Get found where search is heading. We optimise your content and brand so it gets cited, referenced and recommended by AI search platforms, putting you in front of the customers of tomorrow.
Millions of people now use ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews to find businesses, services and answers. Unlike traditional search, these tools do not show a list of links. They pick one or two sources and recommend them directly.
If your business is not being cited in those answers, your competitors are. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the process of building the signals that make AI tools choose to mention your business when your customers are asking the questions that matter to you.
This is not a distant future concern. AI-powered search is already shaping buying decisions today, and the businesses building for it now will have a significant advantage over those that wait.
Talk to us about AI searchEach AI search platform retrieves and surfaces information differently. Optimising for one is not the same as optimising for all of them. We understand how each one works and what it takes to appear in each.
The most widely used AI assistant. When users ask ChatGPT about local services, industries or businesses, it draws on its training data and web browsing to generate answers. Appearing in those answers requires strong entity recognition and authoritative web presence.
Data source Training data, Bing web search, cited web pagesPerplexity is a search-first AI tool that pulls live results and cites its sources visibly. Users searching for service providers in a specific area will see sourced recommendations. Citation here is highly visible and drives direct traffic.
Data source Live web search via Bing and independent crawlGoogle's AI-generated summaries appear at the top of search results for millions of queries. They draw on indexed content and structured data. Being selected as a source in an AI Overview can generate significant impressions even without a first-page organic ranking.
Data source Google index, structured data, authoritative contentClaude, Microsoft Copilot and other AI assistants are increasingly used for research and recommendations. The signals that drive visibility across these platforms are largely consistent: entity clarity, structured data, authoritative backlinks and well-structured content.
Data source Training data, web search, cited contentThe common thread across all AI platforms: businesses with clear entity signals, structured data, quality backlinks and well-written authoritative content consistently appear more often. These are the foundations we build.
GEO is not a single tactic. It is a set of overlapping signals that together make your business a more credible, visible source for AI tools to cite and recommend.
There is a lot of confusion about whether AI search optimisation replaces traditional SEO. It does not. The two disciplines share most of their foundations and the businesses performing best in AI search are those with the strongest SEO to begin with.
GEO is not a single task. It is a structured programme of work, built on the specific signals AI tools use to decide who to cite. Here is what that looks like in practice.
We start by establishing your current baseline. We query ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews for the searches your customers are making and document where you appear, where your competitors appear and why the gap exists.
Based on the audit, we build a prioritised plan. This covers which entity signals to establish first, which content gaps to close, which structured data types to implement and which authority signals will move the needle fastest for your specific situation.
We implement the changes directly. Schema markup, entity disambiguation, content restructuring for AI citation format, Knowledge Panel work and the authority signals that tell AI retrieval systems your business is a credible source. We do the work, not just the recommendations.
We monitor how your business is cited across AI platforms for your target queries each month. As AI tools update their retrieval methods, we adjust the strategy accordingly. The landscape is moving quickly and static strategies go stale.
You get a clear monthly report covering citation frequency, the queries you are appearing for, traffic from AI-driven sources and the work completed. No dashboards full of metrics that do not matter. Just a clear picture of progress against the outcomes you care about.
AI retrieval systems do not rank pages the way Google does. They build a model of which sources are credible and relevant, then draw on that model when generating answers. These are the signals that shape that model.
AI tools build knowledge graphs of named entities. Your business, its location, its services, the people behind it and its relationships to other entities all need to be consistently represented across the web for AI tools to model you accurately.
Schema markup gives AI tools a machine-readable description of your business, your content and your offerings. It removes ambiguity. A site with well-implemented schema is far easier for an AI retrieval system to understand and cite with confidence.
AI tools prefer content that answers a question directly and completely in a short passage. Paragraphs that begin with a clear question and answer it immediately, with no preamble, are significantly more likely to be extracted and cited in AI-generated responses.
AI retrieval systems weight content that is already considered credible by the wider web. Links from relevant, high-authority domains and unlinked brand mentions both contribute to the credibility signal that makes AI tools confident citing you as a source.
For localised queries, AI tools combine entity data with topical signals to determine which businesses are genuinely relevant to a specific place and service category. Weak local signals are one of the most common reasons businesses are invisible in local AI search answers.
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness are signals Google uses to assess content quality and they are the same signals AI tools use when deciding which sources are safe to cite. Author credentials, case evidence and demonstrable depth all matter.
Every signal listed above is also a factor in traditional search engine optimisation. This is why the businesses best positioned for AI search are the ones that have invested consistently in SEO over time. If your SEO foundations are weak, that weakness shows up in AI search too. GEO does not replace SEO work. It builds on it, and adds the specific additional layers that AI retrieval systems need.
The difference between traditional search and AI search is not just visual. It changes who gets seen, how they are presented and what happens next. Here is what that looks like for a real business query.
Google presents a list of options. The user reads titles and descriptions, clicks through to multiple sites and makes their own comparison. Your position in the list matters, but the user is still doing the evaluation work themselves.
The AI gives one answer, framed as a recommendation. There is no list to browse. The business cited gets the enquiry. The businesses not cited are invisible for that query, regardless of how good their website is.
Most businesses are not failing at GEO because they are doing the wrong things. They are failing because they are doing nothing at all, or making a small number of consistent, fixable mistakes.
AI retrieval systems use structured data to understand what a business is, where it operates and what it offers. Without schema markup, they are guessing. Sites without structured data are consistently underrepresented in AI-generated answers compared to equivalently authoritative competitors who have it properly implemented.
Implement Organisation, LocalBusiness and relevant service schema as a priority. Add FAQ schema to any question-and-answer content on the site.
AI tools verify entity information by cross-referencing multiple sources. If your business name, address, phone number or description varies between your website, Google Business Profile, industry directories and social profiles, that inconsistency signals uncertainty. The tool will cite a competitor it can verify with more confidence.
Audit every directory and profile where your business appears. Standardise name, address, phone and description so they match exactly, everywhere.
Most company websites are written to impress visitors rather than to answer questions. AI tools extract answers from content that directly addresses a query. Marketing copy about values and mission does not get cited. Content that begins with a clear question and answers it immediately does.
Identify the questions your customers actually ask and create content that answers each one directly, in the first sentence of the relevant section.
AI tools are more confident citing sources that the broader web already treats as credible. A site with few external links, no press mentions and no third-party references gives AI tools nothing to cross-reference. Authority is not just a ranking factor. It is a citation confidence factor too.
Build links from relevant directories, trade associations, local press and industry publications. Unlinked brand mentions also contribute to the authority signal.
The Google Knowledge Panel is one of the most direct signals AI tools use to confirm a business exists, what it does and where it operates. Businesses without a verified Knowledge Panel are harder for AI retrieval systems to identify as a real, established entity. It is a foundational step that many businesses skip.
Claim and verify your Google Business Profile, ensure Wikipedia or Wikidata entries exist where relevant, and build the structured data signals that trigger Knowledge Panel generation.
AI tools update their models, retrieval methods and citation sources on a rolling basis. A business that improves its GEO signals once and then stops will see those gains erode as competitors improve and as AI systems evolve. Visibility in AI search requires the same ongoing attention as traditional SEO.
Treat GEO as a continuous programme. Monitor citation frequency monthly, update content to match evolving query patterns and keep entity signals current as the business grows.
AI search visibility is not a one-size-fits-all service. These are the business types that see the strongest results from a structured GEO programme.
When a potential client asks an AI tool to recommend an accountant or legal firm in their area, you need to be the answer. AI search is increasingly the first touchpoint for high-value professional service enquiries.
B2B buyers research extensively before making contact. AI tools are becoming a primary research channel for procurement and decision makers. Being cited early in that research process shapes shortlists before you even know the buyer exists.
AI-powered shopping queries are growing fast. When someone asks "what's the best X for Y?" they increasingly get a direct recommendation, not a list of links. eCommerce brands that build AI citation signals early will gain a compounding advantage.
AI tools handle "near me" and location-specific queries by drawing on local entity data, reviews and structured business information. A well-optimised local business in Belfast or Derry can appear in AI answers just as prominently as a national brand.
Software buyers ask AI tools for tool comparisons and recommendations constantly. Appearing in those answers, and appearing accurately, is one of the highest-leverage activities a SaaS marketing team can invest in right now.
Consumers use AI tools to research purchases, compare options and validate decisions. B2C brands that show up consistently in those conversations build familiarity before the customer ever reaches a product page, which shortens the path to conversion.
When someone in Belfast, Derry or Bangor asks ChatGPT or Perplexity to recommend a local business or service provider, the answer they get is shaped by local entity data. That means your Google Business Profile, the consistency of your business information across local directories, your review profile and the geographic signals in your content all feed directly into whether you get cited or ignored.
A national brand does not automatically win in local AI search. A well-optimised local business with strong entity signals, consistent NAP data and authoritative local content can appear just as prominently as a competitor with ten times the domain authority, because AI tools weight local relevance heavily for localised queries.
Being based in Northern Ireland means we understand the local landscape. We know the directories that matter here, the local press that carries weight with AI retrieval systems and the nuances of optimising for a market that spans Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland simultaneously.
Northern Ireland businesses operate in a unique market. AI tools need clear signals that you serve NI specifically, not just a generic UK presence. We build those signals deliberately across the right platforms and sources.
Many NI businesses serve customers in both jurisdictions. Optimising for AI search in both markets requires separate entity signals, content strategies and local citation sources. We handle both without conflating them.
For location-specific queries, AI tools weight local relevance heavily. A Belfast business with strong local entity signals will often outperform a London-based national competitor in local AI search answers, even if that competitor has a far larger overall web presence.
From Belfast to North Down, we know which local directories carry genuine authority with AI tools, which local media sources are referenced by AI retrieval systems and what it takes to build credible local entity signals in the Northern Ireland market.
AI search visibility sits on top of strong SEO foundations. Here are the other services we offer to businesses across Northern Ireland and the UK.
Full-service SEO covering technical foundations, keyword strategy, content and link building to grow your organic visibility across Northern Ireland and the UK.
Learn moreDominate the local pack and map results for Belfast, Derry and every area you serve. We optimise your Google Business Profile and local signals properly.
Learn moreThe foundations AI search depends on. Crawlability, Core Web Vitals, site structure and structured data all feed directly into your GEO performance.
Learn moreStructured data is one of the strongest signals for AI search visibility. We implement the schema types that help AI tools understand and cite your business correctly.
Learn moreA thorough review of your site's technical setup, on-page optimisation and content to identify exactly what is holding your rankings and AI visibility back.
Learn more