Your customers aren't just Googling anymore. They're asking AI. AIEO (AI Engine Optimisation) is how you make sure your business is the one AI recommends.
Not entirely. Google still matters. But something has shifted. When someone needs a plumber, a web designer, or a restaurant recommendation, a growing number of people are opening ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity instead of Google. They type natural questions like "who's the best web designer in Croydon?" and get a direct answer, not a page of links.
This is AIEO territory. AI Engine Optimisation is the practice of making sure your business is the one these AI tools recommend.
When you ask ChatGPT to recommend a business, it doesn't consult a ranked list like Google's search results. It draws on its training data (essentially, the entire web) to form a picture of which businesses are most relevant, authoritative, and trustworthy.
A few things influence that picture:
SEO and AIEO share the same foundation: quality content, authority, technical excellence. But they differ in one important way.
SEO is about ranking in a list. You're competing for position 1, 2, or 3 on a page of results. The user sees all the options and picks one.
AIEO is about being the answer. AI engines don't show a list. They give a recommendation. If you're not the business they recommend, you're invisible. There's no position 2.
That changes the game. If your competitor invests in AIEO and you don't, they'll capture a whole new channel of customer discovery that you won't even appear in.
If your SEO fundamentals are solid, you're already partway there. Here's what moves the needle for AIEO specifically.
AI engines need to understand exactly what you do, who you serve, and where you operate. Vague marketing copy doesn't cut it. Be specific. If you're a web designer in Croydon specialising in small business sites, say exactly that, clearly and repeatedly.
Schema markup tells machines what your content means, not just what it says. Service schemas, local business schemas, FAQ schemas. These are the machine-readable signals that help AI engines form accurate recommendations.
AI engines are trained on the web. The more your business is mentioned in credible, relevant contexts, the more likely it is to be recommended. That means earning coverage, building partnerships, getting listed in quality directories, and maintaining an active online presence.
Conflicting information confuses AI engines. If your website says one thing, your Google Business Profile says another, and directory listings say something else, AI tools are less likely to recommend you confidently. Audit your presence and fix the inconsistencies.
This is the part most businesses skip. You should regularly check what ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini actually say when asked about your business or industry. If the answer is wrong, incomplete, or doesn't mention you at all, that's your roadmap for improvement.
AIEO is where SEO was fifteen years ago. The businesses that invest now will be well ahead of those who wait. AI adoption is accelerating, and the patterns these engines form about your business are being shaped right now, whether you're managing them or not.
The question isn't whether AI will change how customers find you. It already has. The question is whether you'll be the business AI recommends when they ask.
Want to know how AI engines see your business today? Book a free discovery call or learn more about our AI Optimisation service.
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