AI search optimization (AEO + GEO)
AI search optimization (AEO & GEO) for the market you serve
People now ask ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Gemini for recommendations. We improve the signals that help these tools find, understand and accurately describe your business, then measure where you show up in your town, region, state or across the country.
What's included
We improve the signals that help AI assistants find, understand and accurately describe your business for the questions people ask in your market, whether that is "best dentist in Tulsa" or "best project management software," and we measure where you show up.
- A baseline: what ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google say about you today
- A look at who gets recommended instead of you, and why
- A solid technical foundation: crawlability, indexing and structured data
- Answers written the way people actually ask, for your area or your industry
- Authority: reviews, consistent listings and trusted third-party mentions
- Repeatable visibility checks so you can see what changed
SEO, AEO and GEO in plain English
SEO (search engine optimization) helps your pages rank in Google and Bing results.
AEO (answer engine optimization) means shaping your site so AI assistants and search engines can pull a direct, correct answer from it. GEO (generative engine optimization) means improving how often generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity mention and recommend you.
Each one builds on the last, so we do all three together and aim them at the market you serve.
How we do it
A strategy, not a checklist of technical files. Six stages, repeated over time.
Baseline
What Google and the major AI tools show about your business today: we ask the questions your customers ask and record who gets named and which sources are cited.
Competitors
Who gets recommended instead of you, and the evidence behind them: reviews, pages, listings and mentions on other sites.
Technical foundation
Crawlability, indexing, site structure, speed and structured data, so search engines and AI tools can read your facts without guessing.
Content
Real answers to real questions, and a useful page for every service and area that matters in your market.
Authority
Reviews, consistent listings and credible third-party mentions. AI tools lean heavily on what other trusted sites say about you.
Measurement
Repeatable visibility checks across the same questions and tools, with plain-English reporting on what changed and what to do next.
Market-Matched Visibility
AI assistants answer local questions and national questions differently. We plan your work around the questions your customers ask, where they ask them.
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01
Local
A plumber in one town
Show up in the map pack and when someone asks an AI tool for the best ___ near me.
AEO + GEO Clear service-area facts, reviews that mention your town and the jobs you do, and plain answers to the questions locals ask.
Measured by Map-pack position and AI answers for the 10 to 20 searches that bring in your customers.
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02
Regional
A roofer covering 12 suburbs
Get found in every suburb you serve, not just the one your office is in.
AEO + GEO Service-area markup listing every city, plus reviews and listings that confirm where you actually work.
Measured by Rankings and AI mentions city by city, tracked and reported every month.
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03
Statewide
An insurance agency licensed in one state
Be the name people and AI tools trust across the state, not just at home.
AEO + GEO Consistent licensing, coverage and location facts that AI tools can confirm on other trusted sites.
Measured by Monthly AI visibility tracking across the state’s main cities and questions.
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04
Nationwide
An online store or remote service
Compete for national searches against bigger brands with bigger budgets.
AEO + GEO A strong, consistent brand, expert answers and mentions on the sites AI tools cite most.
Measured by A quarterly competitor and AI-citation report, plus a quarterly strategy call.
Selling in other countries? Work for businesses outside the US is available by request.
Check the technical basics in 10 seconds
Free and automatic. It checks whether Google and AI tools can crawl and read your homepage. It doesn’t measure whether they recommend you; the $595 audit does that.
We practice what we preach
This site runs on the same foundation: structured data, short answers on every FAQ and a robots.txt that lets search and AI crawlers in. We also publish an llms.txt file, but it’s optional: Google says you don’t need one to appear in its AI features.
One honest note: no one can promise what an AI assistant will say. What we can do is make your business the clearest, most consistent and best documented option in your market, and track the results.
Common questions
What is the difference between the free website check and the $595 audit?
The free check automatically tests a handful of technical signals on your homepage in about ten seconds. The $595 audit is a human review of your whole site, your competitors, your Google visibility and what AI tools actually say about you, followed by a prioritized plan and a walkthrough call.
Related: Free website check · The $595 audit
Will my business show up in ChatGPT after the audit?
Not automatically. The audit shows what may be keeping your business from being found or recommended, who shows up instead and what to fix first. No one can guarantee inclusion in AI answers.
Related: The $595 audit · AI search optimization
What is AI search optimization?
AI search optimization is the work of helping AI assistants like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Gemini find, understand and accurately describe your business. It is also called AEO (answer engine optimization) or GEO (generative engine optimization).
What is the difference between SEO, AEO and GEO?
SEO helps your pages rank in search results, AEO helps your business get pulled into the direct answers search engines and assistants give, and GEO helps generative AI tools like ChatGPT mention and recommend you. They build on each other, so we do all three.
Does AI search work for local businesses or only national brands?
Both. Local businesses can be named for questions like "best roofer in Boise," and national brands for questions like "best payroll software for small business." We plan the work around your market.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend my business?
No one can guarantee what an AI assistant says, and you should be wary of anyone who does. We make your business clear, consistent and well documented so you are a strong candidate, and we track what the assistants say over time.
What is an llms.txt file?
An llms.txt file is a short, plain-text summary of a website, like setandseen.com/llms.txt. It is optional: Google says you don’t need it to appear in its AI features, so we treat it as a small extra, not a strategy.
Why does structured data matter?
Structured data (schema.org markup) states facts like your business name, services, service area and hours in a format machines read reliably. It helps search engines describe you accurately, though it is not a guarantee of AI citations.
Find out what's costing you customers.
The Website & AI Visibility Audit: a prioritized plan in 7 business days, with a 45-minute walkthrough. Fully credited toward any build.