More and more businesses want to be among the companies that ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI systems recommend to users. But getting there takes more than a website plugin or an article written specifically for AI. First, accurate, clear, and verifiable information about the company, its services, and its results must be available online.
When companies approach me about optimizing their content for AI systems, they usually ask what they should add to their websites to get ChatGPT or Gemini to mention them more often. Most expect that revising existing copy, adding a few pages, or making some technical adjustments will be enough.
In practice, the problems usually run much deeper. Services are poorly explained, information on the website conflicts with business listings, and some important pages do not even appear in Google search results. Details about the company’s work, experience, and expertise often vary from one source to another. When information is incomplete, inconsistent, or outdated, AI systems cannot reliably determine what the company does or why they should recommend it.
That is why I do not start by writing new content. I first review what the company says on its website, what information appears elsewhere, whether those details are consistent, and how different systems answer questions relevant to its business. Only after identifying the gaps can I decide what needs to be corrected, expanded, or rewritten. Otherwise, a company may keep investing in new content without addressing the underlying reason AI systems fail to mention it.
Ranking Well on Google Is No Longer Enough
Generative search is changing how people find information about products, services, and companies. Rather than simply displaying a list of webpages, AI systems search multiple sources, extract relevant information, and use it to compose an answer. When a user asks for a service recommendation, AI can identify several companies and compare their offerings without the user having to visit their websites. Companies are therefore competing not only for higher search rankings, but also for inclusion in AI-generated answers.
Pew Research Center analyzed 68,879 searches conducted by roughly 900 U.S. adults during March 2025. When Google did not display an AI summary, users clicked on a standard search result in 15% of cases. When an AI summary appeared, that share fell to 8%. Users clicked on sources cited within the summary in just 1% of cases.
These findings do not make company websites less important: generative systems still base their answers on information drawn from existing sources. What is changing is the website’s role in attracting customers. A buyer may consider a company without ever visiting its website. At the same time, a high Google ranking no longer necessarily means that the company will appear in an AI-generated answer.
SEO Is Not Dead!
The growth of generative search has prompted claims that SEO is losing its relevance and will be replaced by answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO). Yet these three approaches are not mutually exclusive. SEO helps search engines find a page, understand its content, and assess its relevance to a query. AEO makes specific answers easier to extract from that content. GEO aims to increase the use of information from a particular source in generated answers and, where appropriate, have that source cited or recommended.
Before content can be used in a generative answer, the system must first find it and assess it as relevant and trustworthy. Google makes this point in its guidance for website owners. Appearing in generative search results does not require special AI files, a new type of structured data, or a separate version of the website. Technical accessibility, clearly organized content, and reliable information remain essential.
AEO and GEO should therefore complement SEO. If important pages are not indexed, the website is poorly organized, and services are vaguely described, an article written specifically “for ChatGPT” will not resolve those problems. Investing in AI optimization before getting the website in order is like putting a roof on a house before laying its foundation.
AI Needs Evidence to Support Your Claims
One of the problems I encounter most often on company websites is copy built around flattering but difficult-to-verify claims. Businesses describe themselves as leading, reliable, and innovative without publishing information that supports those descriptions.
Saying that a company delivers excellent results tells a prospective client—or an AI system—very little. Specific information about what was done, how it was done, and what it achieved is more useful. When figures or client names cannot be disclosed, a company can demonstrate its experience by explaining its methods, providing expert analysis, or presenting an anonymized case study.
That is why I do not advise companies to publish generic articles simply to maintain a regular posting schedule. Original research, comparative analysis, precise explanations of services, answers to client questions, and accounts of problems solved provide more concrete evidence of expertise and experience.
How the company is represented elsewhere also matters. If its own website is the only source claiming expertise in a particular field, with no support from independent, reliable sources, generative systems have less reason to treat it as relevant. Building a presence in business media, professional publications, registries, research, and other verifiable sources is therefore more useful than paying to distribute repetitive articles that do little beyond mentioning the company’s name.
Cut Corners Now, Pay Later
Although the market for AI content optimization services is still developing, providers already offer solutions that promise to improve a company’s visibility in generative answers quickly. These include articles written exclusively for language models, automated publication of large volumes of similar content, and promises that a company will be among the recommended businesses within a few weeks.
Such promises overlook the fact that generative answers are not fixed, predetermined lists. The companies and sources selected depend on how the question is phrased, which system receives it, when the search takes place, and what information is available. A claim that a company “ranks third on ChatGPT,” for example, cannot reliably describe its position.
Research presented at the 2024 ACM KDD conference found that certain content changes could increase visibility in generative answers by up to 40% under experimental conditions. However, results varied by subject area, question type, and method. The finding cannot be taken as evidence that a single content change guarantees lasting visibility.
A rigorous approach therefore begins by analyzing the answers systems produce, the sources they use, and the information available about the company. Those findings should guide website improvements and plans for new content. Otherwise, spending on additional articles may produce no meaningful benefit.
When AEO Is Worth the Investment
AI optimization does not have the same business value for a local hair salon as it does for an IT company seeking clients abroad. For a small business serving a limited area, accurate Google Maps information, clearly stated opening hours, customer reviews, well-presented services, and visibility in local search are usually more important. Until those basics are in place, more sophisticated optimization is difficult to justify.
The situation is different for IT companies, consulting firms, clinics, and other providers of specialized services. Their clients increasingly use AI systems to understand complex services, compare providers, and choose whom to hire. Companies targeting foreign markets therefore need to do more than translate their existing content. It must address customers’ questions and reflect business practices and conditions in the target market.
Before investing, a company should establish where customers look for information, what they want to know before choosing a provider, and how much a new client is worth to the business. Spending on AEO and GEO makes sense when it reflects how customers actually make purchasing decisions. Otherwise, it becomes another marketing expense whose contribution to business results is difficult to establish.
Source: Biznis & Finansije Photo: ChatGPT
