Google isn't the only place people are looking for you.

For a long time, the objective of search engine optimisation was relatively straightforward. Understand what people are searching for, create relevant content, make sure Google can find it and work towards appearing prominently in the results.

That still matters. But the way people find information is changing.

Instead of searching for a collection of keywords and comparing websites themselves, people can now ask tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude for explanations, comparisons and recommendations.

Which creates a new question for businesses. If someone asks an AI system to recommend a business like yours, does it have enough reliable information to understand what you do?

What is GEO?

Generative engine optimisation, or GEO, refers to efforts to improve how content is discovered, understood and represented by AI-powered search and answer systems. You will also see terms such as AI search optimisation and answer engine optimisation.

The terminology is evolving, and the systems themselves work differently. Some AI experiences retrieve live web content and cite sources. Others may rely partly on information learned during training, available search indexes or connected tools.

SEO and GEO are connected, not competing strategies

I don't think businesses should abandon conventional SEO in favour of a completely separate AI optimisation strategy. A lot of the fundamentals overlap.

Your website needs to be accessible, technically sound and clear about what your business offers. Your important services need dedicated, useful content. Your business information should be consistent, and your expertise should be supported by evidence.

These are good SEO practices. They are also helpful for systems trying to understand and summarise information about your business.

The difference is that AI-powered discovery may involve a system synthesising information from multiple sources rather than simply presenting a list of pages. That makes clarity, specificity and credibility particularly important.

Your website needs to say what you actually do

This sounds obvious. It isn't always reflected in the way businesses write websites.

I have seen beautiful homepages filled with statements about creating meaningful experiences, challenging convention and redefining what's possible. All very impressive. But somewhere in the process, the business forgot to explain what it sells.

Clever copy shouldn't make the reader work to understand the business.

Hannah Grant, Freshmade Creative

If you are a Brisbane-based brand studio offering brand strategy, website design and Shopify development, those things should be clear. Not buried behind six layers of abstract language.

You can still have personality. You can still write beautifully. The same principle applies to AI search: a system needs enough clear information to identify what you offer, where you operate and who your services are relevant to.

Original experience is becoming more important

AI can produce a perfectly competent explanation of almost any marketing concept. Which means publishing another generic article defining brand strategy or listing five SEO tips isn't necessarily adding much value.

What is more interesting is what you have actually learned. The business problem you encountered. The decision you made. What changed. What didn't work. What you would approach differently.

For Freshmade, that is why I would rather write about rebuilding an expensive internal application with AI than publish a general article about ten AI tools for business. The first demonstrates experience. The second is information anyone can generate.

Originality doesn't guarantee visibility, but it gives readers and potential sources something distinctive to reference.

Five practical ways to improve AI search visibility

1. Make your services explicit. Create useful pages that explain what you offer, who it's for and what the process involves.
2. Answer real customer questions. Include pricing considerations, comparisons, limitations and practical explanations where they're relevant.
3. Establish clear authorship. Identify who created the content and why they're qualified to discuss it.
4. Keep business information consistent. Maintain accurate names, contact details, locations and service descriptions across relevant platforms.
5. Make content technically accessible. Use logical headings, internal links, crawlable pages and appropriate structured data where supported.

I would also pay attention to reputable third-party mentions, industry publications and other places where your business is independently described. Your website is important, but it is not the only source of information about your brand.

Does adding FAQs help GEO?

Sometimes. A useful question followed by a clear answer can make content easier for people and automated systems to interpret.

But adding five generic FAQs to every article isn't a magic optimisation technique. Neither is repeating keywords, writing artificial definitions or creating dozens of near-identical pages.

I would rather have one excellent explanation that answers a real question than ten pages manufactured around slight variations of the same search phrase.

How do you measure AI search visibility?

This is still a developing area. You can examine referral traffic from AI platforms where it's identifiable, review how your business appears in relevant AI search experiences and monitor branded search and enquiries.

But there are limitations.

• Not every AI interaction generates a website visit
• Referrer information may be incomplete
• Responses can vary by user, context and time

I would avoid treating a handful of test prompts as definitive proof of market visibility. Instead, combine AI discovery observations with conventional SEO performance, qualified enquiries and commercial outcomes.

Don't optimise for a machine at the expense of a person

The temptation with every new marketing development is to turn it into a checklist. Add this schema. Change that heading. Repeat this phrase. Publish more content.

Some technical improvements are worthwhile. But the bigger opportunity is creating a website that explains your business exceptionally well. Useful content. Clear services. Demonstrable expertise. A strong brand.

The fundamentals aren't suddenly irrelevant because people are asking their questions somewhere new. If anything, they are becoming more important.

The objective isn't to convince an AI system that your business is worth recommending. It's to give it a credible reason to.

Hannah Grant, Freshmade Creative

HG

Written by

Hannah Grant

Founder and director of Freshmade Creative, a Brisbane studio working across brand, marketing and digital.