AI SEO: Complete Guide to Position Your Brand in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity

SEO still matters, but it no longer covers every place where people look for recommendations. Alongside Google, many people now ask complete questions in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

Google rankings and AI answers overlap but aren't the same. A brand can rank well on Google and still be missing from ChatGPT's answer, especially when ChatGPT answers from training data rather than a live search. Your Google ranking doesn't guarantee that AI recommends you.

AI SEO — also known as GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) or LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) — is the work of improving how your brand is mentioned, recommended and described when someone asks an AI a question. This guide explains how it works and what you can do about it.

What Is AI SEO (and How It Differs from Traditional SEO)

Traditional SEO optimizes your website so Google ranks it in a list of links. You work with keywords, backlinks, page speed and domain authority.

AI SEO works on your whole public presence — website, mentions, reviews, structured data — so that products like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity have accurate, credible information about you to use and cite. As our guide on the differences between SEO and GEO explains, you're competing to be part of the answer, not only for a blue link.

The main difference is the format of the result. On Google, users see a page of links and choose. In an AI answer, they often get a handful of recommendations in one text. If you're not among them, they have to find you some other way.

GEO, AEO, LLMO: Isn't It All the Same?

Three names circulate for overlapping work:

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): work on how a brand appears in AI-generated answers; currently the most common label. More in our guide to what GEO is.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): preparing content to serve as a direct answer, in Google's AI Overviews or in chat assistants.

LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization): a narrower label for work aimed specifically at language models. The practices largely coincide.

In practice, the three terms describe a similar goal: getting AI to mention you, recommend you and describe you accurately. In this guide we use "AI SEO" as an umbrella term because it's a common way people search for the topic.

What Shapes Recommendations in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity

AI answers don't work exactly like Google rankings, and providers don't publish a list of factors. But some patterns make it more likely that a brand is mentioned:

Training data: models learn from large amounts of public text. If your brand is described consistently in quality sources — articles, reviews, forums, directories — the model is more likely to know about it. That knowledge only updates with new model versions.

Real-time search: ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity can search the web when answering, and Perplexity does so for most questions. In those answers, your current, crawlable pages matter, not just what the model learned.

Credibility signals: media mentions, reviews, directory listings and links are the kind of evidence answers draw on. Providers don't document exactly how they weigh them; think of it as related to Google's E-E-A-T principles rather than an identical system.

Relevance: your content should match the questions people ask. If someone asks for "best accounting software for SMBs" and your site never mentions SMBs or your target market, it's harder to connect your product with that question, even if it's a good fit.

Each product relies on these factors differently. That's why your brand might appear first in ChatGPT and not at all in Gemini, or vice versa. Analyze your visibility in each model to get the full picture.

The 7 Pillars of AI SEO (Step-by-Step Strategy)

A concrete strategy you can start today. The pillars support each other.

1. Ensure Technical Accessibility for AI Crawlers

Before thinking about content, check that AI crawlers can reach your site. Review robots.txt and distinguish between search and training crawlers: OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search) and GPTBot (OpenAI training); Claude-SearchBot, Claude-User and ClaudeBot (Anthropic); PerplexityBot. Google-Extended only controls whether Google uses your content for Gemini training and grounding; it doesn't affect Google Search. Decide on each deliberately; some sites block them without knowing it. For this and other common problems, read our post on mistakes that make AI ignore your brand.

Also add accurate structured data (Schema.org) in JSON-LD: Organization, LocalBusiness, Product, FAQPage, Article. Schema describes what your brand is and offers; it isn't a requirement for being cited and doesn't guarantee it.

2. Create Content That Answers Real Questions

Don't think in isolated keywords. Think in complete questions your customers would ask ChatGPT:

• "What's the best digital marketing agency in New York?"
• "What management software do SMBs use?"
• "Compare CRM options for small businesses"

Create content that answers exactly these questions. Structure each article with an H1 that includes the main question, H2s covering subtopics, and opening paragraphs that give the direct answer before developing the details.

Microsoft has published guidance for its AI search experiences recommending clear, self-contained pieces of information — paragraphs, lists, tables — that are easy to extract. It's a useful principle for any page.

3. Build Presence in Sources AI Uses as References

Your website isn't your only asset. Brands that are described in several credible sources give answers more to draw on. Focus on:

• Review platforms: G2, Trustpilot, Google Business, industry-specific platforms in your country.
• Authority media: seek mentions in reference media for your market.
• Reddit and forums: published studies find Reddit among frequently cited sources in some AI products, though shares vary by product, sample and date. Look for the public communities relevant to your market — industry forums, LinkedIn groups, local boards — and take part transparently.
• Wikipedia: if your company meets Wikipedia's notability rules, an accurate article, written in line with its conflict-of-interest policy, is a widely used reference source. Don't create one yourself if you don't qualify.

4. Optimize Your Product and Service Information

Answers need clear facts: what you offer, at what price, for whom and in which markets. If those facts are hard to find on your site, answers rely on other sources or pick someone else.

For each product or service page, check: what it is and for whom, stated early; price or price range where you can publish it; markets served; verifiable differentiators; and Product or Service markup that matches the visible page.

5. Earn Independent Evidence About Your Brand

Google's E-E-A-T concept (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trust) is a useful framework for AI SEO too: credible, well-sourced content tends to be treated as a stronger source.

To build that authority: publish content with clear authorship (real name, bio, credentials). Generate case studies and proprietary data that only your brand can offer. Earn backlinks and mentions from quality media. Maintain consistency in your brand narrative across the web.

6. Adapt Your Content to Local Markets

Answers depend on geographic context, as our guide on GEO for businesses explains.

If your company operates in specific markets, mention the cities, regulations and media relevant to them. Content that refers to specific places gives answers something to match when people ask about those markets. Mentio generates questions in the language of each market you analyze.

7. Measure, Monitor and Adjust

Measurement comes first. Answers change with model updates and new content, so check regularly.

You need to know: are you being mentioned? In what position? With what sentiment? Who appears instead of you? And you need this picture for each model (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity) separately, because each can give different results.

Tools like Mentio handle much of this: questions are generated for your industry and sent to the models included in your plan, and you get a report with your visibility, position and sentiment, plus recommendations on Pro and Enterprise plans. You can start with a free analysis.

For available free and paid options, check our guide on free GEO tools for AI visibility.

Before treating these recommendations as applied, confirm that the bots can actually reach the affected pages with an AI crawler access audit using logs, robots.txt and llms.txt.

Related Guides

Answers can recommend different brands depending on the country and language of the question, so measure market by market. If featured snippets used to bring you traffic, compare the two formats in AI Overviews vs featured snippets in 2026.

External authority beyond your own site comes from planned campaigns: the guide to Digital PR for AI visibility explains how to turn a gap into verifiable coverage.

First Step: A Baseline

Record whether answers about your industry mention you, in what position against competitors and how they describe you. That baseline tells you which of the pillars above to prioritize.

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