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Home / Digital marketing / AEO | GEO
Get your business named in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews
People now ask AI tools who to hire, and those tools pull from directories, reviews, and websites they trust. We audit and clean up every listing that describes your business, build the ones you're missing, and shape your site so AI answers can quote it.
Why AI Overviews matter
Google now answers most searches with AI
AI answers
81.6% of searches
AI-generated answers appear on 81.6% of U.S. Google searches as of September 2026, up from 23.4% a year earlier.
Cited sources
51% of clicks
On results pages with an AI answer, 51% of all clicks go to a source the answer cites. The first source cited takes 39.7% of those clicks.
Local businesses
7.3% click rate
A business recommended inside an AI answer gets a 7.3% click rate, more than the first organic result at 7.1%. Source: First Page Sage, September 2026.
How AI tools decide
Where AI tools get their answers
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews name businesses they can confirm in more than one place. Pick a source to see what we do with it.
AI tools cross-check your name, address, phone, and services across listings. Conflicts make them less likely to name you.
Directory auditEvery general, industry, and local listing found and checked.
Cleanup and consolidationDuplicates merged and outdated details corrected.
New profilesTwo built each month, starting with the sources AI tools cite most.
What's included
What AEO and GEO work includes
Advanced directory audit
We find every listing that mentions your business across general, industry, and local directories, and flag wrong names, addresses, phone numbers, and categories.
Duplicate consolidation
Duplicate and outdated listings split your reputation and confuse AI tools. We merge or remove them so one accurate version remains.
New directory building
We add the directories AI tools cite most for your industry and market, prioritized by authority and how often they show up in AI answers.
Schema and entity data
Organization, LocalBusiness, and service schema, plus consistent profile links, so search engines and AI tools connect every mention back to you.
Answer-ready pages
Direct first-sentence answers, numbered steps, and FAQ blocks on the pages that matter, written the way AI tools like to quote.
AI mention tracking
A monthly report on how often ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews name your business for your priority questions, next to your competitors.
You get: one consistent identity across the web, a monthly AI mention report, and a short list of fixes to raise it.
Who AEO | GEO is for
It is a good fit if you
- Already have a working Google Business Profile and a site with service pages
- Sell something people research before they call, such as legal, medical, or home repair services
- Have moved, rebranded, or changed phone numbers, and suspect old listings are still out there
It is too early if you
- Have no website or an unverified profile
- Have very few reviews. AI tools lean on review sites, so that gap comes first.
For "plumber near me" searches, the map pack still drives the calls. AI answers matter most for questions, comparisons, and "who should I hire for" searches.
How it works
Baseline, clean up, then build
Step 1
Set a baseline
We run your priority questions through the main AI tools and record who gets named today, you or your competitors.
Step 2
Clean up the data
Directory audit, duplicate consolidation, and schema fixes come first, since AI tools trust businesses whose details match everywhere.
Step 3
Build and measure
New listings and answer-ready content go live, and the same questions get re-checked every month so you can see the change.
What happens each month
| Period | What we do | What you see |
|---|---|---|
| Month 1 | Record which businesses AI tools name for a fixed list of questions. Audit every directory listing. | A baseline: who gets named, which sources get cited, and where your data is wrong |
| Months 2 to 3 | Fix and merge listings. Add Organization and LocalBusiness schema. Rework key pages to answer questions in the first lines. | A list of listings corrected and pages changed |
| Month 4 onward | Build the directories and pages the AI tools cite for your industry. Rerun the same questions. | The same question list, month over month |
AI answers vary from one session to the next. We report trends across the full question list, never a single result.
AEO and GEO explained
What are AEO and GEO?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO) are the work of getting a business named and cited when an AI tool answers a question. That covers Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
How AI tools choose who to mention
These tools build answers from sources they can find and trust: your website, your Google Business Profile, directories, review sites, news coverage, and forums such as Reddit. They favor a business whose details match everywhere, because that makes it an entity they can identify with confidence. They also favor pages that answer a question directly in the first few lines.
What AEO and GEO work involves
Auditing and correcting directory listings, and consolidating duplicates. Adding Organization and LocalBusiness schema with sameAs links to your profiles. Writing pages with direct answers and FAQ sections. Advising on where your customers ask questions in forums and communities. Tracking how often you are mentioned for a fixed list of questions each month.
AEO and GEO vs. SEO
SEO aims for a ranking position. AEO and GEO aim for a mention or a citation inside the answer. The groundwork overlaps, since AI answers lean on pages that already rank and on consistent business data, so we plan them together with local SEO and SEO content.
What makes a page easy for an AI tool to quote
- A direct answer in the first one or two sentences
- Numbered steps for any process
- Short FAQ sections phrased the way customers ask
- Facts tied to a named source, such as a state statute or a manufacturer's spec
- Schema that states the business name, address, services, and official profiles
What we do not promise
No one can guarantee a mention in ChatGPT or an AI Overview. The tools change often and give different answers to the same question. What can be controlled is whether the web describes your business clearly and the same way everywhere.
We also do not post fake reviews or seed forum threads. Both break platform rules, and for law firms they can break advertising rules too.
Why this work lasts
The inputs are a sound website, accurate listings, real reviews, and recognition from local and industry sites. Those take months to build, so a business that starts now is hard for a late competitor to catch.
Free AI search and listings guides and tools
- The AI visibility self-test: Ten questions to run in four AI tools, a score sheet, and fixes by result.
- Citation audit worksheet: A spreadsheet to record your correct details, every past version, and the status of 20 directories.
- See all tools and resources
AEO | GEO FAQ
Common questions about AI search
What's the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO?
SEO earns rankings in search results. AEO (answer engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) earn mentions inside AI answers. They share a foundation, so the work overlaps.
Why is it bundled with the Local SEO program?
AI tools lean on the same citations, reviews, and profile data that drive the map pack. Running both together means you only pay for the cleanup once.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend us?
No. Nobody controls AI answers. We make your business easier to find and verify, and we measure the result every month.
How do you measure AI visibility?
We track a fixed set of questions across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, and report mentions and citations for you and your competitors.
Which AI tools do you track?
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
Where do AI tools get information about local businesses?
From your website, your Google Business Profile, directories and data providers such as Bing, Yelp, and Foursquare, review sites, news coverage, and forums.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
It is optional. A clear, accurate one does no harm and can help some tools summarize your business. It does not replace correct listings and well-structured pages.
Will this help my Google Maps ranking too?
Often, yes. Listing cleanup and schema support both. Rankings on the map are the focus of our local SEO services.
How long before we see a change?
Listing corrections take four to eight weeks to spread across directories. Changes in AI mentions usually follow over the next few months.
Is AI search replacing Google?
Not for local buying searches so far. People still use the map to call a business. AI answers have taken over much of the informational searching that used to send visitors to blog posts.
Pairs with the Local SEO program and SEO content. For a deeper look, read how to get your business named in ChatGPT and AI Overviews.