AI search optimisation is the work that gets your business named when someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google's AI Overview for a recommendation. It goes by two names, GEO (generative engine optimisation) and AEO (answer engine optimisation), and it rests on the same foundations as good SEO: consistent business details, content that answers real questions, schema markup and genuine reviews. MidDevon Digital optimises for it on every SEO plan from £199 a month plus VAT; our content system, built for GEO and AEO through publishing, reports how often AI names you. The free AI visibility audit shows you where you stand first.
AI search optimisation: be the business ChatGPT recommends
SEO, GEO and AEO: three names, one job
GEO, generative engine optimisation, is making your business the one AI tools recommend when they generate an answer. AEO, answer engine optimisation, is being the direct answer in featured snippets, voice results and AI summaries. Both depend on the same thing: clear, credible, consistent, well-structured information about your business that machines can read and trust.
A growing share of searches now end without a click. Someone asks an AI assistant for a plumber in Tiverton or an accountant who understands small builders, gets three names, and rings one. If yours isn't one of the three, the enquiry never existed as far as you're concerned. The businesses that get named aren't the biggest; they're the ones whose details are consistent everywhere, whose pages answer the question asked, and whose reviews back it up.
How AI tools choose
They pull from web sources they judge credible: your site, your Google Business Profile, directories, reviews and anything written about you. Consistency across those sources, and content that opens with the answer rather than burying it, is most of the battle.
What we do about it
Entity clarity: your business described the same way everywhere. Schema markup so your services, areas and details are machine-readable. Answer-first content built around the questions customers actually ask. Authority signals: reviews, citations, and mentions from local organisations.
Measuring it
Rankings don’t tell you whether an AI assistant recommends you. Our content system is built for GEO and AEO through publishing, and it has an AI visibility audit built in: real buyer questions put to Perplexity and Gemini, every answer recorded with its source and timestamp, so you can see how often AI names you and your competitors. That reporting comes with the content plan, which also publishes the weekly content that gets you cited fastest.
Content for search and AI →
We help businesses in Cullompton, Tiverton, Exeter, Taunton, Plymouth and across Devon and the South West get recommended by AI tools, and businesses anywhere in the UK.
Where does your business sit today?
The free AI visibility audit blind-tests 25 real buyer questions with your name removed, records the answers, and places you on a six-level ladder.
Invisible
AI never names you.
Trace
Named rarely, usually by accident.
Emerging
Named for some questions, behind competitors.
Contender
Regularly in the answer, not yet first.
Established
Consistently recommended.
Leader
recommended first
You also see how often AI names your competitors, and the local questions customers are asking. Get your free AI visibility audit →
What AI search optimisation includes
Optimisation on the SEO plan; reporting and weekly publishing through the content plan.
- Entity clarity: your name, services, areas and details consistent everywhere
- Schema markup on every page: LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ and more
- Answer-first page structure and clearly answered questions
- Google Business Profile kept complete and active
- Citations and consistent details across directories
- Review strategy and responses, which AI tools weigh heavily
- A monthly article written to be cited, not just ranked
- Free AI visibility audit to set the baseline
- With the content plan: weekly publishing built for GEO and AEO
- With the content plan: AI visibility reporting, how often AI names you and your competitors
Who AI search optimisation is for
Anyone whose customers ask before they search.
Professional services
Accountants, solicitors, advisers, consultants. "Who should I use for X" is exactly the question people now put to AI.
Trades and home services
AI assistants increasingly answer "find me a good electrician near me" with names. Consistent details and reviews get you on the list.
Specialist and B2B businesses
Long, specific questions are where AI tools shine, and where a well-structured site beats a bigger competitor.
Anyone already doing SEO
If you're investing in search, the AI work is the same foundations done more carefully. It would be strange not to.
How we get you cited
Baseline first, then foundations, then content and tracking.
Step 1
Free AI visibility audit
25 real buyer questions, blind-tested, your name removed. You get your position on the ladder, how often competitors are named, and the questions customers are asking.
Step 2
Optimise
Entity clarity, schema on every page, profile and citations made consistent, answer-first pages, reviews strategy. Done on the SEO plan, starting in month one.
Step 3
Content that answers
A monthly article on the SEO plan, written to be cited. Or weekly articles, social posts and profile updates on the content plan, built for GEO and AEO.
Step 4
Track and report
With the content plan, the built-in AI visibility audit reports how often AI names you and your competitors, month by month.
Optimised on the SEO plan, reported through the content plan.
GEO and AEO optimisation is part of the SEO plan, from £199 a month plus VAT, alongside the rest of the monthly work. The content plan adds the weekly publishing that gets you cited fastest and the AI visibility reporting that shows how often AI names you. Take both and the SEO plan is discounted. The content plan →
AI search questions
Can't see yours?
Give us a ring on
01392 346700.
What is GEO (generative engine optimisation)?
GEO is optimising your business to be recommended by AI tools that generate answers: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google's AI Overviews. Instead of ranking a page, you're trying to be one of the businesses the AI names. It relies on consistent details, clear structured content, schema markup and credible signals like reviews.
What is AEO (answer engine optimisation)?
AEO is being the direct answer: the featured snippet at the top of Google, the voice assistant's reply, the summary at the top of an AI Overview. It means answering questions plainly, early in the page, with structure search engines can lift.
How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT?
Make sure your business is described the same way everywhere, your website answers the questions customers ask, your Google Business Profile is complete, your reviews are real and recent, and your pages carry schema so machines read them accurately. Then publish content that answers real questions. There is no trick and no paid placement; it's credibility, consistently signalled.
Is AI search optimisation part of the SEO plan?
Yes. GEO and AEO optimisation is on every SEO plan, because it rests on the same foundations as good SEO. What the content plan adds is weekly publishing built for GEO and AEO, and the AI visibility reporting that shows how often AI names you. Take both together and the SEO plan is discounted.
How do you measure AI visibility?
Our content system has an AI visibility audit built in. It blind-tests 25 real buyer questions on Perplexity and Gemini, records every answer with the cited source and a timestamp, and counts how often you and your competitors are named, placing you on a six-level ladder from Invisible to Leader. Google AI Overviews are personalised to each searcher so they can’t be used as evidence, but every question carries a link to check Google yourself. We run the audit to set a baseline and track it as the work goes on.
Is SEO still worth doing if people use AI instead of Google?
Yes. AI tools draw their answers from credible web sources, so the businesses with good SEO are the ones they find. AI hasn't replaced search; it's added a second place you need to appear.
How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
The same three to six months as the rest of SEO, sometimes quicker where the fix is consistency rather than content. AI tools update their view of the web constantly, so improvements show as they re-crawl.
What does the AI visibility audit cost?
Nothing. It's free with no obligation. Get your free AI visibility audit →
Find out if AI recommends you
The free AI visibility audit takes a few minutes to request and shows exactly where you stand.
