AI search and SEO: How to appear in ChatGPT, Gemini and AI answers

For years, businesses trying to get found online have focused on a familiar goal: appear as high as possible in Google search results. That still matters. But the way people search is changing.

Instead of typing a few keywords into a search engine and opening several websites, people can now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI tools a complete question and receive an answer straight away. Google itself is bringing generative AI directly into Search through features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. That creates a new challenge for businesses.

It's no longer only about whether your website ranks for a keyword. It's also about whether search engines and AI systems can understand your content, trust the information you're providing, and use it when answering a relevant question.

This has led to growing interest in terms such as answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO). But you don't need to abandon everything you know about search engine optimisation (SEO) and start again. In fact, many of the fundamentals remain the same.

What is AI search optimisation?
AI search optimisation is the process of making your website and content easier for AI-powered search experiences such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews to discover, understand and use when answering relevant questions. It builds on traditional SEO through clear content, trustworthy information, technical accessibility and genuine expertise.

What is AEO, and how is it different from SEO?

SEO is the practice of improving your website so that search engines can understand your content and people can discover it through relevant searches.
AEO focuses more specifically on making your content useful for systems that provide direct answers to questions. That can include traditional search features as well as newer AI-powered search experiences. The distinction is useful, but it shouldn't be exaggerated.

Google says the same foundational SEO practices used for Search continue to apply to its AI features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. There isn't a special piece of AI markup that guarantees your website will appear in an AI-generated answer. Think of AEO as an extension of good SEO rather than its replacement.

Traditional search might begin with:
small business CRM Australia

An AI search may sound more like:
What's a good CRM for a 20-person Australian business that needs sales automation but doesn't have a dedicated IT team?

The person is still looking for information. The difference is that the question has become longer, more specific, and more conversational. Your content needs to be useful enough to answer both.

How does AI search find information?

There isn't one universal process used by every AI search platform.

Google's AI features, for example, can run multiple related searches across different subtopics and data sources before generating a response. Google calls this "query fan-out". It allows the system to explore different parts of a complex question and find supporting web pages.

ChatGPT can also search the web and provide links and citations to sources used in its response when a question would benefit from current information.

For businesses, the practical takeaway is simple: AI search doesn't make having a useful, searchable website less important. It can make it more important.

If your website contains clear, original, and useful information that directly addresses the questions your audience is asking, there are more opportunities for that information to be discovered across both traditional and AI-powered search.

So how do you improve those chances?

1. Create content around real questions, not just keywords

Keywords still help you understand what people are searching for. But focusing only on exact keyword phrases can limit your content. Suppose you sell accounting software.

A traditional SEO strategy might target:

accounting software Australia

That's still valuable. But potential customers may also ask:

What accounting software is suitable for a small Australian business?

Do I need accounting software if I already use spreadsheets?

What's the difference between accounting software and bookkeeping software?

What should I look for when choosing accounting software?

These questions reveal much more about what the person actually wants to know.

When planning content, start with your core keyword and then think about the questions surrounding it. Sales conversations, support tickets, customer emails, search data, and conversations with your customer-facing teams can all reveal what people genuinely want to understand.

One strong article can then answer the main question and several closely related ones without becoming a collection of keywords.

2. Give the answer before making people hunt for it

You've probably opened an article looking for a simple answer and found yourself reading several paragraphs before getting anywhere near it.

That's frustrating for people, and it doesn't make your content more useful for AI either.

If a section asks "What is a CRM?", answer that question clearly near the beginning of the section. You can then explain how it works, provide examples, and add useful context.

The same principle applies to comparisons.

If someone asks "What's the difference between a shared inbox and customer support software?", don't spend 500 words introducing customer service before explaining the difference.

Give the reader a clear answer first. Then help them understand the details.

This doesn't mean every article needs to become a list of short answers. Good content still needs context, examples, and a natural flow. The goal is simply to make important information easy to identify and understand.

3. Go beyond information anyone could publish

AI can already provide a reasonable explanation of many basic topics. Ask it "What is CRM?" and you'll probably get a perfectly usable definition. So another 2,000-word article repeating the same information available on hundreds of websites may struggle to stand out. Businesses have something generic content doesn't: their own experience.

That might include customer questions you've answered hundreds of times, lessons from implementations, original research, industry data, expert commentary, case studies, examples from Australia and New Zealand, or mistakes you've seen businesses repeatedly make.

For example, instead of writing a generic article, try to find a specific issue or choice where you can give insight to your audience. Consider the difference between these two ideas for an article:

10 benefits of CRM software

When has a small business actually outgrown spreadsheets and needs a CRM?

The second topic gives you far more opportunity to contribute useful experience, practical examples, and decision-making advice.

Originality doesn't mean inventing a completely new subject. It means adding something genuinely useful to the conversation.

4. Make each section understandable on its own

AI search often deals with very specific questions. A person may not be asking about your entire article. They may only need the answer to one part of it. Clear subheadings help both readers and search systems understand what each section covers.

Instead of vague headings such as:

Things to consider

Use:

What should you consider before choosing CRM software?

Instead of:

The benefits

Try:

How can customer support software reduce missed enquiries?

The content underneath should then answer exactly what the heading promises. This also makes articles easier for people to scan without turning every sentence into a separate paragraph.

5. Build topical depth instead of chasing every keyword

You don't need one article for every slight variation of a keyword. In fact, doing that can leave you with several shallow pages competing to answer almost the same question.

A better approach is to build useful groups of related content.

Imagine you provide customer support software. Your content could answer different stages of the customer's journey:

What is help desk software?

Shared inbox vs customer support software: When should you switch?

How do you build a customer self-service portal?

Help desk vs service desk: What's the difference?

What customer support tasks should you automate?

Each article serves a different search intent while contributing to a broader body of useful information about customer support.

Internal links between those articles can then help visitors explore related questions and make the relationship between the topics clearer.

6. Make sure AI and search engines can access your content

Great content isn't much use for search if crawlers can't access it.

For Google, pages need to be crawlable and indexed to be eligible to appear as supporting links in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Google says there are no additional technical requirements specifically for these AI features beyond its normal Search requirements.

For ChatGPT search, OpenAI says public websites can appear in results. Publishers that want their content to be discoverable and included in summaries and snippets should make sure they aren't blocking OAI-SearchBot.

This is worth checking with whoever manages your website, particularly if you use robots.txt rules, a content delivery network, or other security tools that control crawler access.

Good technical SEO still matters too. Clear internal links, useful page titles, descriptive metadata, accessible text, relevant images, and structured data where appropriate can all help search engines understand your pages.

Don't neglect the basics: AI-enabled search still relies on a lot of fundamental optimization principles.

7. Show why your information should be trusted

If you're writing about Australian tax requirements, cybersecurity, privacy regulations, or another subject where accuracy matters, readers need to know where the information came from. 

AI systems have the same problem. Support factual claims with reliable sources. Link to primary sources where possible, particularly government agencies, regulators, official documentation, and original research. Make it clear who created the content and keep information updated when the subject changes.

You can also strengthen an article with first-hand expertise. If your business has helped hundreds of customers solve a particular problem, explain what you've learned. If you have your own data, research, or customer examples, use them.

Trust isn't created by repeatedly telling people you're an expert. It's created by publishing information that demonstrates expertise.

8. Don't write for AI at the expense of people

There's an obvious temptation with AEO to structure every article purely around what you think an AI system wants. That can lead to awkward content filled with repetitive questions, forced keywords, and dozens of tiny sections.

Search engines and AI tools ultimately exist to help people find useful information. If your article is unpleasant for a person to read, you've missed the point.

Use clear headings. Answer questions directly. Keep paragraphs readable. Add tables when a comparison genuinely benefits from one. Use lists when they make information easier to follow. But still write like you're speaking to the business owner who came to your website looking for help, because that's still the ultimate goal.

How do you know if your AEO strategy is working?

AI visibility can be harder to measure than a traditional Google ranking, but there are still useful signals to watch.

Continue monitoring organic search performance through Google Search Console and your analytics platform. Google now provides dedicated Generative AI performance reports in Search Console, which can help you understand your site's visibility within features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode. This data also contributes to your broader Search performance reporting.

You can also monitor referral traffic from AI platforms. OpenAI, for example, says referral URLs from ChatGPT search include a utm_source=chatgpt.com parameter, which can help publishers identify traffic coming from ChatGPT.

Beyond traffic, look at whether your brand and content appear when people ask the kinds of questions your business wants to be known for.

Don't test one prompt once and treat the result as your ranking. AI answers can vary depending on the wording of a question, available sources, and context. Instead, monitor a consistent set of relevant questions over time.

Can you guarantee your business will appear in ChatGPT or Google AI answers?

No. There’s no guaranteed way to make your website appear in an AI-generated answer.

AI search results can change depending on the question someone asks, the sources available and the information the system finds useful. Your website might appear for one question but not for a slightly different one. That’s why AEO isn’t about trying to guarantee a mention. It’s about giving your content a better chance of being found, understood and used by creating clear, useful and trustworthy information.

SEO isn't disappearing. Search is expanding.

The rise of ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, and other AI-powered search experiences doesn't mean businesses should stop caring about SEO.

People still need reliable information, and AI systems need places to find it.

The opportunity is to think beyond ranking for a handful of keywords. Understand the questions your customers are asking, provide clear answers, add experience and information that others can't easily replicate, and make sure your website is technically accessible.

That's good SEO. It's also a strong foundation for AEO. The businesses that benefit most from AI search may not be the ones producing the most content. They'll be the ones producing information that's genuinely worth finding, understanding, and recommending.