What AI search optimisation means
AI search optimisation is the work of making your business information accessible, useful and credible when people use search assistants to research a decision. It overlaps with SEO, content design and a clear customer journey. It cannot guarantee that an assistant will recommend your business.
Google says its existing SEO fundamentals apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no additional technical requirement or special AI schema. An on-site chatbot or vector database serves a different job: helping people search your own content. It is not a prerequisite for appearing in Google’s AI search features. Read Google’s guidance.
1. Check that the important pages can be found
List the pages that explain your core services. Open each without signing in and follow a link to it from your homepage or services page. Check that the page has a descriptive title, a canonical URL and a place in your sitemap. Ask your developer to check robots directives and response codes if a page is missing from search.
A useful check: Write down any core service that has no clear, accessible page.
2. Answer a real buying question
Choose a question a prospective customer actually asks, such as whether your service fits their situation or what a project includes. Put the direct answer near the top of the relevant page. Follow it with the detail needed to make a decision, rather than repeating keywords.
A useful check: A new reader should be able to explain your offer after one short read.
3. Make the business and its expertise verifiable
Use a consistent business name, accurate contact details and a clear description of where you work. Name the person responsible for the work and link to their relevant background. Add project examples that explain your contribution. Separate measured outcomes from examples, concepts and estimates.
A useful check: Check every important claim has visible evidence or a clear qualification.
4. Explain what happens before someone buys
A useful service page answers: who is this for, what do I receive, how does the work happen, how is it priced and what do I need to provide? State whether the first offer is a paid audit or a consultation. Explain which work is optional and which costs are separate.
A useful check: Remove ambiguity that would stop a suitable customer from enquiring.
5. Connect related information
Link a service to a relevant project and a useful guide. Let a reader move from understanding a problem to evaluating your experience and contacting you. Use descriptive link text. Structured data should describe the same business, content and services a visitor can actually see.
A useful check: Follow the journey on a phone, including opening and closing the enquiry form.
6. Record a baseline before changing things
Choose a small set of representative customer questions. Record the exact question, platform, date and any relevant settings when you sample an AI answer. Separately record available search traffic, referrals and qualified enquiries. Repeat consistently, and treat changes as observations rather than proof that one edit caused a result.
A useful check: Keep the question set stable enough to make your next review useful.
SEO, AI answers and paid ads are different
SEO improves the foundations for organic discovery. Clear, well-supported answers can help search systems understand your business. Paid advertising purchases sponsored exposure under a platform’s rules; it does not purchase an organic recommendation.
Keep the checks proportionate
Start with the pages that explain what you sell. A small site usually benefits more from resolving unclear offers and missing evidence than publishing dozens of near-identical articles. Do not add invented reviews, unsupported results or a public address solely to fill a schema field.
Ask your developer to check that relevant search crawlers can access the pages you want customers to find. Search access does not guarantee inclusion.
Turn the checklist into a plan
Pick three gaps: one preventing discovery, one making your offer unclear and one making contact harder. For each, write the page, the change, the person responsible and how you will verify completion. Review available traffic and enquiry data after allowing time for search systems to revisit the site.
Our AI search optimisation service starts with a scoped, paid audit. We can then implement agreed improvements. If the main issue is the website itself, explore website design and development.