Getting started with AI visibility
Start here if AEO is new to you. These answers cover what the discipline is, how it sits alongside the SEO you already do, and the quickest way to see what AI engines currently say about your business.
- What is AEO and how is it different from SEO?
- SEO works on where you rank on a results page. AEO (answer engine optimisation) works on whether AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini actually name, cite and recommend your business when they answer a buyer's question directly. The levers overlap, crawlable pages and real credibility help both, but the target and the measurement are different: answers, not rankings.
- Do I need AEO if I already rank well on Google?
- Rankings do not carry over automatically. AI engines build answers from their own indexes and favourite sources, and Google's own AI Overviews sit above the classic results even when you rank first. Google also documents that its AI features draw on a wider, more diverse set of links than a classic results page, so rivals who never outranked you can still be named ahead of you in the answer. Your SEO foundations genuinely help; they are just no longer the whole game.
- Which AI engines actually matter for a UK business?
- Six cover the ground that matters: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. AI Overviews reaches anyone who uses Google in the UK, which makes it the widest surface, while ChatGPT has the largest assistant audience. The others matter in pockets: Perplexity skews to researchers and considered purchases, Claude to professional users. AEOscore tracks all six.
- How do I find out what AI currently says about my business?
- Ask the engines the way a buyer would: fresh session, real questions about your service and area, not just your brand name. Ask for recommendations, comparisons and pros and cons, and note who gets named. For a measured version, our free AEO score does it properly: a named expert runs your domain through all six engines and emails your scored report within 1 to 2 working days. No card, no signup.
- Why doesn't ChatGPT recommend my business?
- Five causes explain almost every case: AI crawlers cannot read your site, the third-party sources engines lean on barely mention you, your brand data is inconsistent across the web, your pages never answer a buyer's question directly, or rivals dominate the pages that get cited. All five are measurable, and each has a different fix, which is why guessing tends to waste a quarter's effort. A scan tells you which one is holding you back.
- Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
- No. There is no registry, directory or paid listing that puts a business into ChatGPT's recommendations, and anyone selling guaranteed placement is selling something that does not exist. What genuinely influences AI recommendations is earned: pages the crawlers can read, consistent entity details, reviews, and real mentions on the third-party sites the engines cite.
- How long does it take to improve AI visibility?
- Typically 4 to 12 weeks for a shipped fix to show up in answers, and about a quarter for material movement across engines. Training-data effects run slower still. Anyone promising overnight results is measuring something else. The practical rhythm: fix, wait for the engines to re-read the sources, and track whether the answers moved.
- What does a free AEO score include?
- A named expert runs your domain through all six engines we track, scores whether they mention and cite you, and emails your report within 1 to 2 working days. You can name a rival for comparison. It is free, with no card and no signup, and it exists because a first look at your answers is the fastest way to know whether AEO is worth your time.
What's your AEO score?
Send your domain and a named expert will run it through all six engines, score the results and email your report within 1 to 2 working days. Free, no card, no signup.
- ChatGPT
- Claude
- Gemini
- Perplexity
- Google AI Overviews
- Google AI Mode