AI search optimization

More people are turning to AI-powered search experiences to ask questions, compare options, and evaluate brands before they ever visit a website. To show up – and to show up favorably – means shaping the sources these AI platforms pull from and the narratives they repeat.

Let’s build a program that does just that.

Why AI search is a brand challenge

What AI platforms say about your brand is ultimately a reflection of your broader digital presence. That’s why we approach AI search optimization at the brand level. It’s no narrow technical tactic.

AI platforms pull from far and wide to form recommendations and responses. Sure, your website, but also earned media, reviews, forums, social. Improving visibility in AI-generated answers means strengthening how your brand is understood, referenced, and trusted across that spectrum.

Our approach to AI search is grounded in that reality – but we know the execution’s got to be as unique as the brand behind it. Every brand has different authority gaps, competitive pressures, citation landscapes, and visibility opportunities shaping how AI platforms interpret them.

Strengthening those signals improves more than AI visibility alone. It creates a brand that’s better understood, more consistently represented, and easier to trust across the modern search landscape.

Our AI search optimization services

Improving AI visibility takes more than optimizing a single page or platform. Here’s all that goes into it.

1. Understand your current visibility and perception

We start by determining where you show up across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews — and where you don’t. This includes identifying the themes, strengths, and narratives AI already associates with your brand, as well as what’s holding you back.

2. Find the exact sources AIs rely on

Every AI answer is built from citations like high-authority websites, third-party profiles, comparisons, reviews, and your own site. We track down which sources are shaping your narrative today, which are missing, and which need to be strengthened or corrected.

3. Optimize your site to be a trusted AI source

We ensure your website is structured so AI platforms can get the info they need cleanly and confidently:

  • Clean crawl paths
  • Strong internal linking
  • Structured data and entity markup
  • Clear, citation-friendly content blocks
  • Nuanced brand narratives that guide how AI interprets your offerings
4. Build content designed for AI and humans

We create (or refine) content so it’s:

  • Properly formatted
  • Supported by data and summaries
  • Built around real user questions and prompts
  • Consistent with your broader brand story
5. Strengthen your citations across the web

If you want AI platforms to talk about your brand accurately, they need clear, consistent information to pull from across the web. We identify the outlets, directories, profiles, and comparison sources that influence your visibility and perception — then create a plan to update, expand, or optimize them.

Why brands are paying attention to AI search

More brands are actively evaluating how AI platforms interpret, describe, and recommend them, especially as buyers increasingly rely on those answers during research and decision-making.

This is the kind of stuff you can expect when you give AI search optimization some real attention:

  • Appear more often in relevant AI-generated answers
  • Shift perception toward your strengths and value props
  • Close brand visibility gaps competitors benefit from
  • Ensure your website is a primary source AI pulls from
  • Reduce inaccuracies, outdated information, or weak narratives
  • Improve non-branded discovery and branded demand
  • Future-proof organic performance as AI becomes the default interface for search
  • Prevent competitors or the average Joe from shaping your brand’s narrative for you
AI search reporting

The proof is in the pudding (and data). And just cause it’s new doesn’t mean there’s nothing to work off.

As with all of our marketing, we aim to provide a clear picture of what’s changing, why, and what that means for your marketing campaign, tracking KPIs including:

  • Visibility across major AI platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews, etc.)
  • Sentiment and narrative shifts
  • Citation adoption and improvements
  • Referral traffic from major AI platforms
  • Changes in branded and non-branded search demand
  • And arguably most importantly, conversions influenced by AI-driven discovery
FAQ
Who AI search optimization is for?

AI Search Optimization is ideal for brands that:

  • Compete in crowded or research-heavy categories
  • Want to influence how AI platforms interpret their offerings
  • Rely on organic growth or brand visibility
  • Need to strengthen reputation and trust signals
  • Want to own their narrative instead of inheriting one

Or, basically, if your customers research, compare, or evaluate before purchasing, AI search is already shaping their decisions, so this is for you.

How is AI search optimization different than SEO?

Traditional SEO focuses on improving visibility in search engine (e.g., Google) results. AI search optimization focuses on how AI platforms (e.g., ChatGPT or Perplexity) interpret, summarize, recommend, and cite your brand within the answers they generate. For sure there’s overlap, but each is going to require a bit of a different lens.

How quickly can you influence AI visibility?

Some improvements can happen relatively quickly, especially when fixing inaccurate or inconsistent information. But broader visibility and perception shifts tend to happen over time as AI platforms recrawl, retrain, and reassess the signals associated with your brand.

Ready to take control of your brand in AI search?

If you’re ready to move your brand from "who?" to "them again?" (in the best way), we should talk.