427 Marketing

Getting found in AI search – Rumours, Facts and the Unknown!

Ade Holder from 427 marketing explores what affects how your business is found in AI search, alongside the rumours and unknowns we must ignore for now.

If you own a business or work in marketing, LinkedIn claims about AI SEO, AEO or GEO can feel overwhelming. The challenge is separating what we know from rumours and what we can ignore, rather than chasing every update and struggling to measure its impact.

NOTE AEO and GEO are largely the same thing – Answer Engine Optimisation and Generative Engine optimisation  - they both fall under the heading of Search Engine Optimisation.

Bold Claims and rumours about AEO and GEO

Despite bold claims, nobody has all the answers to AEO and GEO or a guaranteed route to business success through AI search. Here’s why those claims deserve scrutiny.

1. There are multiple AI models so what works for one may not work perfectly for another. This means there will be differences is how they should be approached. In the future we may find businesses targeting specific models like Chat GPT because that’s where the target audience goes to search.
2. The AI models are updating all the time so this is a rapidly evolving environment. We are literally all testing and learning as we go and the changes are extremely fast.
3. Tracking success in Ai search is very hard. There are multiple ways it can be looked at in many cases it is not clear what success looks like. Getting mentions? Getting used to create answers? Getting traffic to your blogs? Traffic to service pages? Or getting leads? But what if people research on Chat GPT and search for your business on Google and click? It certainly get complex.
4. The AI companies are not keen on giving us a lot of data so we have to use 3^rd party software which adds another layer of inaccuracy.

There is no evidence that suggesting your own business to AI models makes them learn to recommend it. It may sound logical, but these systems are complex.

Things all businesses can do for AEO and GEO

There are some factors around AEO and GEO that are coming out of all the research and these are actionable tactics we know can help.

1. Make sure the content on your site is clear and easy to understand. Build detail into your content that clearly states who you are, what you do, who you do it for, where you do it and what solutions you offer. Content now needs to be much clearer and potentially more obvious. This means heavily branded and subtle content doesn’t work very well.
2. Align your social media with your key services. Business need to make sure all the social channels have posts that are aligned with products and services and not just about social events and news. It seems obvious but check your social posts and see how many are actually about what you do. This goes for your YouTube channel too!
3. Get mentions on other sites. AI models are looking for supporting mentions on other sites to make sure they are choosing the right answer. Get your business listed on sites, reviewed, mentioned and cited as experts and generally get some good PR.

The Unknown World of AI Search

As mentioned before, the AI companies are not keen on giving us lots of data so it’s fair to say the black boxes are pretty firmly shut. We have to accept that there is a lot we don’t know and we have to work out, test and even wait and see. There is certainly more data coming to light with Microsoft Clarity, Bing webmaster tools and Google Search Console starting to show how often our sites are being used by AI and what for. But we do not get to see what the user puts in (prompts) unless we use a 3^rd party software option and these can be very expensive for businesses. This means we have to use what we have and then try and back engineer the intent. It is OK not to know everything and its important we are all honest with each other when we talk about this. Testing, learning, development and being able to change rapidly is the key.

 As an SEO agency we are rolling out lots of AEO and GEO tactics for our clients, we are testing loads of new ideas and we are ready to pivot as things develop. If you are running a business or you are a  marketer I would urge calm, keep reading and learning and don’t rush to spend huge sums just to tick the AI search box.