AI SEO: How to Get Your Business Cited in AI Overviews and AI Search

What are AI Overviews, AI Mode, and the other AI search tools?

Google AI Overviews are AI-written summaries at the top of some search results, with links to the pages they draw from. AI Mode is Google's conversational search tab for longer questions and comparisons. Google reported in 2026 that AI Overviews have more than 2.5 billion monthly users and AI Mode has passed one billion. For many of your customers, the AI answer is now the first thing they read.

Outside Google, ChatGPT search answers questions with linked citations, Perplexity is built around cited answers, Gemini is Google's assistant, and Microsoft Copilot draws on Bing. Each one decides which sources to cite, and each one sends some visitors to the sites it cites.

Google explains that its AI features use a technique called query fan-out, running multiple related searches across subtopics to build a response. In practice, that means a single question like 'best family dentist near Union NJ' can pull in pages about insurance, hours, services, and reviews, so a site with clear pages for each topic has more chances to be cited.

What GEO and AEO mean, and what is actually known

Generative engine optimization (GEO) comes from a 2023 research paper that tested ways to raise a source's visibility in AI-generated answers and reported gains of up to 40%, varying by domain. Answer engine optimization (AEO) is a similar industry term. Both describe optimizing to be cited in AI answers rather than ranked in a list of links.

Google's own position is blunt. Its May 2026 guide on optimizing for generative AI features says that, from Google Search's perspective, optimizing for generative AI search is still SEO, because these features are rooted in Google's core ranking and quality systems. The same guide says you do not need new machine-readable files, AI text files, or Markdown versions of your pages, and that there is no need to break content into tiny chunks.

Make sure AI crawlers can reach your site

This is often the easiest fix. Sites can block AI crawlers by accident through a security plugin, a CDN bot setting, or a copied robots.txt file. Each company uses several user agents, and they control different things.

For most local businesses, the sensible default is to allow the search crawlers (Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, Claude-SearchBot) so you can be cited. Whether to allow the training crawlers is a separate business decision, and blocking them does not remove you from those tools' search answers.

Serve real HTML, not just JavaScript

Google can process content inside JavaScript as long as it is not blocked. Most other AI crawlers cannot. Vercel's analysis of AI crawler traffic found that crawlers from OpenAI, Anthropic, Perplexity, Meta, and ByteDance fetch JavaScript files but do not execute them, so content that only appears after scripts run in the browser is effectively invisible to them.

Test this yourself: open a key page, choose View Source (not Inspect), and search for your phone number, service names, and main headings. If they are not in the raw HTML, AI crawlers probably cannot see them either. Sites built on server-side rendering or static generation, such as the Next.js sites we build through our custom website development work, send complete HTML on the first request.

Speed and page experience still count. Google's AI guide lists fast load times, correct display across devices, and making main content easy to distinguish from everything else among the technical basics.

Write answer-first content AI tools can quote

AI answers pull passages that directly answer a question. Google says its systems can find the relevant passage within a longer page, so you do not need to fragment content, but you do need to state answers clearly.

• Lead with the answer. Put a one or two sentence answer right under each question-style heading, then add detail.
• Be specific. Name your services, neighborhoods, hours, insurance accepted, turnaround times, and what is included. Vague copy gives an AI nothing to cite.
• Write from experience. Google's guide asks for content based on what you know, not a rewrite of what others have already published or what an AI model could easily produce.
• Add original images and video. Google notes its AI features can bring in relevant images and video, so real photos of your work, team, and location help.
• Answer real questions. Use your sales calls and emails as a source of the questions customers actually ask, and give each important one a clear answer on a relevant page.

A note on structured data: Google says no special schema is required for its AI features, and FAQ rich results are being retired from Google Search. Organization or LocalBusiness markup that matches your visible name, address, phone, and hours is still worth having because it removes ambiguity about who you are. Just keep it accurate and in sync with the page.

Build entity consistency, reviews, and third-party mentions

AI tools need to be confident that the business on your site, your Google Business Profile, and your directory listings are the same entity. Inconsistent names, old addresses, or a mix of phone numbers create doubt.

1. Use the exact same business name, address, and phone number on your website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, and industry directories.
2. Fill out your Google Business Profile completely, including categories, services, hours, and photos. Google's AI guide says Business Profile can help your services appear in AI responses.
3. Earn reviews steadily. Google's local ranking help says prominence is based partly on how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help.
4. Get listed and reviewed where your buyers research, such as Clutch for agencies and B2B services, Healthgrades or Zocdoc for medical practices, or trade association directories for contractors.
5. Earn genuine mentions in local news, chamber of commerce pages, sponsorships, and partner sites. Google cautions that seeking inauthentic mentions is not as helpful as it might seem.

This is classic local SEO, and it is where most of the leverage is for a New Jersey service business. Our SEO services cover Google Business Profile, citations, and technical fixes together.

Should you add an llms.txt file?

llms.txt is a proposed standard from September 2024: a Markdown file at your site's root that summarizes the site and links to key pages for AI tools. Some AI and developer companies publish one for their own documentation.

What is not confirmed is that any major AI search engine uses it to decide what to cite. Google's guide says you do not need AI text files to appear in its generative AI features and that Google Search does not use them. OpenAI and Perplexity have not documented it as a ranking or citation input in their crawler documentation. If adding one takes ten minutes, it does little harm. Just do not pay for it as an AI SEO strategy or let it distract from crawlability and content.

How to measure AI search visibility and traffic

• Google Search Console: AI Overviews and AI Mode data is included in the Performance report under the Web search type. As of August 31, 2026, the dedicated generative AI performance report shows impressions, pages, countries, and devices for those features. It reports impressions, not clicks.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: The AI Performance report, introduced in February 2026, shows how often your pages are cited in Microsoft Copilot and Bing AI answers, which URLs are cited, and the grounding queries behind them.
• Google Analytics or your analytics tool: Watch referrals from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, and copilot.microsoft.com. ChatGPT adds a utm_source tag to links it sends, which helps attribution.
• Expect some gaps. One 2026 analysis found about 36% of recognized AI search sessions arrived with no referrer and were identified only by their UTM tag, and app traffic without either signal shows up as direct.
• Spot check manually. Once a month, ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Mode the questions your customers ask and note whether you and your competitors are cited.

AI SEO checklist for local businesses

If your site fails the crawler or rendering checks, fix those first. No amount of content work helps if AI tools cannot read the page. Those same foundations, clean semantic HTML and descriptive headings, overlap heavily with website accessibility, so the work pays off twice.

WebBits is a senior-led web development and SEO team in Union, NJ, working with New Jersey businesses since 2014. If you want to know whether AI search tools can see and cite your site, book a free consultation and we will review it and give you a clear quote for any fixes.

Frequently asked questions