The short answer
AI engines don't have their own picture of your business — they build one from Google and Bing results, your Google Business Profile, your reviews, and what your own website says. So the businesses AI recommends are, mostly, the businesses that already did local SEO well. The extra work is making your site something an AI can read and quote, and making sure you haven't accidentally blocked the AI crawlers at the door.
Where each engine actually gets its answers
Google's Gemini and AI Overviews draw on Google's regular search index and your Business Profile — your existing Google presence is your Gemini presence. ChatGPT search leans on Bing's index plus its own crawler. Perplexity crawls the web itself. Claude fetches pages live when asked.
That means there is no separate "AI SEO" to buy. There is your real search presence, seen through several new windows.
The foundation is boring: local SEO done right
When someone asks an AI "who should I hire in Aiken," the engine cross-checks the map pack, reviews, and the businesses that rank. Complete Google Business Profile, steady reviews with replies, pages that actually rank — everything in our other guides. AI search raises the value of that work; it doesn't replace it.
Be quotable: publish real answers with real numbers
AI answers are built from passages that answer questions directly. A page that says "pricing depends on many factors, contact us!" gives an AI nothing to quote. A page that says "most business sites take four to eight weeks" can be lifted word for word — with your name attached.
Write the questions your customers ask as headings, answer them in the first sentence underneath, and use real numbers wherever you honestly can. Vague pages are invisible to AI in a way they never quite were to Google.
Make sure AI can read your site at all
This is the step most businesses fail without knowing it. Some firewalls and CDN services now block AI crawlers by default — flip one setting and ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity all get a locked door while Google still sees you fine. We've found exactly that on sites we audit, including ones that were otherwise doing everything right.
Also: AI crawlers mostly don't run JavaScript. If your page is blank until scripts load, much of what you wrote may simply not exist to them. And structured data — the FAQ and business markup search engines read — helps AI engines get your facts straight too.
What doesn't work
- Paying to be in AI answers — no major engine sells organic answer placement today
- Keyword stuffing for AI — engines quote clear writing, not word soup
- "AI optimization" packages from strangers in your inbox — it's the same local SEO, renamed
- Fake reviews — engines cross-check sources, and fakes risk the profile AI trusts most
How to check where you stand today
Ask the engines yourself. Have ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity each answer "best [your trade] in [your town]" and "what do people say about [your business name]." What they get wrong tells you exactly what to fix — usually the profile, the reviews, or a website that never says plainly what you do and where.
Common questions
Is AI search replacing Google?
It's replacing some searches — especially research and "who should I hire" questions. Google is still where most local buying starts, and Google's own results now include AI answers. You want both, and they're built with the same work.
Can I pay to show up in AI answers?
Not organically — no major AI engine sells answer placement today. Ads are appearing around AI results, but the recommendations themselves are earned.
How do I know if my site blocks AI crawlers?
Check your CDN or firewall settings for "AI bots" or "AI scrapers" rules — some services block by default now. Our free audit checks this too; it takes us minutes.