Guide. Last reviewed 3 November 2026
What is AI search optimisation?
AI search optimisation is the practice of making your website easy for AI search features and assistants to crawl, understand and cite. It overlaps heavily with SEO. Google says there are no extra requirements for its AI features, so clear, crawlable, helpful content remains the base.
What is AI search optimisation?
AI search optimisation means preparing your site so AI tools can find, read and cite it. Examples include Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity.
People also call it generative engine optimisation, or GEO. The goal is a place in the answer or a link beside it, not only a blue link in a results list.
Nobody can guarantee a mention. These systems choose what to show, and their choices change.
How is AI search optimisation different from SEO?
For the most part it is the same work with a wider audience. Google says site owners should follow the same SEO fundamentals for its AI features. A page must also be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet.
The new parts are about other companies’ crawlers and how your content reads when lifted out of context. They also cover tracking mentions that do not produce a click.
What is answer engine optimisation?
Answer engine optimisation, or AEO, is the same idea with a narrower focus. It is about structuring pages so a search feature or assistant can lift a direct answer.
In practice that means a clear question as a heading, a short answer straight after it, and the detail below. This page follows that pattern.
Comparison
How do the two compare?
| Area | Classic SEO | AI search optimisation |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank pages in results | Be read, used and cited in generated answers |
| Crawlers | Search engine crawlers | Search engine crawlers plus assistant crawlers, each with its own rules |
| Content | Helpful pages that match search intent | The same, written so a direct answer can stand alone |
| Technical base | Indexable, fast, structured pages | The same, with crawler access reviewed bot by bot |
| Measurement | Rankings, clicks, impressions | Search Console for Google, plus checking assistants by hand |
What helps a site appear in AI answers?
Four things have support in the vendors’ own documentation. Each is within your control.
Let the right crawlers in
Different bots do different jobs, and they do not all treat robots.txt the same way. Check each vendor’s own page.
- OpenAI says it uses OAI-SearchBot and GPTBot robots.txt tags to let site owners manage how their content works with its AI. It recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot if you want to appear in ChatGPT search, and says disallowing GPTBot signals that content should not be used for training. ChatGPT-User acts when a person asks, and OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply to it.
- Anthropic runs ClaudeBot, Claude-User and Claude-SearchBot, and says they honour robots.txt. Blocking Claude-SearchBot may reduce your visibility in search answers.
- Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot to appear in its results. Perplexity-User fetches pages when a person asks, and Perplexity says it generally ignores robots.txt.
You may want to allow search bots but block training bots. That is a business decision, and we can help you make it.
Be indexable in Google
For Google’s AI features, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear with a snippet. Check that nothing blocks it with noindex or nosnippet.
Keep key content in text
Google lists keeping important content in text form, using internal links and allowing crawling among practices that still help. Do not hide answers inside images or content that only appears after a script runs.
Match structured data to visible text
Google says there is no special schema.org markup needed for AI features. Structured data is still worthwhile for rich results, and Google recommends JSON-LD. Make it match what a visitor can read.
What is not proven
- Any promise of a ranking position or a guaranteed mention in an assistant
- Special tricks written for a single assistant, because these systems change often
- Claims that a particular file or markup type forces a citation
Does llms.txt work?
llms.txt is a proposal, not a proven ranking factor. Jeremy Howard proposed it on 3 September 2024. It is a Markdown file at the root of a site that gives AI tools a short guide to your content.
Google’s guidance says site owners do not need AI text files to appear in its AI features. We have not found a major assistant that says it reads the file.
It costs little to publish, so some sites keep one as a tidy index. Do not expect it to change your visibility on its own. Spend your effort on crawler access, indexing and clear content first.
How to check your site
- Open your robots.txt and look for rules naming the bots above. Decide which you want to allow.
- Use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console to confirm key pages are indexed and no preview control blocks them.
- View your key pages with scripts switched off and see whether the main content is still there as text.
- Compare your structured data with the visible text on the page.
- Ask a few assistants questions your customers would ask. Results vary from one run to the next, so treat this as a rough check.
- Keep your company facts the same everywhere: legal name, address, contact details and services.
Google also says AI feature traffic is reported in the Performance report under the Web search type in Search Console.
How should you write a page so it can be cited?
Assistants quote passages, not whole pages. Write each section so it makes sense on its own.
- Put the question in the heading, in the words a customer would use.
- Answer it in the first sentence or two, then add the detail.
- Use short definitions, step lists and comparison tables where they fit, because they are easy to lift cleanly.
- Name the source for any fact and link to it.
- State who you are and what you do plainly, the same way on every page and every profile.
- Update pages when facts change, and show the date you last reviewed them.
None of this is new. It is good writing for people, and it happens to suit machines that summarise pages as well.
Sources
Every figure or rule on this page comes from a public page we opened and read. Last reviewed 3 November 2026.
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website, for eligibility, no special optimisation, no AI text files and measurement.
- OpenAI: Crawlers, for OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot and ChatGPT-User.
- Anthropic: Does Anthropic crawl data from the web?, for ClaudeBot, Claude-User and Claude-SearchBot.
- Perplexity: Crawlers, for PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User.
- llms.txt proposal, for the format and status of llms.txt.
- Google Search Central: Introduction to structured data, for JSON-LD and rich result eligibility.
FAQ
AI search optimisation questions
What does AI search optimisation mean?
It is making your site easy for AI search features and assistants to crawl, understand and cite. It builds on SEO rather than replacing it.
What is answer engine optimisation?
It is the part of AI search optimisation that structures content so a direct answer can be lifted: a clear question, a short answer, then the detail.
Is AI search optimisation the same as SEO?
Mostly. Google says AI features follow the same fundamentals as Search. The extra work covers other assistants’ crawlers and how your content reads in a generated answer.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
No. Google says AI text files are not needed for its features, and no major assistant is known to confirm it reads one. It is a low cost extra at best.
How do I get ChatGPT to mention my business?
You cannot force it. Allow OAI-SearchBot, make your pages clear and indexable, and keep your facts consistent. No one can guarantee a mention.
Should I allow AI crawlers on my website?
Allowing search crawlers is what lets assistants cite you. Training crawlers are a separate choice. Decide each one by what you want from it.
Related service
AI search optimisation from Zemash
Our AI search optimisation service reviews crawler access, content and structure. Read our SEO migration checklist if you are changing your site.
Last reviewed 3 November 2026. Written by Zemash Ltd.
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