AI SEO: how to prepare your company for search engines and artificial intelligence
AI SEO is the evolution of SEO that prepares a company to be found, understood and cited on Google and in AI-generated answers. It is the umbrella that connects technical SEO, AEO and GEO in a single information base.
By Guto Bertoncini, founder and lead strategist of FlowupUpdated on 15 min read
5.0 on GoogleSince 2011Proprietary B.I.N.A. Method
Summary
AI SEO in seven points
The essentials for anyone who needs to decide quickly. The details, the sources and the frequently asked questions are right below.
- AI SEO prepares the company to be found, understood, verified and cited on Google and in AI answers.
- It integrates three fronts: technical and strategic SEO (the foundation), AEO (direct answers) and GEO (citation in generative answers).
- It is not the same as "AI-powered SEO", which means using AI as a productivity tool inside SEO work.
- Ranking is no longer enough: only about 38% of the URLs cited in AI Overviews were in the top 10 in March 2026 (Ahrefs).
- Google states that there is no need to create AI files, special markup or special schema: optimizing for AI search is still SEO.
- Measurement combines Search Console, Google's new generative AI report, a panel of questions put to the AIs and leads by source.
- No serious agency guarantees a place in an AI answer; the work increases clarity, eligibility and authority, and measures the result.
Definition
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO, or SEO for artificial intelligence, is SEO designed for an environment in which part of the answers is generated by AI.
In Flowup's definition, AI SEO prepares the company for four things that happen in sequence: being found by search indexes, being understood as an entity, being verified through evidence and data, and being cited in answers. The first three have always been SEO; the fourth is what changed.
In practice, it is the umbrella that organizes technical SEO, AEO and GEO into a single architecture, instead of three projects competing for the same budget. It also gives marketing teams a single SEO strategy, with the same yardstick for Google and for the AIs.
- Found
- Crawlable, indexable and fast pages, with search and AI crawlers allowed by decision, not by accident.
- Understood
- Clear entities: who the company is, what it does, for whom, where it operates and with what method.
- Verified
- Identifiable authorship, sourced data, case studies and consistency between the website and external sources.
- Cited
- Direct answers, definitions and passages that an AI system can retrieve and attribute to the brand.
The names
AI SEO, SEO for AI, LLMO and AI-powered SEO: what each name means
The market has not settled on a vocabulary yet. These are the most searched terms and how they relate.
| Term | What it means | Relation to this page |
|---|---|---|
| AI SEO | Preparing organic presence to be found and cited by search engines and AI systems. | It is the subject of this page and Flowup's program. |
| SEO for AI | Another wording for the same idea. "AI SEO" is sometimes also used for SEO tools that run on AI. | A synonym, when the meaning is optimizing for AI. |
| LLMO | LLM Optimization: optimization so that language models describe and cite the brand correctly. | Part of GEO, focused on the models. |
| GEO | Generative Engine Optimization: citation in AI-generated answers. | The citation layer. See GEO. |
| AEO | Answer Engine Optimization: direct answers in answer engines. | The answer layer. See AEO. |
| AI-powered SEO | Using AI tools for keyword research, analysis and content creation inside SEO. | A different subject: it is the means, not the goal. |
- 38%of the URLs cited in AI Overviews were also in the organic top 10 in March 2026. In July 2025 it was about 76%.Ahrefs, 2025 and 2026
- 8%of visits with an AI summary end in a click on a traditional result. Without the summary, it is 15%.Pew Research Center, 2025
- 1%of visits with an AI summary end in a click on a link cited inside the summary itself.Pew Research Center, 2025
- 34%of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023. Among adults under 30, it is 58%.Pew Research Center, 2025
Clicks have become rarer, and part of organic traffic went with them. Citation no longer follows position, and more and more people put their questions to AI: in the United States, about half of the adults with a college degree have already used ChatGPT, an audience that matters to many B2B and service companies.
The strategic summary fits in one sentence: a company that does not organize itself to be understood by AI systems starts depending on third parties to be explained. For the comparison between the two disciplines, see the guide GEO vs SEO.
SEO gets the company to the table; AI SEO decides whether it speaks. The technical foundation remains mandatory, but it is no longer sufficient.
How it works
How AI systems choose the sources of an answer
Each platform has its own rules, but the general logic is similar. Understanding the sequence shows where AI SEO acts.
Retrieve
The system looks for relevant pages in an index: that of the search engines, such as Google's in the case of AI Overviews, or its own indexes, such as those of ChatGPT and Perplexity.
Understand
It reads passages in natural language, identifies entities and relates the question to the sources that seem clearest and most reliable.
Synthesize
It combines the information into an answer and discards what is redundant, ambiguous or contradictory.
Attribute
It shows links and mentions to the sources that support the answer, when the platform displays citations.
That is why crawler access matters: according to OpenAI, sites that block OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers. The decision to allow or block each crawler should be the company's. The guide to AI crawlers explains each one.
The three fronts
AI SEO integrates SEO, AEO and GEO
SEO, AEO and GEO should not be treated as silos. Each one plays a role in the same construction of authority.
| Discipline | Main focus | Role in AI SEO |
|---|---|---|
| Technical and strategic SEO | Crawling, indexing, experience, relevance, useful content and authority. | The foundation: without it, the content is not found. |
| AEO | Objective answers to questions, snippets and answer engines. | Makes the content direct, scannable and reusable. |
| GEO | Mention and citation in AI-generated answers. | Organizes presence for systems that synthesize sources. |
| AI SEO | Technique, content, entities, authority and structured data together. | Turns SEO into understanding, trust and citability. |
How to do it
How to prepare a company for AI SEO
The work does not start with the copy: it starts with understanding the company and organizing the information that the market and the systems need to understand.
Map intents and questions
Questions, comparisons, objections and conversational searches the audience makes before hiring, including to the AIs.
Model entities
Brand, experts, services, segments, concepts and evidence connected consistently across the whole site.
Write to be cited
Create content with short definitions, direct answers, lists, tables and sourced data, on an impeccable technical base.
Strengthen and measure
Authorship, case studies and a trustworthy external presence, with measurement of presence in answers and of leads by source.
What Google says
What Google says about optimizing for AI
In July 2026, Google published a guide to optimizing for the generative AI features of Search. The points that most change the conversation:
Summary of the guide
- There is no need to create AI files, special markup or Markdown to appear in the AI features.
- Creating an llms.txt neither helps nor harms visibility in Google Search.
- There is no special schema for AI search; structured data remains useful for rich results.
- SEO best practices still apply: optimizing for AI search is still SEO.
In practice, this separates those who sell shortcuts from those who build foundations. Flowup does not sell llms.txt as a strategy for Google and explains why in the article why llms.txt alone will not make AI recommend your brand. What works is useful, well-structured content, with authorship and consistent entities.
Examples
Practical examples of AI SEO
The same principle takes a different shape depending on the business.
B2B company
It does not rely on a single service page: it shows the problems it solves, segments, comparisons and use cases, so the AI understands when to recommend the solution.
Clinic or healthcare service
It explains conditions, methods, safety criteria and the specialists' profiles, in clear language and with identified medical authorship.
Local business
It keeps the website, the Google Business Profile, the service pages and the contact details consistent, which is what answers questions with local intent.
How to choose
How to choose an AI SEO agency
These questions show up in the searches that reach this page. The criteria below help separate method from promise.
- Masters technical SEO: without crawling, indexing and speed, there is nothing to cite.
- Works with semantic structure and structured data consistent with the visible content.
- Measures AI presence with a fixed yardstick: a panel of questions repeated over time, not scattered screenshots.
- Publishes its own numbers and applies to itself what it sells.
- Does not promise guaranteed citation, and does not sell a magic file or mass AI-generated content.
- Delivers work that can be implemented: priorities, owners and acceptance criteria.
In practice, an AI SEO consultant does four things: finds out how the AIs describe the company today, finds the information gaps that cause wrong descriptions or absences, reorganizes pages and entities to close those gaps, and measures whether the description and the presence have changed. When the company wants to start with direction, the format is GEO and AEO consulting.
Measurement
How to measure AI SEO
Part of the value happens without a click. Measurement combines signals from search, from presence in answers and from the business.
Search Console
Impressions, clicks and queries; AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in the Web search performance report.
Generative AI report
Since August 31, 2026, Search Console has shown impressions in the AI features for all sites.
Question panel
The same funnel questions, asked every month to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google, recording presence and accuracy.
Leads by source
Traffic coming from AIs in Analytics and the source the client reports at first contact.
Method
How Flowup applies AI SEO with the B.I.N.A. Method
The B.I.N.A. Method organizes the construction of digital authority into four layers and turns content, SEO and AI into an architecture of organic presence.
Information Base
Organizes the company's essential information, its services, concepts, differentiators, evidence and structural pages.
See layer B in the methodIntent Intelligence
Maps how people search, ask, compare and decide, including in conversations with AIs.
See layer I in the methodAuthority Core
Defines the topics in which the company needs to be recognized as a source and connects pillars, clusters and entities.
See layer N in the methodDigital Asset
Turns the architecture into an organic asset that generates trust, traffic and opportunities over time.
See layer A in the method
Next step
Is your company clear enough to be understood by the AIs?
The B.I.N.A. Diagnosis shows, in 12 questions, the layer that most limits your presence on Google and in the AIs.
FreeInstant resultNo commitment
Take the B.I.N.A. DiagnosisBeyond the results, I would highlight the clarity of the strategy, the organization of the work and the long-term vision Guto brought to the project.
Read the case study
I am glad to record my satisfaction in working with Flowup. A positive experience: an attentive team, quick service, quality deliveries and care in every detail of the website. I was pleased with the final result and recommend their services with confidence.
Read the case study
We have been Flowup's partners for more than 10 years and, over that time, our trust has only grown stronger. The service is excellent and the commitment to our requests is total. The team understands our needs, meets deadlines and delivers consistent quality.
Read the case study
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions about AI SEO
The questions that arrive most often through search, including Google's AI Mode.
Is your question not here? The B.I.N.A. Diagnosis answers with your company's data.
Take the B.I.N.A. DiagnosisWhat is AI SEO?
AI SEO is the approach that extends SEO to the environment of AI-generated answers. It prepares the company to be found by search indexes, understood as an entity, verified through evidence and cited in AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.
Does AI SEO replace traditional SEO?
No. AI SEO extends SEO. Crawling, indexing, useful content, page experience and internal links remain essential, and are now also organized for semantic clarity, direct answers and citation. Google itself states that optimizing for AI search is still SEO.
What is the difference between AI SEO, GEO and AEO?
AI SEO is the umbrella. GEO handles citation in AI-generated answers. AEO handles direct answers in answer engines. The three work best when integrated in a single information base, on top of the technical foundation of SEO.
Is AI-powered SEO the same thing as AI SEO?
No. AI-powered SEO means using artificial intelligence as a tool inside the SEO process, in research, analysis and production. AI SEO, as used on this page, is the goal: preparing the company's presence to be understood and cited by AI systems. Flowup does both, but this page is about the second.
What is LLMO?
LLMO (LLM Optimization) is optimization so that language models describe and cite a brand correctly. In practice, it is part of GEO: it depends on clear, consistent and verifiable information about the company, on and off the website.
How do you appear in AI answers?
There is no guarantee of appearing. The most solid path is useful, technically accessible and well-structured content, with clear answers, authorship, sourced data, internal links, a trustworthy external presence and consistent information about the brand. The AI search crawlers also need access to the site.
Do I need to create an llms.txt file to appear in AI?
For Google Search, no. Google's guide, updated in July 2026, states that there is no need to create AI files and that an llms.txt neither helps nor harms visibility in Search. Other platforms do not confirm using the file as a factor. What sustains citation is the content and a consolidated entity.
Does structured data guarantee presence in AI Overviews or ChatGPT?
No. Structured data helps describe pages and entities and remains useful for Google's rich results, but it does not guarantee display, and Google states that there is no special schema for AI search. It should mirror the visible content.
What does an AI SEO consultant do in practice?
Finds out how the AIs describe the company today, finds the information gaps that cause absence or wrong descriptions, reorganizes pages, entities and structured data to close those gaps and measures, with a fixed panel of questions, whether the presence and the description have changed.
How do you choose an AI SEO agency?
Prefer one that masters technical SEO, works with semantic structure and consistent structured data, measures AI presence with a fixed yardstick, publishes its own numbers, does not promise guaranteed citation and delivers priorities your team can implement.
Does local SEO with artificial intelligence work?
It works when the local base is consistent: website, Google Business Profile, service pages, address, opening hours and contact details aligned. AIs answer questions with local intent from this information, and contradictions between sources reduce trust.
How do you measure AI SEO?
With Search Console (including the generative AI report, available to all sites since August 31, 2026), a fixed panel of questions put to the AIs every month, AI traffic in Analytics and leads by reported source. The protocol is in the guide to measuring AI visibility.
How long does AI SEO take to make an impact?
It depends on the starting point, the competition, the existing authority and the pace of implementation. Technical fixes show up first; recurring presence in answers is continuous construction, not a one-off action with a guaranteed result.
How much does AI SEO cost at Flowup?
It depends on the scope. The work comes in four formats: Initial Diagnosis, strategic Sprint, complete Project and monthly Retainer. For international projects, the price is defined in a proposal. The free starting point is the B.I.N.A. Diagnosis.
Transparency
Sources and references
This page prioritizes the official documentation of Google and of the AI platforms, and studies with a stated methodology, checked on October 2, 2026.
- Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search, Google Search Central (updated July 10, 2026): no AI files, special markup or special schema needed; llms.txt neither helps nor harms in Search; structured data remains useful for rich results.
- AI features and your website, Google Search Central: no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode; SEO best practices remain relevant.
- Update: 38% of AI Overview Citations Pull From The Top 10, Ahrefs (March 2, 2026): about 38% of the URLs cited in AI Overviews were in the top 10, against about 76% in July 2025, with a change of method between the studies.
- 76% of AI Overview Citations Pull From the Top 10, Ahrefs (July 21, 2025): the starting point of the comparison.
- Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, Pew Research Center (July 22, 2025): clicks in 8% of visits with an AI summary against 15% without one; 1% on links inside the summary; 900 U.S. adults, March 2025.
- 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT, about double the share in 2023, Pew Research Center (June 25, 2025): 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT; 58% of adults under 30; 51% of those with a bachelor's degree and 52% of those with a postgraduate degree; 5,123 U.S. adults, February 24 to March 2, 2025.
- Generative AI performance report (Search), Search Console Help: impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode, rolled out to all sites on August 31, 2026.
- Overview of OpenAI Crawlers, OpenAI: OAI-SearchBot surfaces websites in ChatGPT search; sites that opt out of it are not shown in search answers.
- Perplexity Crawlers, Perplexity: PerplexityBot surfaces and links websites in Perplexity search results and is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models.
- GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024: up to 40% more visibility in generative engine responses, in a controlled experiment.
How to cite this page
Flowup Agency. AI SEO: how to prepare your company for search engines and artificial intelligence. Guto Bertoncini, updated on . flowup.agency/en/ai-seo/
Is your company ready to be understood by the AIs?
Start with the free B.I.N.A. Diagnosis and find out what to make clearer, more trustworthy and more citable first.
5.0 on Google · Since 2011 · Case studies with stated sources
