What is AI search optimisation?
AI search optimisation is the work of making your business easy for AI assistants to find, understand and recommend. It covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini and similar tools. You will also see it called GEO (generative engine optimisation) and AEO (answer engine optimisation). Our guide to GEO, SEO and AEO explains how the terms relate.
There are no guarantees in this field. No one can promise you a mention. What you can do is measure where you stand, fix the known blockers, and measure again.
Step 1: Run the 20-prompt test
Before you change anything, find out what the assistants already say about you.
Write 20 prompts in four groups:
| Group | How many | Example (for a plumber in Leeds) |
|---|---|---|
| Category | 5 | "Best emergency plumber in Leeds" |
| Comparison | 5 | "Plumber A vs plumber B for boiler repair" |
| Problem | 5 | "My boiler pressure keeps dropping, who can fix it near me?" |
| Brand | 5 | "Is [your business] any good?" |
Use words real customers use. Our brand visibility guide has more on writing prompts.
Run each prompt in at least three places: ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google (check whether AI Overviews or AI Mode appear). Use a clean session, not one that remembers you.
Log four things per answer:
- Were you mentioned?
- Were you linked or cited?
- Were you recommended over others?
- Which competitors and sources appeared?
You now have a baseline. Answers vary from run to run, so repeat the test monthly and compare patterns, not single answers.
Step 2: Check that AI crawlers can reach you
If an assistant cannot fetch your pages, nothing else matters. Check your robots.txt and any bot rules at your CDN or host. The crawlers to check include GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User (OpenAI), ClaudeBot (Anthropic), PerplexityBot and Google-Extended. Our guide to ranking higher in ChatGPT explains what each one does, so you can block training and still allow search if that is your choice.
The two settings often disagree. Fix that first, because it is quick.
Step 3: Make the basics unmissable
Assistants build an answer from pages that state facts clearly.
- Say who you are in the first lines of your homepage and key pages: what you do, where, for whom.
- Lead each section with the answer, then the detail.
- Keep facts consistent across your site, your Google Business Profile and your listings: name, address, services, prices, hours.
- Name things the way customers do.
Our AI-ready content structure guide shows how to lay pages out.
Step 4: Be described well on other sites
Assistants rarely rely on your site alone. Review sites, directories, industry roundups and forums shape what they say. If the third-party descriptions of you are thin, wrong or missing, that is usually the biggest gap the test shows.
Look at which sources appeared in your Step 1 logs for competitors. Those are the places to be listed accurately.
Step 5: Add structured data and, optionally, llms.txt
Mark up your organisation, products or services and articles with schema where it is accurate. Structured data helps machines read your page; it does not guarantee a mention.
On llms.txt, be realistic. Google has said it does not use the file, and no major AI provider has publicly committed to reading it. We offer it because it costs little and documents your site for any tool that does read it, but do not expect it to move results. Our llms.txt guide covers the evidence.
What does not work
- Stuffing prompts or fake Q&A onto pages. Assistants quote clear writing; they do not reward padding.
- Buying mentions from low-quality sites. They also feed the sources assistants may distrust.
- Judging by one answer. Responses change between runs and sessions.
- Promises of guaranteed AI rankings. No provider offers a ranking you can buy.
How to read your results after a month
| What you see | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Not mentioned in any group | Crawler access or entity clarity problem. Start at Steps 2 and 3 |
| Mentioned on brand prompts only | The assistants know you exist but do not pick you for category prompts. Work on Step 4 |
| Mentioned but never linked | Your pages may not be the quoted source. Check Step 3 |
| Competitors cited from sites you are not on | Get listed accurately on those sites |
Frequently asked questions
What is AI search optimisation? It is the work of making your business easy for AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI features to find, understand and recommend. It is also called GEO or AEO.
How do I check whether ChatGPT recommends my business? Write about 20 prompts customers would use, run them in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, and log whether you are mentioned, cited and recommended. Repeat monthly.
Can I guarantee a mention in AI answers? No. No provider sells a guaranteed placement, and answers vary between runs. You can only remove blockers and improve clarity.
Do I need llms.txt? It is optional. Google has said it does not use the file, and no major AI provider has committed to reading it. It is cheap, but do not count on it.
Is AI search optimisation different from SEO? It overlaps. Crawlable, clear, well-linked pages help both. AI search adds a focus on being described accurately on third-party sources and on answer-first writing.
Find out where you stand
The 20-prompt test shows you the gap. TapasSEO's GEO / AEO Discovery & Visibility Audit runs the structured version for you across several AI engines, checks your site's readiness, and gives a prioritised fix list you can act on.
If you only want the machine-readable file for your site, the LLMs.txt Config builds it with the matching robots.txt rules. You can also try the free AI Visibility Checker first.