AI SEO (also called answer engine optimization, or AEO, and generative engine optimization, or GEO) is the work of getting your company understood and cited by AI search. It overlaps with traditional SEO, but the target is the answer a machine gives, not just the ranked link a person clicks.
AI SEO that gets you cited, not just ranked.
Buyers no longer only Google you. They ask Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's Gemini to shortlist vendors. AI SEO makes sure those tools can read your capabilities and name you, instead of a competitor.
Three ways to work with us.
AI SEO usually starts as one of these.
01
AI visibility audit.
We show you exactly what Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini currently say about your company and your category, and where a competitor is being named instead of you.
Best forFinding out where you stand
02
Ongoing AI SEO.
We structure your site and content so AI keeps reading and citing you as models, prompts, and answers change.
Best forStaying visible as AI search grows
03
Built into SEO or a rebuild.
AI readability is handled alongside your traditional SEO or a site rebuild, since the same structure serves both.
Best forDoing it once, properly
What AI SEO with Alkali includes.
Four things that decide whether an AI can read you, trust you, and name you.
Machine-readable structure.
Schema, clean semantic HTML, and capabilities in plain page text instead of trapped in PDFs, so an AI can parse what you do without guessing.
Answer-shaped content.
Pages that directly answer the questions buyers ask AI about your category, so you become the source it quotes.
Entity and authority signals.
Consistent, verifiable facts about your company across the web, so AI trusts your information and cites you, not a louder competitor.
Measurement in AI answers.
We track where and how you show up in AI responses, not just blue-link rankings, so you can see the surface that is actually growing.
Where you'll show up.
AI search is not one box. We work the surfaces your buyers actually use.
01
Google's AI Overviews.
The AI-generated summary at the top of search. We structure your pages so you are cited in the answer, not buried below it.
02
Chat assistants.
Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, where buyers ask for a shortlist by name. We make your capabilities and proof easy for them to read and repeat.
03
Answer engines.
Perplexity and similar tools that cite their sources. Being a clean, verifiable source is how you earn the citation.
A growing share of B2B buyers open a chat, not a search box, when they start sourcing. They ask an AI to compare vendors and hand back a shortlist. If the AI cannot read your capabilities, or reads a vague 'quality solutions for a variety of industries' line, it describes a competitor in confident detail and leaves you out. That happens before a human ever weighs in.
For established manufacturers, distributors, and B2B firms, this is the newest version of an old problem: a real-world reputation the machine cannot see. AI SEO closes that gap, so the company that should win the comparison is the one the AI actually names. For the deeper playbook, see our guide on how to rank in AI search.
How we approach AI SEO.
Three principles that keep you visible as AI search keeps changing.
01
We start with what the AI says today.
Before we change anything, we see how Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini describe you and your category right now. That is the baseline.
02
We write for machines and buyers at once.
The clarity and structure that help an AI parse you are the same ones that help a human decide. One page, both readers.
03
We optimize for citations, not tricks.
No keyword stuffing or gaming. We make your real capabilities and proof easy to read and verify, which is what durable AI visibility rewards.
What is AI SEO, and how is it different from traditional SEO?
Traditional SEO aims to rank a page so a person clicks it. AI SEO aims to get your company read, trusted, and cited when a buyer asks an AI to answer a question or shortlist vendors. The two overlap heavily, clean structure and real authority help both, but AI SEO also optimizes for the answer a machine generates, not just the link.
What are AEO and GEO?
They are the industry terms for the same work. AEO is answer engine optimization, being the answer in tools like Claude, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. GEO is generative engine optimization, showing up in AI-generated summaries like Google's AI Overviews. We treat them as facets of AI SEO.
How do you get a company cited by Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini?
By making your capabilities machine-readable (schema and plain page text, not PDFs), answering the questions buyers actually ask, and building consistent, verifiable authority signals across the web so the model trusts and quotes your information.
Does AI SEO replace traditional SEO?
No, it extends it. Most of the technical foundation, speed, crawlability, clean structure, and content quality, serves both. We usually run AI SEO alongside traditional SEO rather than instead of it.
How do you measure AI SEO results?
We monitor how AI tools describe your company and category over time: whether you are named, how accurately, and against which competitors. Ahrefs Brand Radar and direct prompt testing are part of that, alongside your Search Console signals.
Is AI SEO worth it for B2B and industrial companies?
Especially so. B2B buyers increasingly use AI to research and shortlist suppliers, and established industrial companies often have strong reputations that AI cannot yet see. That gap is exactly where AI SEO pays off.
Other services.
Not quite what you're looking for? Here are the other ways we can help.
Marketing Websites
Positioning sites, product launches, and brand refreshes for companies whose current site has fallen behind.
Explore Marketing SitesSEO
B2B SEO that gets your capabilities found by buyers and AI search, not just your company name.
Explore SEOWeb Applications
Custom product interfaces, internal tools, and customer portals built to scale.
Explore Web AppsMobile Applications
Mobile apps for B2B teams that need internal tools, product extensions, or customer-facing apps.
Explore MobileE-commerce
E-commerce stores for merchants who've outgrown off-the-shelf templates.
Explore E-commerceBusiness Automation
Workflow automation, systems integration, and AI implementation that cuts the repetitive work.
Explore AutomationSomething else in mind? Most of our work starts with a conversation.
Book an intro call and tell us what you’re trying to build.
Let's get you cited.
A 30-minute call. We will show you what AI currently says about your company and where the opportunity is, whether or not you work with us.
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