Start with a question one of your customers might ask. See whether your business comes up, then read what the answer says you can do for them.
An office manager in London has a Wi-Fi problem. They need someone who can come to the office and fix it.
They ask ChatGPT: “Our office Wi-Fi is not working. Which IT companies in London can come and fix it?”
Imagine you run X Company, a fictional IT support business. Would your name come up when a customer asks that question?
AEO stands for answer engine optimization. In this series, it means helping customers find your business and understand what you offer through AI answers. It builds on familiar SEO practices. Google Search Central’s guide to generative AI features says, “The best practices for SEO continue to be relevant”.
To get started, look at two things in one answer: whether your business appears and whether the description is accurate.
“Can X Company fix our Wi-Fi?” gives ChatGPT a business to talk about. The office manager in our example doesn’t know the company yet.
Ask about the job instead: “Which IT companies in London can come and fix our office Wi-Fi?” Keep the details that matter to the customer, such as the city and the need for an office visit.
Save the exact question and the full answer. Note which tool you used, when you asked, the language, and any location or search settings you supplied. If certain settings aren't visible, simply note that you couldn't verify them.
AI answers can change. Those notes give you something concrete to compare when you ask again.
Imagine ChatGPT recommends X Company and says, “X Company can send someone to your office to fix the Wi-Fi.”
That sounds like a good fit. The office manager needs someone on-site, and the answer says X Company can be there.
Then the office manager opens the company’s service page: “We provide remote IT support. Our team does not visit customers’ offices.”
The office visit is the detail that makes the recommendation sound useful. It’s also the detail the answer got wrong.
Save the sentence from the AI answer alongside the wording on your current service page. In this example, that gives you a record of the specific mismatch.
Look at any sources the answer cites. An old directory listing or a conflicting third-party description might explain the wording. The answer alone gives you little evidence about where it came from.
If you find outdated information you control, correct it and check again later. If your service page is already clear, keep the wording that works. An edit can improve the information on your site, and the AI answer may still vary.
When you do update a page, make the details that matter to customers easy to find. Google’s guidance for AI features recommends “Making sure that important content is available in textual form” and “Making sure your structured data matches the visible text on the page”.
The office manager might see X Company’s name and keep looking. They might open the website, realize the service is remote, and move on. They might even ask for a quote before choosing someone else.
Microsoft’s announcement for Bing Webmaster Tools explains what its report can show: “The AI Performance dashboard provides a consolidated view of when your site is cited in AI answers.”
Save the answer as a record of what the tool said. Use your website analytics, inquiry records, and sales records to see what customers actually did.
Think of a question a potential customer might ask about your services. Ask an AI tool without mentioning your company name.
Does your business appear? If it does, is the information accurate?
Save the answer and check again later. Remember that one response is only a snapshot of what the AI generated at that moment.
For a deeper review, contact us.