AI SEO: when customers ask ChatGPT who's good, the answer should be you

Something has quietly changed in how people find businesses. Instead of typing "plumber near me" and scanning ten blue links, a growing share of customers now ask an AI a whole question: "who's a good roofer nearby", "which agency does leaflet design", "best website designer for a small business". The AI gives one answer, or a shortlist of two or three. There is no page two.

That answer is the new word of mouth. AI SEO is the work that makes the answer you.

What an AI engine needs before it names you

ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews will not gamble a recommendation on a business they cannot verify. They name the business that is easy to be sure about. Concretely, that means:

1. A website that states the facts plainly. What you do, where you do it, who you do it for, in sentences an AI can lift whole. "Welcome to our website" is invisible. "LMS Media runs tracked leaflet campaigns targeted by postcode" is citable.
2. Structured data. Schema markup that tells machines exactly what each page is: a service, a location, a price, a review, a person with credentials.
3. The same details everywhere. Name, address, phone and services consistent across your site, Google Business Profile, directories and socials. Contradictions make AI engines hedge, and hedged businesses don't get named.
4. Independent proof. Genuine Google reviews, directory citations, and mentions in local press and other sites. AI engines treat third parties talking about you as far stronger evidence than you talking about yourself.

What we actually do each month

• AI visibility check: we ask the major AI engines the questions your customers ask, and log whether you get named, and who beats you when you don't.
• Content restructuring: your pages rewritten into answer-shaped blocks, with the questions customers actually ask as headings.
• Schema build-out: Service, FAQ, LocalBusiness and review markup, validated and error-free.
• Citation and review campaigns: directory consistency plus a steady, honest flow of fresh reviews.
• PR where it counts: coverage in local press and sites that AI engines treat as independent evidence. This is where a PR-led agency has a built-in advantage.

Honest caveats

Anyone selling guaranteed AI placement is guessing. AI engines change monthly, and nobody controls their answers. What we can do is stack every known signal in your favour and show you the before-and-after: the same questions, asked monthly, with your name's presence tracked. And because AI engines lean heavily on classic search signals, this work lifts your Google rankings too, so nothing is spent on a single channel.

Common questions

What is AI SEO? Also called Generative Engine Optimisation. It's the practice of making your business the answer AI tools give when people ask for recommendations: clear service descriptions, consistent details across the web, structured data, genuine reviews and third-party mentions.

How is it different from normal SEO? Traditional SEO wins a place in a ranked list of links; AI SEO wins the single spoken answer. The signals overlap, but AI engines weight consistency and citability more heavily because they have to state a fact about you with confidence.

How much does it cost? From £150 a month as an add-on to a local SEO plan. We can run an AI visibility check first, so you can see where you stand.

The businesses AI names in 2028 are being decided by what's written about them in 2026. The earlier your details, reviews and mentions stack up, the harder you are to displace.

AI SEO works best stacked with local search, not run alone. Reviews and citations are the kind of independent proof AI engines treat as trustworthy, and local SEO is where that groundwork gets laid.