The key idea
Publish accessible, useful pages that answer specific questions and make their evidence clear. Google states that its AI search features require no special AI markup or additional optimisation.
Start with access and indexing
A useful page cannot support discovery if crawlers cannot reach it. Check access restrictions, indexing directives, canonical URLs and internal links. A private site remains private even if its robots.txt allows crawling. Search eligibility is not a guarantee of indexing.
Write answers that stand on their own
State the question, answer it directly and explain the scope. Use descriptive headings, concrete examples and visible sources. Keep important facts in server-rendered text rather than only in images. Identify illustrative examples and distinguish them from observed results.
Keep machine-readable data consistent
Organisation, service, article and breadcrumb data should match the visible page. Link equivalent translations with supported language annotations. An llms.txt file can provide convenient navigation, but it is neither a universal standard nor a promise of citation.
Measure observed discovery
Monitor relevant search impressions, clicks and qualified enquiries. Record AI mentions as observations with dates and context. OpenAI distinguishes its search crawler from its training crawler; search access and training preferences are separate controls. None of these measures can force an assistant to recommend a business.
Official sources
Google Search CentralOpenAI · CrawlersChoose a useful next step
Understand how AI search finds sources, review your pages, then separate visibility observations from visits and enquiries. Use those findings to choose what to improve in your editorial workflow—not as a promise of citations.
- AEO and GEO: a practical approach to AI search visibility
- Measure visibility in AI answers responsibly
- Help buyers find your expertise in search and AI answers
Demos
A synthetic CSV covers four campaigns across two periods. The question: does improving overall return hide a problem?
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