How to Get Your Website Used in AI Search Results
Search is changing. People are increasingly asking ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and other AI search tools questions that they previously typed directly into a traditional search engine. Instead of searching for: “best accounting software small business” Someone may now ask: “What accounting software would you recommend for a 10-person South African business that needs payroll, VAT and cloud access?” The search behaviour is different, but the underlying opportunity for website owners remains similar.
AI platforms need information to answer these questions. Your objective is to make your website one of the sources they find, understand and trust enough to reference. This has led to terms such as Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and AI SEO. There is certainly a new layer to search marketing, but website owners should be careful about treating AI visibility as something completely separate from SEO. Google’s current guidance is particularly clear on this point. Its generative AI search features are built on Google’s existing Search ranking and quality systems. Google says established SEO principles continue to apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode.
So how do you increase the chances of your website appearing in AI-generated results? It starts by making your website a better source of information.
What Does It Mean to Appear in AI Results?
AI visibility can take several forms. Your website might appear as a linked source underneath a Google AI Overview. A page could be referenced within Google AI Mode. ChatGPT Search might cite one of your pages when answering a question. Your business may be mentioned as one of several recommended providers. Information from your website may also help an AI system answer a specific factual question. This means website owners need to think beyond traditional rankings.
Historically, SEO concentrated heavily on getting a page into positions one, two or three for a defined keyword. AI search is more conversational. One question can lead the system to investigate multiple related topics before constructing an answer. What is GEO?
Google describes this as “query fan-out”. Its AI systems may run several related searches to gather enough information to answer a more complicated question. That changes the content opportunity. Your page may become relevant even if it does not exactly match the original wording of the user’s question.
Traditional SEO Still Matters
One of the biggest mistakes website owners could make is abandoning SEO because AI search has arrived. AI search still needs to discover information. For Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, this process remains closely connected to Google’s search index. Google states that pages need to be indexed and eligible to appear in normal Google Search before they can appear as supporting sources within its generative AI search features.
- That means the fundamentals still matter.
- Your website needs to be crawlable.
- Important pages need to be indexed.
- Internal links need to help search engines discover content.
- Pages need clear titles and headings.
- Duplicate content needs to be controlled.
- Mobile performance still matters.
- Website speed still matters.
- Site architecture still matters.
- Content quality still matters.
AI has changed the presentation of search results. It has not removed the need for search engines to find and evaluate websites.
Make Sure AI Crawlers Can Access Your Website
This is one of the first technical checks we recommend. A website can contain useful content and still have very little chance of appearing in an AI-generated answer if the relevant crawler cannot access it. This applies particularly to ChatGPT. OpenAI confirms that public websites can appear in ChatGPT Search, but website owners should make sure they are not blocking OAI-SearchBot if they want their content to be discovered, summarised and cited.
Your robots.txt file therefore matters. Website security systems can also cause problems. Services such as Cloudflare, firewalls, bot protection and hosting security systems may occasionally block legitimate crawlers. OpenAI specifically warns that web application firewalls, bot mitigation systems and other security layers can prevent its crawlers from accessing websites.
Website owners should therefore check more than robots.txt. You need to confirm that important pages can actually be reached by search and AI crawlers. For Google, the same principle applies. Google recommends ensuring that Googlebot is allowed through robots.txt and any CDN or hosting infrastructure.
Write Content Worth Citing
This may become one of the most important differences between average SEO content and content that performs well across both search and AI systems. AI systems already have access to huge volumes of generic information. They do not need another article that simply repeats the same ten points found on hundreds of other websites. Google’s July 2026 guidance specifically encourages website owners to create what it describes as non-commodity content: information containing genuine expertise, experience, unique viewpoints or original insight rather than material that simply repeats common knowledge.
This matches what we have seen through years of building and improving websites. The strongest content normally contains information that comes from the business itself. A commercial property company could publish actual rental ranges from transactions it has worked on.
An air-conditioning contractor like Cape Climate could explain which unit sizes it typically installs in different room sizes. An attorney like MVM Attorneys could discuss recurring mistakes seen in commercial leases. An interior design agency like Cape Interios could publish realistic office fit-out costs based on completed projects. The are client we have helped improve their AI visibility. A digital marketing agency could explain the technical issues it repeatedly finds while auditing websites. This information has something that generic content lacks.
Build Topical Authority Around Your Core Services
One isolated article rarely establishes much authority. Your website should demonstrate that your business understands its subject across multiple related areas. Consider a commercial property website like Office Rental Cape Town specialising in office leasing. Instead of publishing one page titled “Offices to Rent Cape Town“, the site could build information around:
- Office rentals
- Lease negotiations
- Office relocation
- Fit-out costs
- Parking ratios
- Operating costs
- Tenant installation allowances
- Lease renewals
- Office space planning
- Building grades
- Cape Town CBD office trends
- Century City office rentals
- Claremont office rentals
- Major office buildings
Each page should have a clear purpose. The pages should also link to one another where relevant. The result is a connected body of useful information around the subject. This gives traditional search engines considerably more context about the website’s area of expertise and creates more pages that could potentially become relevant to AI-generated questions.
Use First-Hand Experience
This is an opportunity many established businesses are missing. You already have information that AI cannot simply invent. Use it. If you have completed hundreds of installations, explain what commonly goes wrong. If you have negotiated commercial leases, discuss clauses businesses frequently overlook.
If you have built websites across different industries, explain what tends to prevent those websites from ranking. If you renovate offices, explain where projects most commonly exceed budget. If you manage rental property, explain the problems landlords repeatedly encounter.
Case studies are particularly useful. Rather than publishing: “Why SEO Is Important for Small Businesses”
Consider:
“How We Rebuilt a Cape Town Business Website After a Domain and Hosting Problem“
The second article contains real experience. It can include the problem, diagnosis, work completed and result. Google’s latest guidance specifically identifies first-hand reviews and experience-based viewpoints as examples of content that provides greater value than simply summarising information already available online. This should influence how businesses approach their content strategy.
Establish Who Is Behind the Website
AI visibility is closely connected to a broader question: Who is providing this information? Businesses should make it easy to establish who they are. Your website should have a useful About page. Service pages should clearly identify the company providing the service.
Articles can identify authors where appropriate. Business names, contact information, service areas and company information should remain consistent. Professional profiles elsewhere online should also support the same identity. For local businesses, Google recommends maintaining accurate Google Business Profile information because this data can support visibility within traditional and generative search experiences. The objective is to remove ambiguity. A search system should be able to establish what your business does, where it operates and which subjects it has credible experience discussing.
Do You Need an llms.txt File?
There has been considerable discussion around llms.txt files. The concept is that websites provide a simplified file specifically intended to help large language models find important content. Website owners should distinguish between experimentation and confirmed search requirements.
Google currently states that it does not require llms.txt and does not use it as a special signal for Google Search or its generative AI search features. Adding one will neither improve nor harm Google rankings according to Google’s current documentation. Here at Webspace Design, we ensure all our client sites are optimised for most AI Platforms. That does not mean the concept could never become useful elsewhere. It simply means website owners should not treat llms.txt as the solution to AI visibility. If your basic SEO, crawlability and content are weak, creating another text file is unlikely to solve the underlying problem.
Build Strong Internal Links
Internal linking remains one of the simplest opportunities available to website owners. If you publish a detailed article about office lease renewals, link it to your tenant representation service. If your service page discusses office relocation costs, link to your detailed relocation guide. If you publish an area guide for Cape Town as an example, link to relevant services, properties or locations.
This helps visitors continue exploring the website. It also helps search engines understand how the site’s information fits together. Google continues to recommend making important content easy to discover through internal links as part of its guidance for AI Search visibility. Do not create hundreds of isolated articles. Build connected subject areas.
Keep Important Information in Text
Modern websites can contain impressive graphics, sliders, videos and interactive components. But important information should still exist as accessible text on the page. Google specifically recommends making important content available in textual form. If your entire pricing structure exists only inside an image, you are making that information harder to process.
The same applies to technical specifications, service details, location information and important business facts. Images and video can support the page. They should not replace the information search systems need to understand.
Use Original Images Where Possible
AI search is becoming increasingly multimodal. Text is no longer the only opportunity. Google’s current guidance recommends supporting useful written content with relevant high-quality images and video because these assets can also appear within generative search experiences. For businesses, original imagery can provide additional value. Show completed projects. Show products, like we did for our Client, Cape Climate here.
- Show properties.
- Show installations.
- Show your team where appropriate.
Include useful diagrams or comparison graphics. Use descriptive file names and alt text where relevant. This also strengthens the credibility of the page for human visitors.
Earn Mentions Beyond Your Own Website
Your website does not exist in isolation. Search engines can see information about companies, products, people and services across many sources. These could include industry publications, directories, professional associations, news websites, suppliers, customers, review platforms and other relevant websites. Good digital PR and genuine industry references can therefore support your broader online presence. The important word is genuine.
Google specifically warns website owners against chasing artificial mentions simply to influence AI systems. A legitimate industry article mentioning your company has value. Creating dozens of meaningless profiles purely to manufacture mentions is something completely different. Authority still needs to be earned.
AI Visibility Is About Becoming a Source
This is probably the most important shift website owners need to make.
Do not ask: “How do I get ChatGPT to recommend my company?”
Ask: “What information could we publish that ChatGPT, Google or another search system would find useful when answering our customers’ questions?”
That changes the strategy completely. Instead of trying to manipulate an AI recommendation, you build a website containing information worth referencing. For many businesses, that information already exists inside the company.
- It sits in conversations with customers.
- It exists in quotations.
- It exists in completed projects.
- It exists in sales meetings.
- It exists in frequently asked questions.
- It exists in problems your team solves every week.
Turn that knowledge into useful website content.
A Practical AI Visibility Checklist
If you want your website to gain more visibility across AI-assisted search, start with these priorities:
- Make sure Google and relevant AI search crawlers can access the website.
- Confirm important pages are indexed.
- Create detailed service and subject pages rather than thin content.
- Publish information based on genuine business experience.
- Answer specific customer questions clearly.
- Build connected content clusters around your specialist subjects.
- Strengthen internal linking.
- Keep business information accurate and consistent.
- Use relevant structured data without relying on it as an AI ranking shortcut.
- Add original data, examples, case studies, images and insight.
- Monitor Google Search Console, analytics and ChatGPT referral traffic.
- Continue improving existing pages rather than publishing content purely for volume.
Can You Guarantee That AI Will Use Your Website?
No.
There is currently no legitimate process that guarantees your company will appear in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews or another AI-generated answer. Google itself states that meeting all its requirements does not guarantee that a page will be crawled, indexed or displayed. The same principle applies across AI search. What you can do is increase your eligibility and improve the quality of the signals available.
- Make the site technically accessible.
- Build genuine subject authority.
- Publish information that deserves to be referenced.
- Make your company and expertise easy to identify.
- Maintain strong traditional SEO.
