AI search optimization: get cited by Google AI, ChatGPT and Copilot, with the reports to prove it
AI search optimization (also called generative engine optimization, GEO, or answer engine optimization, AEO) is the work of making a business legible, trusted and citable to the systems that assemble AI answers. I do the work and I publish the three measurements that show whether it worked: impressions inside Google AI features, citations in Microsoft AI answers, and sessions that arrive from AI assistants.
- 8,898impressions inside Google generative AI featuresSearch Console · 6 sites I built
- 1,070citations as a source in Microsoft AI answersBing Webmaster Tools · 5 sites
- 319sessions from AI assistants (ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity)GA4 · 6 properties with a source export
- 49%of a new store's sessions came from chatgpt.comGA4 · since launch in Aug 2026
What AI search optimization is, in one paragraph
When a buyer asks ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity or Google's AI Mode who to use, the model does not invent the answer. It retrieves what the web says about the category, picks the sources it can read and trust, and names a few businesses. AI search optimization is everything that puts a business into that set: pages that answer the buyer's real question, one consistent entity across every page and language, structured data and an llms.txt file the crawlers can parse, third-party mentions the model can corroborate, and measurement that shows the result in the platforms' own reports. It is delivered together with classic SEO, because the same pages rank on Google and get cited by the assistants.
Three measurements, kept apart
An impression is an appearance, a citation is a reference, a session is a visit. None is converted into the next, and none is a sale.
What the work looks like
- Question-first pages. The page Google's AI surfaces most for Amo Embarque is not the packages page, it is the article on whether an older person can fly alone (437 of 1,249 AI impressions). For Sanick it is technical failure articles. Answering the question is what makes the AI use the source.
- One entity, everywhere. Structured data, the same facts on every page and language, an llms.txt file, and an About page a model can trust.
- Measurement from day one. Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and GA4 wired before launch, with key events on the actions that matter, so the AI channel can be compared with organic search on actions, not on sessions.
- Published exports. Every figure on this site carries its export date and is generated from a public data set: portfolio-data.json.
Cases with the AI reports open
- Sanick: inside Google AI features on the second day of its new site, 1,194 impressions in 59 days.
- Amo Embarque: 105 GA4 sessions from AI assistants on a domain that went live on 11 Jul 2026.
- Agrotec: 3,486 impressions inside Google AI features from 34 countries and 422 Bing AI citations.
- Canil Gelbes Wasser: 2,926 impressions inside Google AI features from 60 countries.
- My own category: what ChatGPT answers about AI search consultants, published dated, including while it does not name me.
AI visibility check, free, in 48 hours
Two ways to start. The free AI visibility scan checks, live, whether AI systems can find, read and trust your site. The 2-minute check tells me where you are, and I reply with what Google, Bing and the assistants show for your category and your name today.
Questions buyers ask about AI search optimization
Is AI search optimization the same as GEO?
Yes in practice. GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) are names for the same work: making a business citable by the systems that generate answers. I use the platforms' own words in the reports: impressions inside Google AI features, citations in Bing AI answers, sessions from AI assistants.
How is it measured?
In three reports the platforms already provide. Search Console's generative AI features report (8,898 impressions across 6 of my sites at the last export), Bing Webmaster Tools' AI performance report (1,070 citations), and GA4's session source (319 sessions from AI assistants). Each is published with its date.
Does it replace SEO?
No. It is built on it. The same pages that rank on Google are the ones AI systems cite, and the entity work is shared. I deliver both as one system.
How long does it take?
Sanick recorded its first impression inside Google AI features on 24 Jul 2026, one day after its new site went live. Amo Embarque's new domain took 23 days. Volume takes months; the first signal takes weeks.
Start with your starting line.
A few quick taps, two minutes, and my reading of your reports within 48 hours.
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