SEO for AI means: your website is no longer read only by Google, but by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews — and shows up in their answers. That is where your customers ask their questions now. And an AI answers differently than Google: it does not show ten links, it gives one answer and names a handful of sources. If you are not in there, you do not exist for that search.
This is not theory. At the end of August my own website appeared 2,032 times in a single week in AI answers. At the beginning of June: zero. In between lies no ad budget and no agency — but a rebuild you can copy. First the numbers, then the steps.
From zero to 2,032 AI mentions: my numbers
On 15 July I rebuilt my website — 43 pages, structured from the ground up so machines can read them. Google Search Console shows for 8 June to 29 August:
- Mentions in AI answers: from 0 to 2,032 per week
- Appearances in Google search: from 106 to 5,329 per week — 48 times as many
- Visitors: from 6 to 66 per week
I documented the interim results after the first weeks here: Getting your website found on Google — from 0 to 27.6 times. And how the site was built technically is in Building a website with Claude Cowork.
One honest caveat belongs here: Search Console measures Google's own AI surfaces. What ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity recommend does not show up there — you check that with spot tests, more on that below.
What AI systems cite — the patterns
In August I compared which pages Google's AI Overviews cite for pricing questions about Claude. The result surprised me: among them were very small websites — no big portals. The cited pages had three things in common:
- Self-contained answer sentences. The answer sits complete in one sentence the AI can lift — not spread across three paragraphs.
- A table. Comparisons and numbers in table form, not buried in prose.
- A visible updated date. For pricing and legal topics, “is this still current?” decides whether a source gets used.
That is the good news for everyone without a big brand: AI systems do not cite the best-known page, they cite the most usable answer. You can win that.
AI search optimization: seven steps
This is how I built my site — and how you go about it:
- Answer real questions. Every section answers exactly one question someone actually asks — and does so in the first sentences, not at the end.
- Numbers, data, evidence instead of adjectives. “From 6 to 66 visitors” is something an AI can quote. “Significantly more visibility” is not.
- Comparisons in tables. Prices, options, before-and-after — anything that can be set side by side belongs in a table.
- An honest updated date. Visible in the article and in the schema — and only when something really changed. A faked freshness date gets found out and costs trust, with readers and machines alike.
- FAQ with schema. Phrase frequent questions as real search queries and add FAQPage schema — the schema answers must match the visible ones word for word.
- Do not forget Bing. ChatGPT reads Bing. Register new pages there (Bing Webmaster Tools or IndexNow) — the channel almost everyone overlooks.
- Measure, do not guess. In Search Console you can see the AI features under “Performance”. And once a week you ask ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity about your topic — do you come up?
What does not work
My numbers show this mercilessly too: my most-shown article answers a pricing question — 19,009 appearances, 184 clicks. Why? The answer is a number, and the AI displays it directly. Nobody clicks for that. Content whose answer fits in one line brings you visibility, but no visitors.
What does bring visitors: content whose answer does not fit in one line — a process, a decision, an experience with real numbers. Exactly the kind of content no mass-produced AI text without its own data can deliver.
And if you would rather not build this alone: this exact setup — a website plus structure for search engines and AI answers — is what we build together in the Website Sprint, in two weeks, as your property.
Frequently asked questions
What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is optimizing your website to appear as a source in the answers of AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. It complements classic SEO, it does not replace it.
How does my website get into ChatGPT's answers?
For current questions, ChatGPT relies on the Bing index. Your website needs to be registered there (Bing Webmaster Tools or IndexNow) and offer content an AI can cite: self-contained answer sentences, tables, real numbers and an honest updated date.
Is SEO for AI different from normal SEO?
The foundation is the same: clean structure, a fast site, content that answers real questions. The difference lies in the sharpening — AI systems lift individual sentences and tables as the answer. If you optimize for AI, you write quotably: one question per section, the answer complete in the first sentence.
How do I measure whether AI systems recommend my website?
Two ways: In Google Search Console you can see under “Performance” how often your page appears in AI features. For ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity you regularly ask about your topic yourself and note whether and how you are mentioned — a simple weekly routine is enough.
