In AI answers
AI search optimization so the answer can cite your page.
Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT and Perplexity answer with links to the pages they read. AI search optimization is the work that lets each of them reach your pages, understand them and quote them, in English and Spanish. Some call it GEO or AEO.
An animation of a robots.txt file with seven lines, one for each crawler. One line at a time switches from Allow to Disallow and shows what changes. Blocking Googlebot stops Google from reading the site, so it can’t appear in AI answers; blocking Google-Extended only keeps it out of Gemini’s training and grounding. Blocking OAI-SearchBot takes it out of ChatGPT search, while blocking GPTBot only keeps it out of OpenAI’s training. Blocking PerplexityBot takes it out of Perplexity’s results. Blocking Claude-SearchBot means Claude can’t index it for search, and blocking ClaudeBot keeps it out of Anthropic’s training.
What Google asks
Google’s bar for a page it cites
“There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary.”
Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”
To show as a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, a page has to be indexed and eligible for a snippet in Google Search. Google adds that you need no AI text files and no special schema.org markup.
Google’s own list of what still counts
- Crawling allowed in robots.txt and by your CDN or hosting
- Internal links that lead to the page
- A good page experience
- The important content written as text
- Images and video that support the text
- Structured data that matches the visible text
- An up-to-date Business Profile
Google’s own advice on hiring an SEO tells you to ask whether an agency’s “AEO” or “GEO” advice matches Google’s documentation. Ours starts from it.
Sources: Google Search Central, “AI features and your website” and “Do you need an SEO?”, read October 4, 2026.Read Google’s page
A page Google can’t crawl or index never reaches an AI answer, so the work starts with the technical base.
Technical SEOWriting
Pages written to be quoted
We write each section around one question and answer it in the first sentence, so a passage still makes sense if an answer lifts it on its own.
We keep your facts the same everywhere: prices, hours, service areas and services match on your site, your Google Business Profile and your listings. Structured data repeats what the page says, nothing more.
A question asked in Spanish can only cite a Spanish page if one exists. We write both versions ourselves and link them, so each engine finds the one that fits the question.
Do you repair tankless water heaters?
Yes. We repair and replace tankless water heaters, Monday to Saturday, in English or Spanish. Book online or call, and we confirm a visit the same day.
The question as a heading, the answer in the first sentence, then the facts a customer needs.
Measurement
Where AI visits show up in your numbers
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode
Search Console counts them in the Performance report, under the “Web” search type. Google Analytics files those visits under Organic Search.
ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and others
Google Analytics groups those visits in a channel of their own, AI Assistant.
Both live in your own Search Console and Google Analytics, and your monthly report reads them with the rest of your search traffic.
Sources: Google Search Central, “AI features and your website”, and Analytics Help, “[GA4] Default channel group”, read October 4, 2026.Read Analytics Help
In the SEO plans
Which plans include it
Growth and Pro cost more than Starter, which starts at $1,500.00 a month. We give you the price on the call, before anything starts.
Google’s list ends with an up-to-date Business Profile, and that work has a page of its own.
Local SEO- Growth
- 4 articles or service pages a month, up to 1,000 words each, with structured data and an FAQ with direct answers. 3-month minimum.
- Pro
- Pages prepared to be cited in AI answers, for up to 3 locations or a whole metro area. Up to 25 new city or service pages and 8 articles a month. 3-month minimum.
Questions
What owners ask about AI search
Is AI search optimization different from SEO?
It builds on it. Google says the same SEO best practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no extra requirements. The extra work is in the details: access for each engine’s crawler, passages that answer on their own and facts that match.
Should I block GPTBot?
That is your call. GPTBot collects pages to train OpenAI’s models. Blocking it keeps you out of that training and leaves you in ChatGPT search, which uses OAI-SearchBot.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
Not for Google: it says its AI features need no AI text files. llms.txt is a proposal, first published in 2024, that some AI agents read. If you publish one, its facts must match your pages.
Can I pay to be cited in AI Overviews?
No. Google says it doesn’t accept payment to crawl a site more often or to rank it higher.
How long until an AI answer cites my page?
We can’t promise a date. The page has to be crawled and indexed first, which Google says takes from a few days to a few weeks after a change. OpenAI says its search picks up a robots.txt change in about 24 hours.
Does it work in Spanish?
Yes. We write the Spanish pages ourselves and link each one to its English pair, so an engine can cite the version that matches the question.
How much does AI search optimization cost?
It comes with the Growth and Pro SEO plans, which cost more than Starter’s $1,500.00 a month. We give you the price on the call.
Next step
See how AI answers describe you
On a 20-minute call we look with you at what Google and ChatGPT answer about your business and your trade, and we tell you which plan fits.
Marketing audit: $500.00, credited in full if you sign a plan within 30 days: against the setup or, if it has none, the first month. The 20-minute call is free.