawl, index and display your content.
Create authentic, fresh and compelling content that others can't replicate.
Add expert author bylines and bios to send trust signals to search engines and AI search platforms.
Use schema markup code to make it easier for AI search platforms to understand what's on your web pages.
Get more brand mentions and reviews to establish brand authority.
Avoid overreliance AI when writing your content to stay authentic and provide accurate information.
Optimise for multimedia AI search results by adding video explainers, infographics and images to your content.
Let’s explore in more detail…
1) Structure Your Content for AI Search
To feature in AI Search responses, it’s important to work on you content structure and readability. This is especially the case for informational blog content.
Here are some tips:
Optimise for Questions – Rather than just building content around keywords, you should optimise for questions to mirror the way people search. Write headings and subheadings as questions to align with AI-generated responses.
Get to the Point – When writing your content, answer the query immediately. As AI platforms summarise content, start with a 2-3 sentence answer and elaborate later.
Structure Content Clearly – Creating content with a clear structure makes it easier for AI to extract and summarise information. Break information down into clear sections and make use of bullet points, numbers and subheadings.
Additionally, when writing the content make sure you use natural language and phrasing. This is in keeping with the conversational queries that ChatGPT receives.
2) Rank High for Organic Search Results
If your content ranks in the top 10 for the ‘regular’ organic results, it is more likely to get cited in Google’s AI Overview. AI Overviews extract from high-ranking pages, so it’s important to optimise for organic search.
So, how do you optimise website content so it ranks higher in Google? Here are some tips:
Demonstrate E-E-A-T – This stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trustworthiness. To tick these boxes, make sure your content cites reliable sources, use stats to support your points, showcases expert authors and demonstrate first-hand experience in your field.
Get Quality Backlinks – A backlink is a clickable link from another website that points to a page on your site. Good quality backlink sources include industry directories, national news sites and relevant blogs.
Use Long Tail Keywords – Long tail keywords are longer search phrases that typically have a lower search volume and less competition. In addition to being easier to rank for than shorter searches, they mirror the longer queries aligned with conversational AI trends.
NOTE – Ranking in the top 10 is not enough to be cited in AI overviews. Make sure you use the tips from point one in conjunction with the traditional SEO methods outlined here.
3) Optimise for Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the process of optimising your website’s performance and infrastructure. If your website is technically sound, search engines will be able to access, store (or ‘index’), and display your content efficiently.
Even in the age of AI search, technical SEO remains crucial. Here are some key factors to help you build strong technical foundations:
Create Internal Links – Linking from one of your web pages to another helps Google to find (or ‘crawl’) your content. When creating internal links, use relevant anchor text that reflects the subject matter of the destination page, like ‘freelance SEO services’.
Fix Crawl Errors – If you click on a website and it responds with ‘404 – Page Not Found’, you’re looking at a crawl error. You can identify crawl errors using tools like Google Search Console or WebSite Auditor and carry out fixes in the backend of your website.
Increase Page Speed – Slow websites are bad for users and SEO. To see how fast your website is, head over to PageSpeed Insights. This will show you how well your website is performing an identify any slow-loading elements.
Ensure Mobile Friendliness – Google indexes mobile-first. If your mobile performance is poor, your entire SEO strategy will suffer. Make sure website has a responsive design suitable for mobile devices and use PageSpeed Insights to monitor its performance.
NOTE – Make sure Google can index your pages by submitting an XML sitemap to Google Search Console. Alternatively, website builders like Wix make it easy by providing a simple setting where you can choose whether or not to index your pages.
4) Create Unique Content
With so many reliable sources of information out there, it’s important to stand out and go beyond the surface-level. By creating unique and fresh content, you can enhance your credibility and provide answers to very specific problems.
So, how do you create unique content for AI search platforms?
Gather Original Data – Original data and research give you an edge, so it helps to provide tangible evidence to support your arguments. One easy way to do this is to carry out surveys while visiting expos in your niche.
Use Expert Insights and Case Studies – Like original data, case studies and expert insights provide unique information that AI search platforms won’t find elsewhere. This ensures your content is fresh and backed up by evidence.
Implement User Generated Content (UGC) – This is content created by individuals and customers rather than your brand. UGC can include testimonials, video reviews, photos and even blog posts. The reason why it helps it because it’s authentic, helping your brand to stand out. Better yet, it’s free.
Furthermore, you should create your content with search intent in mind. If you’ve built content around a search query (e.g. ‘how do I rank higher in Google?’), you should fulfil their needs with a unique and informative answer.
5) Don’t Be Anonymous
If an expert author has written content for your website, it’s important to highlight this on the dedicated pages. This helps AI search platforms to qualify the content so they can cite it in results.
The best practice for this is to add an author byline that’s linked to a real author’s bio page. You could also add a “last updated” date and “edited by” byline (more on this later) to show the content is fresh and reliable.
This small tweak could make a big difference to the way AI views your content.
6) Use Schema Markup
Schema markup is a website code that helps search engines and AI search platforms to understand what’s on your web pages. By adding a schema code to your pages, you make it easier for AI search platforms to find and display your business in relevant searches.
There are various types of schema markup, including the following:
Local Business Schema – Gives AI platforms information about location-specific businesses, such as the address, pricing, contact details and reviews.
Service Schema – Tells AI search platforms about a specific type of service your business offers (e.g. plumbing, web design or legal consulting).
Product Schema – Helps AI search platforms to display the details of an item you sell, including reviews, the price, ratings and availability.
Review Schema – Highlights specific reviews or ratings given by customers for a product, service or business.
FAQ Schema – Feeds AI search platforms with clear, direct Q&A pairs, making it easier for them to pull exact answers from your web pages.
Article Schema – Helps AI engines to generate answers directly from well-structured blogs and articles.
As the AI search platforms pull information directly from websites, the schema markup helps them to get the facts right and provide the best answer.
AI search platforms prioritise companies with high brand authority. The more brand mentions and reviews you have, the stronger your credibility.
Here’s how to increase your authority for AI search:
Write Guest Blogs – When your brand is mentioned on industry-recognised blogs through guest posts, it will position you as a though leader in your field. This means AI search platforms are more likely to mention you in searches.
Get Featured on News Sites – In addition to informational content, industry news sites give updates on notable companies. For example, you could submit news about a company milestone or a project you’ve secured or completed. In other words, good old-fashioned PR.
Encourage Reviews – Customer reviews play a crucial role in building authority and trust, so reach out to people after a project or sale. Google Business Profile is ideal for this, as you can embed the reviews on your web pages. Word of warning though: make sure customers don’t use AI generated content for reviews, as Google may consider this spam.
BONUS TIP – If you do write guest blogs and get featured in external news sites, make sure you get a backlink as well. By getting a link to your website from a trustworthy domain, you will strengthen your organic Google rankings.
8) Don’t Rely Too Heavily on AI-Generated Content
As we’ve mentioned above, Google is already cracking down on AI-generated reviews, so it’s possible it will follow suit for other content.
Why? The reason is that AI platforms pull information from existing web pages, so the source material needs to be factually correct. If those web pages contain errors, AI may deliver an inaccurate response in search results.
Therefore, it’s important to have a human layer of expertise. Here are a few golden rules for AI content writing:
Use AI to Source Ideas – AI is great for generating topic ideas and overcoming occasional writer’s block. However, it’s important you write and refine the final draft yourself so it’s not too generic and AI-heavy.
Edit with Two Pairs of Eyes – Get a human editor (ideally an expert in your niche) to run their eyes over the copy and eliminate inaccuracies. Some companies like to name drop the editor along with the author in a blog, helping to boost credibility.
Stay Human – Prioritise original and compelling human content that AI can’t replicate. The more ideas that come from your own experiences the better, as this makes for unique material.
Think of it this way: ChatGPT and Google are providing a service. They want to give users the best response to a query, so they are always going to prioritise the website that it perceives to be the most accurate and trustworthy.
9) Go Beyond Written Content
AI search platforms don’t just respond with words. In fact, they display a wide variety of multimedia and interactive elements to provide rich, comprehensive answers.
Here are a couple of simple ways you can diversify your content:
Video – AI search platforms can find and rank relevant video tutorials, explainers and interviews from platforms like YouTube. These provide visual demonstrations on how to do something.
Images and Infographics – AI search platforms often retrieve images and infographics to help explain and simplify complex topics. Therefore, it’s a good idea to accompany challenging written content with visual aids.
Social Media Reels – AI overviews give links to short videos post on platforms like Facebook. Make sure you add a website link to your social channels to drive traffic to your brand.
By going the extra mile, you can make your content accessible to different AI search formats, getting you greater visibility.
Key Takeaways:
Large language models like ChatGPT and Google AI deliver direct answers to search queries. This has accelerated the rise of ‘zero-click searches’.
Google AI Overviews display summaries at the top of traditional search results along with source links.
LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini are trained to provide conversational responses. Users can refine their queries in real-time, as though exchanging dialogue.
You should write in a way that makes it easy for AI search platforms to extract information from your content. Use conversational Q&As, add bullet points and numbers, and get straight to the point.
AI Overviews draw from pages ranking high in standard search listings. Therefore, you should optimise for organic searches using traditional and technical SEO.
To stand out in AI search, you must go beyond surface-level information by creating authentic content. Use original research and draw on your own experiences.
Schema markup is a key part of AI search. This is a website code that makes it easier for AI search platforms to interpret content and accurately display your business in relevant results.
Overusing AI when writing content can have a detrimental effect. Use AI for ideation while writing the bulk of the copy yourself.
AI search platforms deliver multimedia answers rather than text alone. Add YouTube videos and visual aids so AI search platforms display you in diverse formats.
Conclusion – How to Increase Your AI Search Visibility
When it comes to the fundamentals of search, much remains the same. Authentic content, E-E-A-T and technical SEO are still key, whatever search platform you are optimising for. Moreover, high rankings are still beneficial if you want to be cited in Google’s AI Overviews.
What’s changed? Building on traditional SEO methods, there are new best practices to follow to increase AI search visibility. These include prioritising brand mentions, structuring content so AI tools can extract information, adding schema markup and placing more emphasis on multimedia results.
So, this means more work, but also more opportunities to be seen by potential customers.
My final takeaway is that AI search has raised the bar. If you want to improve visibility, you can’t cut corners. The likes of Google and ChatGPT want to deliver the best results, and it’s up to you to optimise your website to help them.
Put in the work in, and they will reward you with greater exposure and more clicks.
About the Author
Chris Sparham is the founder of CJS Digital, a Kent-based SEO consultancy. With over a decade of frontline marketing experience, Chris helps businesses capture more organic search traffic and gain visibility in AI-generated answers.
Get in touch: chris@cjsdigital.co.uk
Do You Need Help with Your AI Search Strategy?
With 10+ years of SEO and marketing experience, CJS Digital can help you boost visibility in the new era of AI search. If you would like to book a discovery call, please email chris@cjsdigital.co.uk with details of your project.
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