Free guides to AI search, GEO and AEO
Free, plain English guides to how ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot decide which businesses to name, and what you can do about it. Pick a topic, or start at the beginning.
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- AI search visibility: the complete guide
How AI tools choose who to name, why it matters, and the four things that decide whether one of them is you.
The basics
- Generative engine optimisation (GEO)
What GEO is, the six stages, and how to map the questions your customers ask an AI. - What is answer engine optimisation (AEO)?
The writing side of GEO: content an AI can lift and quote cleanly, and how it differs from SEO. - LLM optimisation
What it means to optimise for large language models, and what actually moves the needle. - How to write content an AI will cite
Six rules for citation ready writing, with examples.
By platform
- How to get named in ChatGPT answers
Two crawlers, live search, and the three changes that matter most. - How to appear in Google AI Overviews
Why ordinary SEO carries most of the weight, and what to add on top. - How to get cited by Perplexity
The engine that shows its sources, and the easiest place to test your visibility. - Copilot and Claude visibility
Smaller than ChatGPT but widely used inside businesses. How each one finds you.
Technical
- AI crawlers: which to allow and block
GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended, and what each one controls. - Schema markup for AI search
What structured data does and does not do for AI visibility. - What llms.txt does and does not do
A plain answer on the file everyone is talking about, and whether you need one.
Measurement
- How to measure AI referrals in GA4
The AI Assistant channel, Search Console and Bing reports, and manual prompt testing. - How we score AI visibility
Our scoring rubric out of 100, published in full so you can check our working.
By sector
- AI search for local businesses
What matters when someone asks an AI for a business near them. - AI search for ecommerce
Product feeds, shopping answers and how AI tools recommend products.
Would you rather we did it for you?
Our AI search and GEO services start with a hand checked AI visibility audit, scored out of 100, for £250 plus VAT, and continue as a managed AI search and GEO programme from £500 a month. Every guide here is written by the people who do that work.
Frequently asked questions
Are these guides free to read?
Yes. All of them, with no sign up. They are written by the Phoenix Marketing team from the work we do for clients, and we update them as the AI platforms change.
Where should I start if I am new to AI search?
Start with the complete guide to AI search visibility. It explains AI search, GEO and AEO in plain English and links to the detailed guide for each topic.
How often are the guides updated?
Each guide carries its last updated date. We revise them when a platform changes its crawlers, its reports or its behaviour, and at least every quarter.
Can you check how AI tools currently describe my business?
Yes. Our AI visibility audit does exactly that, by hand, scored out of 100 across five areas, for £250 plus VAT.
Would you rather we did it for you?
A friendly 15 minute call, no obligation.
or call 01444 523105