AI has changed
how you get found.
Here's what to do.
A plain-English guide to Generative Engine Optimisation, AI Optimisation, and why PR is now the most powerful tool in your search visibility strategy.
Two new terms.
One urgent question.
GEO and AIO are being thrown around interchangeably, but they're not the same thing. Understanding the difference is the first step to doing something about it.
How do AI tools find and use your content?
GEO is the evolution of SEO. It's the discipline of structuring and presenting your website and content so that generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overview, Gemini) can find it, understand it, and choose to surface it in their answers.
Think clear site architecture, authoritative long-form content, strong backlinks, rich metadata. The same foundations as SEO, but optimised for how AI systems read and weight information.
How does your brand show up when AI is asked about you?
AIO operates at a different level. It's not about your website. It's about your reputation. AIO is the practice of ensuring your brand is represented accurately, positively and consistently when AI systems form answers about your sector, your competitors, or businesses like yours.
AI systems don't just scan your own website. They weight earned, third-party coverage (news articles, reviews, mentions, industry reports) far more heavily. This is where PR becomes the most powerful tool you have.
GEO vs. AIO
The most effective strategy combines both. A thought leadership piece that earns coverage in a trade publication (AIO) and is also well-structured and clearly attributed (GEO) does double duty.
Search has already changed.
The shift is bigger and faster than most people realise. AI tools are not a future trend; they are reshaping search behaviour right now.
And it's not just Google. Search queries in AI tools are getting longer and more conversational, averaging over seven words in AI Mode vs. four in traditional search. That means people are asking compound questions that require rich, authoritative, multi-dimensional answers. If you're not there, a competitor is.
"Advertising is what you pay to tell people about yourself. PR is what other people say about you, and AI listens to what other people say."
– The principle behind AIO
Think of it as
an iceberg.
Your digital presence has layers. AI systems read all of them, but they don't weight them equally.
You need all three layers. But the tip (earned media coverage from credible, third-party sources) carries disproportionate weight with AI systems. This is why PR is not a nice-to-have in 2026. It's your most powerful lever.
Five things to do
right now.
Improving your AIO doesn't require a complete marketing overhaul. It requires a smarter, more deliberate approach to PR, the kind that builds the external, earned reputation that AI systems are actively looking for.
Get into the publications AI trusts
Not all coverage carries equal weight. AI systems place far greater authority on well-indexed, credible, high-traffic publications than on low-quality directories or obscure guest posts. A well-placed article in a respected trade publication, or a quote in a national news outlet, sends a strong authority signal to AI systems while simultaneously building your reputation with human readers. Think about the publications that matter in your sector and make them a consistent target. For tech businesses, that might be Wired UK, TechCrunch, City A.M. or key trade titles. Consistent presence in the right places compounds over time.
Own a topic, not just a brand name
AI systems build topical authority through depth and consistency. If your business has genuine expertise in a specific area, build a suite of thought leadership content around it, across your website, LinkedIn, and external media. Bylined articles, expert commentary, podcast appearances, panel contributions and award entries all create a pattern of association between your name and your specialism that AI systems learn to recognise and trust. The businesses that show up most strongly in AI answers aren't necessarily the biggest. They're the most consistent and most specific about what they stand for.
Make your people visible and quotable
A named, credible individual who is regularly quoted in the press, maintains a strong LinkedIn presence and has a consistent point of view is a significant AI visibility asset. AI systems recognise people as well as brands. A well-profiled founder or director who appears across multiple credible sources builds authority for the whole organisation. If your leadership team isn't yet active on LinkedIn, that's one of the highest-impact places to start. Journalists use it to research spokespeople. So does AI.
Tell a consistent story everywhere
If your website describes you differently from your LinkedIn, your press releases use different language from your award entries, and journalists have characterised you in contradictory ways over the years, AI systems struggle to form a coherent, confident picture of who you are. They default to vague or generic descriptions. Audit your language. Agree on the words that define your business, create a brand narrative that clearly describes what you do, who you serve, and what makes you different, and use it consistently across every channel and every piece of communications you put out.
Make your own content earn its place
Your website, blogs and social channels all need to work hard for both humans and AI. That means EEAT (experience, expertise, authority and trust) running through everything you publish. Refresh or remove old content that no longer serves you. Connect your content to credible supporting sources, research and thought leaders to build context and authority. And think multi-format: not one piece replicated across every channel, but content genuinely shaped for where it lives. Video in particular is prioritised by every major social platform, so give the algorithms what they want.
Where does your brand
currently stand?
A useful first step is to test your current AI visibility. Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google's AI Overview questions that a potential client might ask about your sector. Then work out which of these describes what you see.
AI tools can't find, parse or choose to surface your content. Focus on site structure, content depth, backlinks and metadata first.
You show up but in generic terms, or less favourably than competitors. Your earned reputation needs building. This is a PR challenge.
You appear with authority, accuracy and positive characterisation. Maintain this with consistent PR and content investment.
Not sure where
your brand stands?
We're offering a limited number of free 30-minute AI visibility audits to help businesses understand how they show up, and what to do about it.
Book a free AI visibility audit →