In short
More people now ask an AI assistant instead of scrolling a list of links. Tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews write an answer and often cite their sources. AI search visibility, sometimes called generative engine optimisation (GEO), is the work of making sure those answers describe your business accurately and include it where it belongs.
How AI assistants get their information
There are two routes. The first is training data: what the model absorbed from the public web before its cut-off date. The second is live retrieval: many assistants search the web at the moment you ask and summarise what they find, often with links.
Each route rewards the same things: pages that state clearly what you do, where and for whom; consistent facts across your website, directories and reviews; and independent mentions such as press coverage.
Crawlers and access
AI companies publish the names of their web crawlers, for example OpenAI’s GPTBot, Anthropic’s ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot. Your robots.txt file decides whether they may read your site. Google offers a separate Google-Extended token that controls whether your content is used for its Gemini models; Google says it does not affect inclusion in Google Search.
Blocking these crawlers can protect content you do not want reused. It also makes it harder for those assistants to describe you accurately. Decide deliberately.
What improves visibility
| Clear facts | Name, services, locations, prices and contact details stated plainly on your own site. |
|---|---|
| Structured data | Schema.org markup for your organisation, services, FAQs and articles. |
| Answers to real questions | Pages that answer the questions customers ask, in their words. |
| Consistency | The same details on Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles. |
| Third-party mentions | Press coverage, reviews and partner pages that describe you. |
Measuring it
Assistants give different answers to the same question on different days, so a single check proves little. Measurement means asking a fixed set of questions across several assistants on a schedule, recording whether you appear and how you are described, and watching the trend. New Era AI built RankOne to do exactly that.
When this matters
Relevant to any business that wins work from people researching online. RankOne tracks how AI assistants mention your brand and your competitors over time.
Questions
Is AI search visibility the same as SEO?
They overlap. Good SEO foundations, crawlable pages, clear content and structured data, help both. AI visibility adds attention to how assistants summarise you and which sources they cite.
Can we pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
Not through the assistant’s organic answers. Visibility comes from what is published about you and how clearly it is presented.
Should we block AI crawlers?
It is a trade-off. Blocking limits reuse of your content but also limits how well assistants can describe you. Many businesses allow them on public marketing pages and block private areas.