A customer in Berwick opens ChatGPT and types, "Who's a good electrician near me for a switchboard upgrade?" Seconds later they have three names and a short reason to call each one. If your business isn't one of those names, that customer may never know you exist. This is what AI SEO, or generative engine optimisation, deals with. Getting into those answers is mostly about doing the SEO basics properly, plus a few habits most small businesses skip.
What Is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?
Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the practice of making your business easy for AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews to find, understand and trust, so they mention you when someone asks a relevant question.
You’ll also see it called AI SEO, answer engine optimisation (AEO) or LLM SEO. LLM stands for large language model, the technology behind tools like ChatGPT. For a business owner, these all mean the same thing: showing up in the answer, not just in the search results.
Why AI Answers Matter for Local Businesses
AI tools are changing how people choose a business. Instead of typing “accountant Narre Warren” and comparing five websites, people ask a full question and get one answer. That answer works like a shortlist, and many people act on it without clicking further. Google’s AI Overviews already appear at the top of many Australian search results, and Google’s chat-style AI Mode launched here in October 2025.
For local businesses, the “near me” questions matter most: who’s the best, who’s closest, who can do it this week. Those prompts decide whether you make the shortlist.
GEO Builds on SEO – It Doesn’t Replace It
Good SEO is the foundation of AI SEO. If you’ve heard that “SEO is dead” because of AI, it isn’t. The goal has simply widened from ranking on a page of links to being the business an AI tool trusts enough to recommend.
The difference comes down to where you want to appear:
- Traditional SEO aims to rank your pages in Google’s list of links, measured in rankings and clicks
- GEO aims to get your business mentioned or cited in answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews and AI Mode, measured in mentions, AI referral visits and enquiries
Both reward relevant, well-built pages. GEO leans harder on clear answers, consistent details and trust signals from across the web.
Google’s own guidance on AI features says the same SEO best practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that no special optimisation or extra technical requirements are needed to appear in them.
“There’s no secret switch that gets a business into ChatGPT’s answers,” says David Pagotto, founder of SIXGUN. “The businesses AI tools recommend tend to be the ones that have done the fundamentals well for years: a website that clearly explains what they do and where, consistent details everywhere, and real customers talking about them. AI hasn’t changed what good looks like. It’s just made the gap between good and average much easier to see.”
How to Show Up in AI Overviews and ChatGPT: Six Places to Start
You don’t need a big budget. If you have a few hours a month, work through these in order:
1. Check what AI says about you now: Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Google what your customers would ask, such as “best physio in Cranbourne for sports injuries”. Note whether you appear and who appears instead.
2. Complete your Google Business Profile: Choose accurate categories, fill in every service area, opening hour and photo, and reply to reviews. Genuine, recent reviews give AI tools something real to draw on.
3. Make each service page answer the obvious questions: Say what you do, where you do it, who it’s for and what the process or price range looks like, in plain text near the top of the page.
4. Add an FAQ built from real customer questions: Use the questions you actually get on the phone. “Do you charge a call-out fee?” beats anything a marketer might guess.
5. Keep your business details identical everywhere: Your name, address, phone number and services should match across your website, Google, directories and social profiles. Mismatches can make it harder for AI tools to identify you.
6. Earn local mentions: Suppliers, industry associations, local media and community groups can all mention you. These third-party mentions help AI tools see that others vouch for you.
There’s no special trick for AI Overviews here. It’s the same work that wins customers, done consistently.
Your Website Build Decides What AI Can Read
How your website is built affects what search engines and AI tools can see. A good-looking site can still hide its most useful information. Watch for:
• Key details that only load when someone clicks a tab, slider or “read more” button, rather than sitting in the page’s text
• Text that only loads after a script runs, which some crawlers struggle to read
• A single “Services” page trying to cover everything, instead of one clear page per service
• Slow, heavy pages that frustrate people on their phones
Structured data (schema markup such as LocalBusiness) also helps machines understand who you are and what you offer. If you’re planning a rebuild, a web design team in Melbourne that builds with search in mind can build these foundations in from the start.
How to Tell If It’s Working
You can track progress without expensive tools:
• Repeat the same AI prompts each month and record whether you appear
• Check the Traffic acquisition report in Google Analytics for visits from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and gemini.google.com (some AI visits show as “Direct”)
• Watch searches for your business name in Google Search Console
• Ask every new enquiry, “How did you find us?”
Quick Answers
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. GEO builds on SEO. Businesses that appear in AI answers usually have strong, well-structured websites and good reputations.
Can ChatGPT help with SEO?
Yes, for brainstorming and drafting. It can’t replace your local knowledge or your customers real questions, so always edit what it writes.
Final Word
AI tools recommend businesses that are clear, consistent and trusted. Those are the same qualities that win customers. You can’t control what an AI tool says, but you can make your business the easy answer. Start this week: ask ChatGPT the question your best customer would ask, and see who it recommends.
