What is AI SEO? A plain-English guide for local businesses
AI SEO is the work of getting your business named in AI-generated answers. Here's what it means, the jargon decoded, and where a local business should start.
By the AccordX team · Updated
AI SEO in one sentence
AI SEO is everything you do so that AI assistants and AI search features, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI Overviews, mention and recommend your business when people ask relevant questions.
The jargon, decoded
You'll see several names for roughly the same idea:
- GEO, generative engine optimization: optimizing for answers written by generative AI.
- AEO, answer engine optimization: optimizing to be the direct answer rather than a link in a list.
- LLM SEO or AI search optimization: the same goal, named after the large language models behind the assistants.
How it differs from regular SEO
Regular SEO aims for a high position in a list of results that a person scans and clicks. AI SEO aims to be named inside the answer itself, often without a click.
The foundations overlap: a fast, clear website, accurate listings and strong reviews help both. AI SEO adds more weight on plain, factual statements, consistency across many sites, content that answers specific questions, and structured data that machines can read without guessing.
What AI SEO work looks like
For a local service business, a typical AI SEO program covers:
- An audit of what the major assistants currently say about you and your competitors
- Service pages and FAQs written to answer real customer questions directly
- Schema markup for your business, services, service area and reviews
- Consistent details across your site, Google, Bing, Apple Maps and key directories
- Review requests that encourage customers to describe the work and location
- Making sure AI crawlers can access your site, and publishing an llms.txt summary
- Monthly tracking of mentions across a fixed set of questions
Where to start
Start by asking the assistants. If they get your details wrong, fix the source of the mistake first, usually an old listing or a vague website. If they don't mention you at all, build out clear service pages and reviews before anything else.