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Questions, answered.

Direct answers to the questions marketing teams ask about SEO and AI search. Each answer links to a fuller guide or its source where one exists.

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Terms we use.

SEO (search engine optimisation)
Helping your business show up in Google’s normal, unpaid results when customers search for what you offer.
AI search
When people ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI for an answer or a recommendation instead of clicking through search results.
AEO (answer engine optimisation)
The work of improving how your business appears in AI search answers. GEO means much the same thing.
AI Overviews
The AI-written summary Google shows above its normal results for some searches.
Roadmap
A to-do list in priority order: what to do, why, and who does it.
Implementation
Doing the work in the roadmap: writing pages, fixing technical problems, building listings.
Technical SEO
Fixing problems that stop Google reading, indexing or loading your pages properly.
Impressions
The number of times one of your pages appeared in Google’s results.

What is AEO (answer engine optimisation)?

AEO stands for answer engine optimisation. It is the work of improving how a business appears when AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity answer a question.

It shares its foundations with SEO: pages that search tools can reach, clear information and evidence about your business on other sites. The difference is what you check. AEO asks whether an answer names your business, describes it correctly and links to a useful source.

Read the full guide to AEO

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What is GEO, and is it different from AEO?

GEO (generative engine optimisation) and AEO (answer engine optimisation) describe the same work: improving how a business appears when AI tools answer a question. Different people prefer different labels.

The useful question is not which acronym to use, but which buyer questions matter and what the answers say about you today.

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What is the difference between SEO and AEO?

SEO helps people find your website in search results. AEO focuses on how your business and information appear inside AI-generated answers.

Most of the work overlaps, and Google says its established SEO practices still apply to its AI features. What changes is the checking. A page can rank well while an AI answer still describes an old service, so AEO adds a review of what the answers actually say.

Source: Google Search Central, Optimising your website for generative AI features in Search (checked 26 September 2026)

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What are Google AI Overviews and AI Mode?

AI Overviews are AI-generated summaries that appear above some Google results, with links to explore further. AI Mode is a separate Google search experience for questions that need more reasoning or comparison.

Both run several related searches across subtopics, which Google calls query fan-out, and show supporting links. Google says there are no extra requirements to appear in either. A page needs to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in Google Search.

Source: Google Search Central, AI features and your website (checked 26 September 2026)

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Where does ChatGPT get information about businesses?

ChatGPT answers from what its model learned in training and, when it searches the web, from pages it finds at the time. OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot for search, and says sites that block it will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.

That means your website, your business profiles and what other sites say about you can all shape an answer. Check that your website allows OAI-SearchBot, and that the facts about your business are current wherever they appear.

Source: OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers (checked 26 September 2026)

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Can an agency guarantee ChatGPT will recommend my business?

No. No agency controls whether an AI tool names or cites a business, and answers change between checks. Research by SparkToro and Gumshoe found that brand recommendations varied considerably when the same questions were repeated.

An agency can show what appeared for defined questions at a stated time, which sources supported the answer, and what work could strengthen the evidence about your business.

Source: SparkToro and Gumshoe, Research on consistency in AI brand and product recommendations (checked 21 September 2026)

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How can I check what AI tools say about my business?

Ask the questions your customers ask before they buy, in the AI tools they use, and record the question, date, tool and answer. Open any sources the answer links to.

Use some questions that name your business, to check accuracy, and some that do not, to check whether you are suggested at all. Repeat the checks over time rather than judging from one answer.

Request a free AI Visibility Snapshot

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Does llms.txt or schema markup help with AI search?

Google says neither is required for its AI features, and that llms.txt will neither help nor harm. Structured data still helps search engines read business facts clearly, so it is worth keeping accurate.

The larger factor is useful, original content and evidence about your business on other sites.

Source: Google Search Central, Optimising your website for generative AI features in Search (checked 26 September 2026)

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SEO questions.

What does an SEO agency do?

An SEO agency helps more of the right people find your business through search engines. Google lists typical SEO services as reviewing site content and structure, technical advice, content development, keyword research, training and optimising for generative AI.

A useful agency also decides which of that work matters first for your business, and explains why. At INCITE, every recommendation names the customer question, page, owner and priority.

See our SEO approach

Source: Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO? (checked 26 September 2026)

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What is technical SEO?

Technical SEO is the work that lets search engines reach, understand and index your pages. It covers crawl access, redirects, broken pages, site speed, mobile layout, duplicate pages and how JavaScript loads content.

It rarely wins customers on its own, but a technical problem can stop a good page from being found. Fix the issues that affect the pages you most need customers to find first.

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What is E-E-A-T?

E-E-A-T stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google uses it to describe content people can rely on. Google says E-E-A-T itself is not a specific ranking factor, but its systems use a mix of signals that identify content with these qualities, and trust matters most.

In practice, show who wrote the content, what first-hand experience sits behind it and where the claims come from.

Source: Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content (checked 26 September 2026)

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How long does SEO take to show results?

It depends on what you change and how competitive the searches are. A technical fix on an important page can show once search engines recrawl it. A new page competing for valuable searches usually takes months to earn its place.

Google suggests asking any SEO what results they expect and in what timeframe. Google also warns that no one can guarantee a number one ranking.

Source: Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO? (checked 26 September 2026)

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How much does SEO cost in New Zealand?

SEO costs depend on the scope: a one-off strategy, a fixed programme or ongoing monthly support. INCITE’s standalone Search Growth Plan is $3,500 + GST. The four-month Search Growth Intensive is $2,000 per month + GST, or $8,000 + GST in total. Ongoing support ranges from $1,200 to $4,250 per month + GST.

Whoever you choose, ask what work the fee buys and how the agency will decide what comes first.

See pricing

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Strategy questions.

Do I need separate strategies for Google and AI search?

Usually not. The same foundations serve both: pages that search tools can reach, clear answers to customer questions and evidence about your business on other sites.

The differences show up in measurement and in some sources, such as directories and comparison articles that AI answers draw on. The Search Growth Plan covers Google and AI search in one roadmap, with different actions where the platforms need them.

Explore the Search Growth Plan

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Have a question that is specific to you?

Ask Kieren directly, or start with a free check of what AI tools say about your business.

Ask Kieren Get a free AI check