AI SEO is work intended to improve how a business and its content appear in AI search experiences. For a business owner, the useful questions are whether potential customers can discover you, whether the answers describe you accurately and whether that attention leads to relevant enquiries. A mention, a website citation and a sale are different results.
AI search visibility or using AI to do SEO?
The phrase has two meanings. AI search engine optimisation concerns visibility in experiences such as Google’s AI features and search-enabled assistants. AI-assisted SEO uses software to help with tasks such as research, analysis or drafting website copy. A supplier offering the second is not necessarily testing the first.
Before buying AI SEO services, ask which meaning the proposal uses. If your concern is “Why does an assistant recommend competitors but overlook us?”, buying a tool that generates more articles may leave that question unanswered. Start with a record of the relevant answers and the information customers need.
How does AI SEO relate to GEO, AEO and LLM SEO?
Generative engine optimisation (GEO) emphasises visibility in generated answers. Answer engine optimisation (AEO) concerns answer-led discovery. LLM SEO is another label used for visibility in products built around large language models. AI search engine optimization is the US spelling of the same broad category.
These labels overlap; they do not establish separate technical rulebooks. Google says its established SEO practices remain relevant to generative Search. Its guidance applies to Google, so do not assume that a result in Google AI Mode proves visibility in ChatGPT or the Gemini app. Our SEO, GEO and AEO comparison explains the differences in measurement.
What does useful AI SEO work involve?
Agree the business problem before ordering content. A manufacturer explaining a specialist product, a local service firm and an online retailer have different buying questions. Our recommended process starts with those questions, then investigates the evidence.
1. Choose questions that could lead to business
Include discovery, comparison and decision questions. For example: “Which IT support providers work with small businesses in Bristol?” and “What should a managed support contract include?” Test brand questions separately. Recognition after someone types your name does not establish discovery by a new customer.
2. Save a baseline before making changes
Record the exact question, date, product, mode, location and session conditions, then retain the answer and its visible links. Repeat important questions because answers can vary. A tracker observes its chosen sample; it does not measure every customer conversation. The free manual scorecard provides a place to record your own checks.
3. Check access and business facts
Inspect the service pages customers need, their indexing status where relevant, crawler controls and hosting restrictions. Check names, locations, service scope, credentials and pricing against current facts. An accessible homepage alone does not establish that every important page is available to a particular search product.
Google requires supporting pages to be indexed and eligible for a search snippet, with the site included in Search generative AI features through its Search Console control. Meeting these requirements does not guarantee selection. There is no special AI schema or additional AI text file required for Google’s AI features. Any structured data you use should agree with the visible page.
4. Improve the page that should answer the question
Explain who the service suits, what is included, what it costs or how you quote, where it is available and what happens next. Add evidence the business can substantiate: a documented process, a worked example, original research or a properly supported case study. Correct material discrepancies in genuine public profiles too.
For the IT support example, a helpful page might explain response arrangements, remote versus onsite support, supported systems and exclusions. Those details help a buyer assess fit. They are a practical content recommendation, not a formula that guarantees an AI recommendation.
5. Re-test and follow the enquiry through
Repeat the agreed questions and disclose any changed conditions. Check search reporting and available referral evidence alongside the captured answers. Record which enquiries were relevant, which became clients and the value of completed business. A different answer after an edit does not, by itself, prove that the edit caused it.
What should an AI SEO report measure?
Keep five results separate
- Mention: was your business named in the assessed answer?
- Recommendation: was it presented as a suitable provider, rather than merely referenced?
- Citation: did the answer link to your website, and to which page?
- Accuracy: were the identity, services and material details correct?
- Commercial outcome: did a genuine enquiry, client or paid sale follow, and what evidence connects it to this discovery route?
Request the questions, answer records and denominator behind any percentage. An unavailable answer is unassessed, not an absence. A linked page is not proof that every claim in the answer is accurate. Our methodology and measurement guide explain these distinctions.
How do you choose an AI SEO agency or consultant?
Compare the deliverables and responsibility, rather than the label. A useful proposal should answer:
- What is being tested? Named products, agreed buyer questions, locations and repeat checks.
- What will you receive? Retained evidence, a prioritised diagnosis and page-specific recommendations.
- Who implements the work? Clarify whether the fee includes editing, technical changes and verification, or advice only.
- What counts as improvement? Separate visibility from enquiries, disclose measurement gaps and agree the review period.
- What supports the claims? Distinguish real client results from demonstrations, samples and the provider’s own website observations.
Be cautious about guaranteed recommendations or a promised revenue uplift without a credible baseline. Answari is a founder-led consultancy. Our sample audit illustrates the report format; it is not a client success story.
Where should a UK business start?
Choose one priority service, a small set of buying questions and the pages that should answer them. Establish what is currently visible and accurate before committing to a large content programme. There is no reliable universal timetable for earning recommendations; delivery dates for agreed work can be specified separately.
Answari’s AI SEO, GEO and AEO services offer an audit, separately scoped implementation and optional monitoring. We welcome suitable UK businesses across sectors, with dedicated guidance for our eight priority sectors. A free manual visibility check offers a first look at one agreed buyer question before discussing a wider scope.