Google results
- 01Competitor Aservice page
- 02Competitor Bcategory guide
- outYour businessrelevant, but outside page one
AI search (AEO)
Help buyers find and trust you in AI search.
More buyers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI for a shortlist instead of clicking through search results. We check what those tools say about businesses like yours, then work on what's missing or wrong.
Get a free AI checkWhat does AI search work involve?
Answer engine optimisation (AEO), or AI search, is the work of improving how a business appears when AI tools answer a buyer's question. It shares foundations with SEO, but the answers and their sources need their own checks.
We pick a set of buyer questions about comparisons, recommendations and purchase decisions. We record what each tool said, which sources it relied on, and what it missed or got wrong.
The fix might be clearer service pages, better comparison content, corrected business details, stronger profiles or coverage on other sites. Your growth goals decide what comes first.
New to AEO? Read our practical guide to answer engine optimisation.
Google and AI tools can give different answers.
The same buyer question can rank you on Google and still leave you out of the AI answer. This illustrative example shows who appears, who gets named and which sources the answer used.
Example buyer question“Who supplies commercial acoustic flooring in Auckland?”
AI answeryou're not named
“Businesses commonly considered include Competitor A and Competitor C…”
source: industry directorysource: comparison articlesource: supplier profile
What it means
Google ranks pages. An AI answer also draws on directories, comparison articles and other public records, so the gaps are different. Illustrative example, not a client result.
See what AI tools say about you.
Enter your website and we'll check the questions your customers ask. Free, checked by a person, emailed within 3 working days.
- 1
Enter your website and email.
- 2
We pick the buyer questions from your site and run the check.
- 3
The Snapshot arrives by email within 3 working days. What's in it?
Why do AI tools leave some businesses out?
AI tools tend to name businesses they can find, understand and check against other sources. The usual reasons a business is missing:
Your website isn't clear
It doesn't plainly say what you offer, who for and where, or search tools can't read it properly.
Your records are thin
Your Google Business Profile, directory listings and reviews are missing, out of date or inconsistent.
Others don't mention you
The comparison articles, industry sites and lists the answers rely on talk about your competitors, not you.
Answers also change from one ask to the next, which is why we check several questions and tools rather than relying on one result.
Ready for a full plan?
The Search Growth Plan covers Google and AI search together: which buyer questions matter, where you're missing, and what to do first.