AI Search Optimisation
Your buyers are already asking ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Bing Copilot to research suppliers and shortlist services. I'm Yassine Essaadi, an independent AI SEO consultant, and I help UK SMEs, B2B companies and ecommerce brands make their existing content, authority and technical foundations easier for AI systems to find, understand and reference — without starting your SEO from scratch.
Independent SEO consultant: Yassine Essaadi
AI search audits • Content and technical optimisation • Transparent reporting
Illustrative audit workflow
How I sample AI answers
Why this matters: AI answers vary between sessions and platforms, so I sample repeatedly and report trends rather than promises.
Why AI Search Visibility Matters for Businesses
Buyers now ask ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Bing Copilot to research suppliers, compare options and shortlist services. Being named or referenced in an AI answer shapes buyer consideration before anyone visits a site. As an independent SEO consultant, my goal is helping you earn the right enquiries, measured alongside normal SEO.
Early-stage research
Discovery & evaluation
Supplier and product comparisons
Evaluation & selection
Local and professional shortlists
Credible recommendations
Beyond Google
Cross-platform discovery
Ready to evaluate your AI search visibility?
Review how your brand is understood by answer engines, strengthen clear entity foundations, or plan a tailored international SEO strategy.
Search Landscape Breakdown
What Is AI Search Optimisation?
These are overlapping views of one job, not separate budgets.
AI Search Optimisation defined.
AI Search Optimisation is the practice of improving visibility, accuracy and relevance across AI-powered search and answer engines, such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and others. It works by making your site and brand easy for AI systems to find, understand and reference when answering real buyer questions. It builds directly on traditional technical SEO foundations—including crawlability, content quality, authority and technical health.
LLM optimisation.
LLM optimisation examines how content is structured so large language models can read, verify and reference it during retrieval. Clear factual statements, explicit definitions and clean document hierarchy make extraction reliable.
AI SEO.
The term is used loosely in the industry and often means using AI tools to produce content. I use it to mean SEO work for AI search, not AI-written content.
Answer engine optimisation (AEO).
Clear question-and-answer content for surfaces that give direct answers: featured snippets, voice search, and Perplexity-style answer engines that pull specific passages.
Generative engine optimisation (GEO).
The broadest umbrella: making your brand a credible source when generative tools summarise the web. As an independent SEO consultant, I help ensure your core propositions are clear and verifiable.
What I avoid.
Not hacks such as llms.txt tricks or attempts to manipulate models; these are unreliable and often short-lived. Nobody can promise inclusion in an AI answer or in model training data.
Book a consultationAI Search Optimisation vs Traditional SEO
They are not rivals; AI search work extends SEO rather than replacing it. Both disciplines work together to build comprehensive visibility across search engine result pages and conversational answer engines.
Rank individual pages to earn direct organic clicks.
Primary objective
Aims to rank pages in results and earn clicks across commercial and informational queries, from local visibility to comprehensive National SEO campaigns.
Measurement & metrics
Judged by rankings, impressions, clicks, and organic enquiries through established analytics and search console data.
Core pillars
Built on crawlability, relevance, content quality, links, and rigorous technical SEO health, using well-understood reporting frameworks.
Make your brand clear, retrieved, and cited in generative answers.
Primary objective
Aims for your brand and pages to be understood, retrieved and, where appropriate, cited inside generated answers across answer engines and assistants.
Measurement & metrics
Judged by sampled mentions, cited sources, referral traffic where available, and enquiries. Reporting is directional because outputs vary between sessions.
Core pillars
Adds focused attention to answer-ready content, clear entity architecture, and external credibility across trusted reference points and knowledge nodes.
What stays the same across both approaches
AI engines still rely heavily on organic web discovery. Foundational SEO best practices remain as critical as ever:
Crawlable, indexable pages that search spiders can access without blockers.
Original, helpful content that answers real buyer questions thoroughly.
Authority, genuine citations, and external trust signals that prove expertise.
Sound technical architecture, semantic HTML, and structured markup.
Traditional rankings no longer imply AI visibility, but remain an important baseline.
Honest note: No work can guarantee a place in AI answers. My focus is on making your content, technical foundations, and brand data as clear and authoritative as possible so models can easily retrieve and reference you.
ChatGPT, Google AI and Perplexity: How Each Platform Differs
Platforms differ in how they crawl, retrieve, summarise and cite, so I test prompts across several platforms for your niche instead of assuming one universal rule.
ChatGPT uses web retrieval to ground answers. Crucially, retrieval and citation are separate steps: many pages are retrieved during generation, but fewer are selected for cited source links.
Practical foundations
- Key pages must be publicly accessible (not blocked by robots.txt or logins, crawlable by OpenAI's search crawler).
- Content should answer questions buyers actually ask in short, clear paragraphs.
- Brand details (services, coverage, credentials) must be straightforward to parse.
- Claims should be supported by dates and named sources. Third-party references (reviews, directories, media mentions) can also matter.
These features sit directly within Google Search, using Google's index and core ranking systems alongside a generative layer. Supporting citation links are drawn straight from indexed results.
Practical foundations
- Crawlability, indexability, topical relevance, and helpful people-first content (E-E-A-T principles) remain the core base.
- Answering queries clearly near the top of the page assists both snippet extraction and overview synthesis.
- Ensuring technical integrity through technical SEO and periodic SEO audits removes crawl obstacles.
- Structured data helps interpretation, but there is no special “AI Overview schema” that guarantees selection.
Perplexity-style engines show several citations per answer and lean heavily on well-structured, current, and credible sources.
Practical foundations
- Bing Copilot relies on Bing's index, meaning solid technical SEO and content quality directly carry over.
- Some generative tools draw on curated niche sources (directories, trade publications, product feeds), so keeping those accurate matters.
- Clear dates, author attribution, and source citations give models confidence when synthesising current comparisons.
Cross-platform insight
What earns a mention on one platform may differ on another; stronger clarity, technical health and credible mentions tend to help traditional SEO and AI discovery together.
Generative Engine Optimisation Strategy
GEO is making a business a clear, credible source when AI systems summarise the web. It amplifies existing SEO foundations and cannot compensate for weak products, poor reviews or thin content. Because some GEO tactics are still experimental, I treat them as hypotheses to test, not rules.
Pillar 01 • Crawl & Rendering Architecture
- Crawlability and indexability, complete sitemaps, clean URLs, and no accidental noindex directives
- Thoughtful robots.txt configuration so legitimate AI crawlers can reach public pages
- Self-referential and clean canonical tags to prevent ambiguous indexing
- Server-side or pre-rendered essential content where heavy JavaScript frameworks hide text
- Semantic HTML tags and a logical heading structure for natural reading flows
- Structured data for organisation, services, FAQs, articles, and local business entities
- Fast mobile performance and accessible responsive layouts
Pillar 02 • Answer-Ready Information
- Answer-focused pages that address buyer questions directly near the top of the content
- Clear, specific explanations rather than vague marketing rhetoric or generic claims
- Direct coverage of real buyer-intent questions, including comparisons, pricing approaches, and considerations
- Original expertise drawn from real business experience and proven working processes
- Accurate, dated, and referenced information that machines and humans can verify
- Useful, targeted FAQ blocks addressing specific buyer hesitations
- Balanced, honest comparisons that respect user search intent
Pillar 03 • External Verification
- Consistent business name, address, phone, and service descriptions across the site, Google Business Profile, and directories
- Clear organisation and About page content explicitly detailing who I serve and what I do
- Credible third-party mentions, industry references, and relevant editorial links across the web
- Consistent author and consultant profiles establishing verified subject-matter background
Who AI search optimisation is for
I help businesses whose prospective customers use generative tools alongside search engines to research solutions, compare providers, and make purchasing decisions.
Buyers use AI tools to shortlist suppliers. I focus on comparison questions, feature breakdowns, pricing transparency, and compliance context so AI systems understand how your service compares.
AI can surface products, buying guides, and category pages for recommendation-style questions. I align product descriptions, category hubs, FAQs, technical specifications, and genuine review data.
Most gains for SMEs come from restructuring and clarifying existing content before creating new material, fixing technical crawl barriers, and making core service information clear.
AI models look for consistent local business data, customer reviews, and clear service-area definitions across directories and websites to recommend regional providers.
Who does the work
AI search strategy, audits and recommendations are written and led by me, Yassine Essaadi, an independent SEO consultant. I explain what I find in plain language, agree priorities with you, and either hand over implementation notes for your developers and writers or support the work hands-on, depending on scope.
If you are considering hiring an SEO consultant, you work with me directly at every stage.
My Five-Stage AI Search Optimisation Process
My process is flexible and adapted to your scope, budget and current SEO maturity. No fixed rankings, citations or timelines are promised; the focus is on clear, methodical improvements that support both AI discovery and traditional search.
AI Search Visibility Audit
A stakeholder call on your business model, commercial priorities and target locations, followed by sampling how your brand appears across AI tools.
- Sample AI answers across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity and Copilot with prompts real buyers would ask
- Baseline screenshots, prompt logs, initial content review and technical crawlability checks
- Sampled brand appearances, cited sources, competitor mentions and crawl or rendering checks
How I work through each stage
Every step is designed to give you actionable clarity and practical priorities rather than confusing technical jargon.
AI Search Visibility Audit and Measurement
Effective AI search optimisation relies on methodical auditing and transparent, realistic tracking. I evaluate where your brand currently appears in generative answers and establish an honest framework to measure progress over time.
This is delivered as a standalone engagement, similar in structure to my comprehensive SEO audits, ending in a prioritised action plan for your team or developers.
- Brand appearances in sampled AI answers across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews / AI Mode, Perplexity, Copilot and any niche tool relevant to your sector
- Commercially relevant prompts that mirror how real buyers research solutions
- Competitor visibility analysis showing which brands appear and which sources support them
- Content and topical gap assessment across core service and decision pages
- Technical accessibility checks for crawler access, rendering, and robots directives
- Brand and entity consistency across your site, directories, and third-party profiles
- Existing referral traffic and qualified enquiries attributable to AI where data exists
I report on practical signals and business outcomes while being direct about what AI search analytics can and cannot show.
- Referral traffic from identifiable AI sources where standard referrers or campaign UTM parameters exist
- Qualified enquiries, inbound telephone calls, and consultation bookings
- Traditional organic search metrics (impressions, clicks, rankings) acting as the underlying baseline
- Sampled AI answer mentions, captured with prompt logs and screenshots over time
- Competitor visibility snapshots demonstrating relative movement across target prompts
- Completed technical, structured data, and content clarity improvements
AI search optimisation investment options
I do not offer generic or one-size-fits-all packages. Every project begins with understanding your specific market position, technical foundation, and real search landscape. If you also need a broader organic review, explore my comprehensive SEO audit before starting.
Getting Started
Starting from / one-time investment
- AI visibility assessment across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Claude, and Copilot
- Analysis of current brand mentions and citations in AI responses
- Entity footprint evaluation and structured data review
- Competitor AI visibility benchmarking
- Prioritised action plan with clear technical and content recommendations
Full Implementation
Starting from / month (3 or 6-month terms)
- Everything included in the AI Search Audit
- Content optimisation structured specifically for AI model extraction
- Advanced schema markup and entity graph implementation
- Technical improvements for AI crawler accessibility and indexing
- Entity expansion across trusted citation sources and knowledge nodes
- Monthly AI visibility tracking, citation checks, and direct progress reviews
Ongoing Partnership
Tailored monthly advisory retainer
- Continuous monitoring of brand visibility across emerging AI search tools
- Strategic roadmap updates responding to major AI search algorithm shifts
- Ongoing authority building and brand co-occurrence recommendations
- Quarterly visibility reports with deep competitive benchmarking
- Direct, priority access to me via private communication channel
Honest approach: AI search models constantly update their knowledge sources. I do not promise guaranteed citations or rankings. My work focuses on building verified technical authority, clear entity signals, and citation readiness to give your brand the strongest possible visibility.
Let us review your current AI search footprint
Book a direct, no-obligation consultation with me. We will inspect how your brand currently appears in generative search results and discuss the right next step.
Book a Free SEO ConsultationFrequently Asked Questions About AI Search Optimisation
Honest, forward-thinking perspectives from an independent SEO consultant. Understand how AI search affects your traffic, rankings, and sustainable business growth.
Questions about your own situation? Talk it through with me.
Have a specific AI search query?
Email me directly at contact@ye-consultancy.com
AI search optimisation is the practice of improving how easily AI-powered search and answer tools, such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Bing Copilot, can find, understand and reference your business. It builds on traditional SEO foundations such as crawlability, helpful content, authority and technical health, then adds attention to answer-ready content, clear brand information and how your business is described across the web.
— Free consultations available
TalktomeaboutAISearchOptimisation.
If you would like to know how your business appears in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity today, we can talk it through. I will look at where you stand, explain what is realistic and suggest sensible next steps.
No obligation. I do not promise guaranteed citations or rankings.