Draft: hidden from Google until Dan signs it off.
AI search optimisation (sometimes called GEO or AEO) means making your business the one ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, Copilot and Perplexity name when someone asks for what you sell. These tools search the web, read what comes back, and recommend what the sources agree on. So the work is the same three things, done properly: let their crawlers in, publish pages worth quoting that answer the follow-up questions too, and get mentioned on other sites. I'm based on the Central Coast, NSW, and work with businesses across Australia.
Written by Dan Picken, founder. Last checked 28 October 2026.The question
best family car under $40k
Example. The AI builds its answer from the pages that cover these. Two missing means someone else gets quoted.
Audience first
Nobody types 'accountant Gosford' into ChatGPT. They describe their situation. Google says AI Mode searches are about three times longer than traditional searches. Longer questions carry more about the person asking, which means the page AI quotes has to fit the person, not just the keyword.
Write the real questions
For each type of buyer, write the questions they'd ask an AI, in their words, including the follow-ups.
Run them and record who wins
Ask each one in ChatGPT, AI Mode and Perplexity. Record who gets named and which sources get cited.
Fill the gaps
Build the page that answers the question and its follow-ups, and get mentioned on the sources AI is already citing.
Worked example: an accountant
Two people, both looking for an accountant, asking AI in completely different ways:
The new sole trader
'I just started as a sole trader electrician, do I need an accountant or can I do it myself in Xero'
The growing business
'accountant on the Central Coast who handles payroll and GST for a business with 12 staff'
Each question gets a page that answers it directly. That's what AI quotes, and what the person reads when they click through to check you out.
From my audits
When I run AI visibility audits, the same few problems turn up again and again. These are the ones I check first.
The robots.txt or a hosting setting blocks AI search crawlers, usually because someone wanted to stop AI training and blocked everything.
The business has worked hard on Google and has never checked Bing. Half its pages aren't in Bing's index, so anything that reads Bing can't find them.
Service pages full of adjectives and no facts. There is nothing specific for an AI to repeat, so it names someone whose page says something.
Great website, nothing about them anywhere else. To an AI looking for agreement across sources, they're a risky answer.
The page answers 'what does it cost' and stops. The AI's follow-up searches about timing, warranty and who it suits go to competitors.
No one has asked the questions in ChatGPT, checked GA4 for AI referrals, or added AI to the 'how did you hear about us' list. So nobody knows if it's working.
How AI decides who to name
AI answers about businesses aren't pulled from memory. The tools run searches, read the pages that come back, and write from what those pages agree on. Every step is a place you can win or lose.
Each AI company has its own crawler. If your robots.txt or your host blocks it, you can't be read. OpenAI says sites that block its search crawler won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
What I do: Run the AI door check below. Allow the search crawlers, choose for yourself on the training ones.
Google's AI runs a set of related searches behind each question and pulls from the pages that answer them.
What I do: Answer the follow-up questions too, each in its own short section. That is what Fan-out Mapping is for.
Not every AI reads Google. ChatGPT uses search providers such as Bing, and Copilot is built on Bing.
What I do: Set up Bing Webmaster Tools and check your pages are actually in Bing. Most Australian businesses never have.
Being named depends on the pattern across sources. Ahrefs found branded web mentions correlated far more with ChatGPT visibility than backlinks did (correlation, not proof).
What I do: Get mentioned where your buyers look: directories, local news, industry lists, reviews. Earned, never bought.
AI quotes specific, clear statements. 'We pride ourselves on quality' gives it nothing to say about you.
What I do: Put the facts in plain words: what you do, for whom, where, how long it takes, what affects the price.
Worth knowing: Google says its AI features don't need special files like llms.txt or special markup. Good SEO is the base. If someone sells you a 'GEO' package that's mostly special files, ask what else is in it.
AI door check
Before any AI can recommend you, its crawler has to be allowed to read your site. Your robots.txt file decides that, crawler by crawler. Some crawlers feed AI search. Others only collect training data. Plenty of sites block both by mistake.
Open yourwebsite.com.au/robots.txt in a new tab, copy everything, and paste it below. It stays in your browser.
robots.txt isn't the only door. Some hosts and Cloudflare can block AI crawlers at the firewall, which this can't see. Check your hosting settings too.
Paste your robots.txt, or load the example, to see who can get in.
Google Search, including AI Overviews and AI Mode.
Blocks you from Google altogether. Almost never what you want.
Whether your content helps improve Gemini. Google says it doesn't affect inclusion or ranking in Google Search.
Your choice. Blocking it keeps you in Google Search.
Bing, and the AI answers built on Bing, including Copilot. ChatGPT also uses search providers such as Bing.
Blocks you from Bing and the AI answers that read it.
ChatGPT search. OpenAI says sites that block it won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers.
Blocks you from ChatGPT search answers.
Collects content to train OpenAI's models. A separate setting from search.
Your choice. Blocking it keeps you in ChatGPT search.
Perplexity's search results. Perplexity says it isn't used to train AI models.
Blocks you from Perplexity search results.
Search results in Claude. Anthropic says blocking it may reduce your visibility in its search results.
Blocks you from Claude's search results.
Collects content that may be used to train Anthropic's models.
Your choice. Blocking it keeps you in Claude search.
Consumer psychology
Getting named is half of it. What people do next, once AI has given them a name, is where the sale is won or lost. Here's what the research says.
01Starting the search
In an Ideally survey of 809 Australians, half had used AI to research a purchase, but only 3% would buy on an AI recommendation alone.
AI puts you on the shortlist. It rarely closes the sale.
What I do: Treat AI visibility as getting on the shortlist, then make sure the rest of the journey closes it.
02Checking you out
In the same survey, over half would check an unfamiliar brand suggested by AI, most often by searching Google.
The search for your business name is the moment of truth after an AI recommendation.
What I do: Search your own name. Google Business Profile, reviews and the first page of results must back up what the AI said.
03Deciding who to trust
Asked who they'd trust most for a major purchase, 26% said Google results, 25% friends and family, 20% online reviews and 6% an AI assistant.
People still lean on reviews and other people. So does the AI: it reads the same sources.
What I do: Reviews and mentions do double duty. They persuade the person and they feed the AI.
04Reading the page
Statements that are easier to read are judged true more often than the same statements made harder to read.
Clear, plain pages are easier for a person to believe and easier for an AI to quote accurately.
What I do: Short sentences, one fact per line, the technical term once and then the plain version.
I'm a marketer, not a psychologist. This is published research, linked so you can read it yourself. The survey is one Australian sample of 809 people, so treat the numbers as a direction, not a law.
Method: Buyer State Mapping
People ask AI different things depending on how close they are to buying. Each question needs something different on your site before an AI will quote it.
1Working it out
'is a heat pump cheaper to run than gas hot water in NSW'
Trades
2Comparing options
'best CRM for a 10 person real estate office in Australia'
B2B
3Ready to act
'physio near Terrigal open Saturday that does dry needling'
Health
Where AI answers come from
There isn't one 'AI search'. Each tool has its own crawler and its own sources, so being visible in one doesn't mean you're visible in all of them.
Searches the web when it needs current information, sharing the question with providers such as Bing. Its search crawler is OAI-SearchBot.
Best for: Anyone whose buyers ask for recommendations or comparisons. Check Bing as well as Google.
Built on Google Search. AI Mode launched in Australia in October 2025 and runs related searches behind each question.
Best for: Almost everyone. If you rank well in Google, this is where you start.
Built on Bing. Bing Webmaster Tools reports which of your pages Copilot cites.
Best for: B2B and anyone whose buyers work on Windows and Microsoft 365 all day.
Uses its own crawler, PerplexityBot, which it says is for search results, not AI training.
Best for: Research-heavy buyers. It shows its sources clearly, so citations are easy to check.
Uses Claude-SearchBot for search. Anthropic says blocking it may reduce your visibility in its search results.
Best for: Professional and B2B buyers who use it for work research.
How it works
I run your buyers' questions through ChatGPT, AI Mode and Perplexity, check your crawler access and Bing, and send the top 3 fixes. Then a 20-minute call.
Fix robots.txt and hosting settings, set up Bing Webmaster Tools, and make sure your key pages are in both indexes.
Pages that answer the question and its follow-ups in plain, specific words, angled to the person asking.
Get named on the sources AI already cites, then rerun the questions every month and report what changed.
What you get
Signals this works on
Out of the 8 signals every page and ad sends.
Making your business the one AI tools like ChatGPT, Google's AI Mode, Copilot and Perplexity name when people ask for what you sell. It's sometimes called GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AEO (answer engine optimisation).
Less than people selling it suggest. Google says its AI features need no special files or markup, and good SEO is the base. The differences are checking crawler access for each AI, getting into Bing, answering the follow-up questions, and earning mentions on other sites.
No, and nobody honestly can. AI answers change from one ask to the next. What I can do is fix what stops you being named, and show you each month how often you are.
Block training if you want to, but not search. OpenAI treats its search crawler and its training crawler as separate settings. Blocking the search crawler keeps you out of ChatGPT search answers. Google says Google-Extended doesn't affect Google Search.
Not for Google. Google says its AI features don't need llms.txt or other special files. It does no harm, but it's not where results come from.
Ask it the questions your buyers would ask and note who it names. Then check Bing Webmaster Tools' AI Performance report, look for chatgpt.com and perplexity.ai in GA4 referrals, and add 'AI' to your 'How did you hear about us?' question.
No. OpenAI says ads are shown separately and don't influence ChatGPT's answers.
Increasingly. In one survey of 809 Australians, half had used AI to research a purchase, though most still check with Google before deciding.
Takes a minute. You'll hear back within 1 to 2 business days.
What happens next
Keep going