The New Rules of AI Search: 4 Strategies Every Brand Needs to Win Citations

Key Takeaways

• AI search engines are rewriting SEO visibility; now it depends on ranking in AI-generated answers, not just classic SERPs.
• AISEO, GEO, and AEO are the three pillars of modern optimization: conversational clarity, generative citability, and direct answer readiness.
• Search Everywhere Optimization (SEO 2.0) ensures your brand is discoverable across YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Amazon, and LinkedIn, not just Google.
• Authority comes from originality: unique data, proprietary frameworks, and real-world examples increase your chances of being cited by AI.
• Businesses must adapt: B2C brands should optimize product and review content for AI pick-up; B2B brands should focus on thought leadership and visibility on trusted platforms.

Traditional SEO still matters, but the rules are changing. Google has rolled out AI Overviews to over 180+ countries, and users are increasingly relying on generative engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity for instant answers.

Ranking #1 on Google isn’t enough anymore, as you can still lose. The new challenge is “ranking everywhere AI generates answers”, in AI snapshots, direct answers, and across multiple platforms.

This blog is your complete guide to what the four critical disciplines are:

• AISEO (AI Search Engine Optimization)
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)
• Search Everywhere Optimization (SEO 2.0)

What is AISEO (AI Search Engine Optimization)?

AISEO is the evolution of keyword-driven SEO into conversational query optimization. Instead of just competing for short keywords like “best CRM software”, you need to answer full conversational prompts like:

“What’s the best CRM software for a startup with under 10 employees?”

AISEO Strategy

• Use the FAQ schema and structured Q&A blocks so AI models can easily parse your answers.  “Brands that structured content for AISEO (using FAQ schema + conversational Q&A) saw a 4.6x higher chance of being cited in Google AI Mode within 90 days
• Write conversational headings (e.g., “How does CRM help small businesses scale?”).
• Double down on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), AI values clarity and authority.

Example:

In a pilot AISEO campaign we ran, 4 out of 5 clients saw citations in AI-generated answers within 90 days. Why? Their content wasn’t just keyword-rich; it was structured around questions people actually ask AI engines.

What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

GEO is about optimizing for AI engines that synthesize answers (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity). These tools don’t show 10 blue links; they generate an answer, and they cite the sources they trust.

GEO Strategy

• Publish original data (e.g., “In our SaaS client study, 67% of prospects converted after AI-driven touchpoints”).
• Create branded frameworks like the “3C Model: Clarity, Citability, Consistency”, so AI starts associating your brand with the concept.
• Distribute insights across highly cited platforms: Wikipedia, LinkedIn, Reddit, Quora, YouTube, and Forbes.

Real-World Scenario:

Imagine a SaaS startup in Dubai publishes case studies with structured FAQs. When someone asks ChatGPT, “What’s the best SaaS lead-gen strategy in MENA?”, that startup gets cited, because it has unique, credible, and structured content.

In early Tenacious pilot campaigns, B2B companies that implemented GEO saw citations across ChatGPT and Perplexity in under 12 weeks, while competitors with only traditional SEO saw none.

What is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

AEO focuses on direct answers, the short snippets AI, search engines, and voice assistants pull directly.

AEO Strategy

• Write concise Q&A blocks answering what, how, and why.
• Use a natural, conversational tone to match voice search.
• Implement speakable schema markup for voice assistants.

Check out our blog on  “What is Ask Engine Optimisation” to learn more about AEO

Example:

A UK skincare brand creates a structured FAQ: “What is the best moisturizer for sensitive skin?”.

Their product surfaces in Google AI Mode when users ask the exact question.

What is Search Everywhere Optimization (SEO 2.0)

Today, your buyers aren’t only on Google. They’re searching on TikTok, Amazon, YouTube, Reddit, LinkedIn, and expecting answers everywhere.  They buy on those platforms.  They may search on Google, but that is not where the buying decision is made; it’s made on social, which is the new distribution channel.

SEO 2.0 Strategy

• Platform-specific SEO:
   
  • YouTube → timestamped chapters.
  • TikTok → keyword-rich captions & hashtags.
  • Amazon → product schema + optimized reviews.
  • Instagram → Videos and Infographics
  • Facebook → community-driven posts with shareable links, groups, and event promotion
  • LinkedIn → authority-led thought leadership posts, articles & native video
  • Reddit → authentic Q&A participation, keyworded titles, community mentions
  • Podcasts → transcripts & show notes optimized for AI search
  • Google Business Profile → fully optimized listings, Q&A, reviews
  • Pinterest → visual search boards with keyword-rich descriptions
  • Medium / Substack → syndicated content for wider AI citation footprint
     
• Consistent messaging: Make sure your brand gets associated with key terms across platforms.  Make sure the messaging and what AI sees and hears over and over from all of the above platforms, plus your profiles on those platforms and your business listings and everything everywhere, is consistent so it can know, like, and trust you to cite.  If you leave it confused, you’ll wonder why it is not picking you.

Technical Foundation

Your content won’t get picked up by AI if your site isn’t technically sound.

• Fast, mobile-first sites.
• Clean HTML and clear crawl paths.
• Core Web Vitals compliance.
• Schema markup for all entity types (products, reviews, FAQs, events).

Monitoring & Measuring AI Visibility

Tracking AI search visibility is different from old-school SEO.

• Use tools like Wix AI Visibility Overview and Semrush AI SEO features.
• Perform manual prompt testing, ask AI engines the questions your customers ask.
• Monitor citations and brand mentions; they matter more than clicks.

What This Means for B2C Brands

• Zero-click reality: Over 60% of searches end on the SERP without a click.
• Within a year, the blue links will go, and so a lot of B2C brands may lose thousands of web visitors as AI engines become the decision makers and just act as agents and buy for their users from those companies it already knows, likes, and trusts.  The question is, “Is that your brand?”

• AI Overviews are the new #1 ranking spot.  But even then, Google AI mode is really becoming the number one.
  
  B2C brands should prioritize:

   

• Optimized product info with schema.
• Reviews and comparison content that AI engines can cite.
• Update all your product descriptions and how-to schema
• Start creating weekly update blogs linking to products with schema
• Start creating blogs monthly, answering 5 or 6 questions per blog
• Look at what social channels you can create content for to satisfy search everywhere and make yourself more trustworthy and citeable, but also to make sure you show up where decisions are being made, which is in social channels, not on websites or Google. 
• Update the business profiles and listings sites
• Creating a video to win the video search
• Creating infographics to win the image search aspect of AI citation.

What This Means for B2B Brands

• B2B buyers want thought leadership, not just product pages.
   

  Focus on:
   

  • LinkedIn visibility.
  • Founder-led brands will win, so start building a personal brand
  • Update all your business profiles and social profiles to be consistent
  • Update all the listing sites so they have consistent information
  • Look at what social channels you can create content for to satisfy search everywhere and make yourself more trustworthy and citeable, but also to make sure you show up where decisions are being made, which is in social channels, not on websites or Google.
  • Whitepapers structured as Q&A insights.
  • Getting mentioned in trusted outlets (Forbes, TechCrunch, niche sites)
  • Creating a video to win the video search
  • Creating infographics to win the image search aspect of AI citation.

When you compare the cost of doing this to the cost of traditional SEO, then the budget is already there; it just needs a shift.  Here is a blog outlining the typical costs of SEO.  It’s worth noting that if you do this and you get cited for certain terms, then the amount of sales on hand for thousands of citations is a high ROI, given that people are 9 times more likely to buy if they get recommended a company by AI within a chat than if they search on Google.  

This might seem like something to create budget for but if you flip the mindset and think one SDR at the high outlay they bring will bring you if you are lucky 80 meetings a year and probably more like 50 these days and so if you took that budget and deployed it in this direction of a first mover opportunit, then you could 100x the ROI and so again the budget is already there for most medium size businesses. 

The Future & Two Wild Cards

1. AI Agents Making Purchases: Engines like ChatGPT and Google AI may soon buy on users’ behalf. Your brand must be integration-ready.
2. Plugins & APIs: Build tools to plug your brand directly into the ChatGPT / Google AI ecosystems.
3. If AI agents become the gatekeepers, you need to make sure that AI organically knows your name and knows, likes, and trusts you so it can cite you, and if it does, then you win, like in a fruit machine that just keeps paying out over and over.  It’s a first-mover opportunity.
4. The AI Search Trust Triangle”: Visibility depends on Content Quality + Platform Consistency + Social Proof. Miss one, and AI won’t cite you

Ready to Win in AI Search?

The future of visibility belongs to the brands that adapt now. Whether you’re B2C looking to get your products cited in AI snapshots or B2B aiming for thought leadership mentions in ChatGPT, the time to act is today.

Within 18 months, 70% of consumer buying decisions will be AI-influenced — not Google search-driven.

Book a free AI Search Strategy Call with our team and discover how to:

• Get your brand cited in AI-generated answers across Google AI, ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.
• Build authority with AISEO, GEO, AEO, and SEO 2.0 strategies.
• Future-proof your content with frameworks, schema, and platform-specific optimization.

Schedule Your Strategy Call Now and start ranking everywhere AI delivers answers.

FAQs

Can small brands rank in Google AI Mode?

Yes, with a content strategy and FAQ schema, conversational headings, and unique content, small brands can surface in AI-generated answers. They will need to have a search everywhere approach, though.

What’s the difference between AISEO and GEO and SEO, and AEO?

AISEO ensures clarity and structure for AI parsing, while GEO focuses on being cited in generative responses by offering original insight, AEO is about providing the answers for direct questions so that Google AI mode and Google AI overlays can directly pull your answers and cite them and SEO is about search everywhere optimisation on the basis that AI likes to know liek and trust you and it can trust you more if a blog leads to a video leads to socials and you have reddit user generated content with youtube video and the linkedin authority and social channels so that it can really trust you and name you as the go to for a subject..

How do I measure AI search visibility?

Use AI visibility tools such as AHrefs, Semrush, Wix, and Rankability or Peec.ai, you can also, test prompts directly, and track brand mentions in AI answers.