And I get it. Everybody’s freaking out about AI search right now. But here’s the thing, before we panic about “getting cited by ChatGPT,” we gotta talk about what’s actually going on. Because there’s not one thing here. There’s three. And most people are trying to skip straight to the fun one without doing the boring one first.
Let me explain it the simple way.
AI Doesn't search the way Google used to
Three layers, not three separate jobs
Think of it like building a house. You don’t start with the roof.
- SEO is the foundation — it’s just getting found by search engines. Google, sure, but also YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest. Anywhere people search.
- AEO is the walls — it’s about getting your content pulled into those quick-answer boxes. Featured snippets, “people also ask,” that kind of thing.
- GEO is the roof — this is the one everybody wants. Getting mentioned by name when someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity a question.
Here’s the memory trick I use with clients: SEO gets you found. AEO makes you the answer. GEO gets you recommended.
Why this actually matters (and it’s not hype)
Okay, so what actually moves the needle?
I’m not gonna give you fluff here. This is what I actually tell my clients.
- Your basic SEO still runs the whole show. 76% of AI Overview citations come from pages that are already ranking in the top 10 the old-fashioned way. So when a client tells me “just get me in ChatGPT,” I tell them straight , we gotta fix your regular SEO first, or none of this works.
- One page, one service. Every time. I see this mistake constantly. Business owners cram three services onto one page thinking they’re saving time. All that does is confuse Google about what the page is even about, and now your services are competing against each other instead of ranking. Each service needs its own page, and each one has to be genuinely different: different title, different intro, different everything.
- Location pages, done the right way. If you serve multiple areas, you want one main “areas we serve” page, and then a separate page for each service + location combo. Yeah, that can mean 100+ pages for a local business. Sounds like a lot, I know. But it works as long as every single page is actually different, not just the same paragraph with the city name swapped out.
- The blog trick almost nobody does right. Structure your subheadings as actual questions. Then answer the question in the very next sentence. No warm-up. No “In today’s digital landscape…” nonsense. My test: could you rip that one sentence out of the blog and have it make total sense sitting all by itself? If yes, that’s exactly the kind of thing AI tools grab and quote. If you’re still doing a big fluffy intro before you answer anything, cut it.
- Blogs aren’t dead. Their job just changed. They used to be all about ranking and clicks. Now it’s about proving to these AI engines that you’re the real deal on a topic, covering it from every angle so there’s no doubt you know what you’re talking about.
- Don’t put all your eggs in the website basket. AI tools pull from YouTube, TikTok, Instagram too, and not just websites. So take that blog post and turn it into a short video. More places you show up, more chances something of yours gets picked up and cited.
- Schema markup isn’t optional anymore. I know, I know. This sounds technical and boring, and honestly it is. But this is one of the biggest ways AI engines actually tell your pages apart from everyone else’s. Skip it and you’re leaving something free on the table.
The honest truth
FAQ
Can I skip SEO and just focus on getting into ChatGPT?
No, you can’t skip it. SEO is the foundation, and AI tools lean heavily on pages that already rank well. If your basic SEO is a mess, no amount of AI optimization is going to fix it.
Should I put all my services on one page?
No, give every service its own page. Cramming them together confuses Google about what the page is about, and your services end up competing against each other. Each page needs its own title, intro, and content.
Are blogs still worth it with AI search?
Yes, but their job changed. They used to be all about ranking and getting clicks. Now they prove to AI tools that you really know your topic. Use questions as subheadings and answer each one right away, with no fluffy intro.
Do I really need schema markup?
Yes, it’s one of the easiest wins you’re probably skipping. Schema helps search engines and AI tools understand what your page is about and tell it apart from everyone else’s. It sounds technical, but it’s free and it’s worth doing.
