For years, businesses have thought about website visibility primarily in terms of Google rankings. That still matters, but search behaviour is becoming broader. Potential customers can now discover companies through traditional search results, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT search and other AI-powered discovery tools.
This has led to a new collection of terms including AI search optimisation, Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). Despite the new terminology, the underlying principles are more familiar than they might first appear. Google’s current guidance is explicit that established SEO best practices remain the foundation for visibility in its generative AI search experiences. There is no separate technical shortcut required to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
For businesses planning a new website, that is good news. You do not need to build one website for Google and another for AI. You need a well-structured, technically sound website containing clear, useful and credible information that both people and machines can understand.
SEO and AI search are increasingly connected
Traditional search engines have always needed to understand what a webpage is about, whether it can be trusted and how useful it is to someone making a particular search. AI search systems have similar requirements, even if the way they present the answer is different.
Google explains that its generative search features use its existing Search index and ranking systems to retrieve relevant information before generating responses. It may also perform multiple related searches behind the scenes to understand a broader question. Google calls this process “query fan-out”.
This means a website does not suddenly become irrelevant because someone receives an AI-generated answer instead of ten traditional blue links. The information still needs to come from somewhere, and AI search experiences increasingly provide links and citations to the sources supporting their answers.
ChatGPT search works differently from Google, but discoverability still depends partly on whether a website can be accessed. OpenAI states that public websites can appear in ChatGPT search and recommends allowing its OAI-SearchBot crawler if publishers want their content to be discovered, summarised and cited.
The practical lesson is straightforward: good technical SEO and genuinely useful content are becoming more important, not less.
Start with a website that can actually be crawled
Before worrying about GEO strategies, schema markup or AI citations, your important pages need to be accessible to search engines.
That sounds obvious, but many websites create unnecessary barriers through incorrect robots.txt rules, accidental noindex directives, poorly configured security tools, broken redirects or important information that is difficult for crawlers to access.
Google states that pages need to be indexed and eligible to appear in ordinary search results before they can appear as supporting links in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Its guidance also recommends ensuring crawling is permitted through robots.txt, hosting infrastructure and other technical layers.
The same general principle applies beyond Google. If you want content to have the opportunity to appear in ChatGPT search, OAI-SearchBot should not be blocked.
A website designed with search visibility in mind should therefore have sensible crawl rules, an XML sitemap, working internal links and clean URLs. These are basic technical decisions, but everything else depends on them.
Give the website a clear structure
A search engine or AI system should not have to guess what your company does.
Imagine a business offering website development, ecommerce development and custom software. A single generic “Services” page containing three short paragraphs gives search systems relatively little context. Dedicated pages for each service allow the website to explain each capability properly, answer relevant questions and demonstrate experience in that area.
Clear architecture also helps users. Someone looking specifically for ecommerce development should be able to understand within seconds that the company provides that service, what platforms it works with, what kind of projects it undertakes and how to get started.
A sensible business website might therefore have dedicated pages for each core service, case studies, supporting articles, an About page and clear contact information. These pages should link naturally to one another so that both visitors and search engines can understand their relationships.
Google continues to recommend making important content easily discoverable through internal links.
Write for topics and questions, not just keywords
Older SEO strategies often focused heavily on repeating an exact keyword. If a company wanted to rank for “website development Reading”, for example, the phrase might be inserted into headings and paragraphs repeatedly whether it improved the page or not.
Modern search systems are far better at understanding meaning.
Google specifically advises website owners not to create large quantities of pages simply to capture every variation of a search phrase. Its generative systems can understand related concepts and synonyms without requiring exact wording for every possible query.
A stronger approach is to make each page genuinely useful around a topic.
A Website Development page might naturally explain the types of websites you build, platforms you use, typical costs, SEO considerations, integrations, project process and support after launch. A separate article might answer “How much does a website cost in the UK?”, while another compares WordPress with Webflow.
Together, those pages create much more meaningful subject coverage than repeating the phrase “website development” twenty times.
Make answers easy to find
Clear content does not mean turning every paragraph into a two-sentence snippet for AI.
In fact, Google explicitly says there is no requirement to “chunk” content into tiny sections simply to improve generative-search visibility. There is also no ideal page length. Content should be organised according to what makes sense for the reader.
What does help is good editorial structure.
Use descriptive headings. Introduce the topic clearly. Answer important questions directly. Keep related information together. Avoid vague headings such as “Our Solution” when something more descriptive like “Ecommerce platform integrations” would provide greater context.
FAQs can also be useful where customers repeatedly ask the same questions, although they should exist because they help visitors rather than because someone believes FAQ text is an automatic AI-ranking technique.
The objective is not to write for a machine. It is to create pages that are easy for humans and machines to interpret.
Create content that adds something original
One of the most important changes in Google’s 2026 AI-search guidance is its emphasis on what it calls non-commodity content.
A generic article containing information available on thousands of other websites offers relatively little reason for a search engine or AI system to choose it as a source. Google encourages publishers to provide unique experience, expertise, perspectives and information rather than simply reproducing what already exists elsewhere.
For a business, original content does not necessarily mean publishing academic research.
It could include practical lessons learned from projects, genuine case-study results, pricing experience, technical decisions, comparisons based on first-hand work, photographs of completed projects or detailed explanations of how the business approaches a particular problem.
For Beyond Forge, for example, an article explaining what tends to push a custom software project beyond £10,000 is more useful if it draws on real scoping experience rather than simply repeating a generic list of development costs.
First-hand knowledge gives the content something another website cannot easily reproduce.
Demonstrate who is behind the information
Trust matters online, particularly when a website is asking somebody to spend thousands of pounds on a professional service.
A strong business website should make it easy to understand who the company is, where it operates, who leads it and what experience sits behind the claims being made. Case studies, genuine testimonials, founder profiles and clear contact details all help build that picture.
This is useful commercially, but it also creates context around the content itself. An article about custom software carries more weight when it sits on the website of a company that clearly builds custom software and can show examples of its work.
Avoid filling a site with anonymous articles created simply because a keyword tool suggested them. Publishing fewer articles with genuine expertise behind them is usually a stronger long-term strategy.
Use structured data where it genuinely applies
Structured data is machine-readable information added to a webpage to help search engines understand specific types of content. Google supports structured data for things such as organisations, local businesses, products, articles, breadcrumbs and software applications.
For a business website, useful structured data might identify the organisation, describe breadcrumb navigation, mark up an article or provide relevant product information on an ecommerce site.
It is worth implementing correctly, but structured data should not be treated as a shortcut to AI visibility.
Google specifically states that there is no special schema markup required for generative AI search, and structured data is not required simply to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. It remains useful as part of normal SEO and for eligibility for supported search features.
The rule is simple: use relevant structured data accurately and ensure it reflects information that actually appears on the page.
Don't rely on an llms.txt file as an AI SEO strategy
You may have seen websites adding an llms.txt file, sometimes described as an equivalent of robots.txt specifically for large language models.
At present, this should not be treated as a replacement for proper SEO or content structure.
Google clarified in 2026 that it does not use llms.txt for Search, and adding the file does not improve or reduce visibility in Google Search or its generative AI features.
Other systems may develop their own approaches over time, so there is nothing inherently wrong with maintaining one where there is a genuine reason. But if a business has limited time and budget, improving its service pages, technical SEO and original content should come well before experimenting with speculative AI optimisation files.
Make important information available as text
A beautifully designed website can still be difficult for search systems to understand if essential information is buried inside images, animations or interactive elements.
Google recommends ensuring important content is available in textual form, even when images and videos are also being used.
That means a hero image containing the words “Custom Software Development” should not be the only place that phrase appears. Services, locations, product information and important business details should exist as normal webpage content.
Images and video still have value. Google’s guidance for generative search specifically encourages high-quality visual content where it improves the page, because AI search experiences can also surface images and video.
The best websites use visuals to enhance the content rather than replace it.
Performance and usability still matter
AI search has not made conventional website quality irrelevant.
Visitors still abandon frustrating websites. Pages still need to load properly on mobile devices. Navigation still needs to be understandable. Forms still need to work.
Google's guidance for AI search continues to recommend a strong page experience, including good performance across different devices and clear separation between useful content and distracting page elements.
Core Web Vitals and performance optimisation should therefore remain part of website development, but they need to be kept in perspective. A lightning-fast page containing weak information will not suddenly become authoritative because it loads in half a second.
Performance supports good content; it does not replace it.
Keep local and business information accurate
For UK SMEs serving a particular region, visibility often has a local element. A prospective customer may search for a software agency in their area, an ecommerce developer nearby or a company that works specifically with UK businesses.
Your website should clearly explain where you operate and how customers can contact you. Where relevant, your Google Business Profile should also contain accurate business information. Google explicitly recommends keeping Business Profile information current as part of its general guidance for search and AI features.
Avoid creating dozens of near-identical location pages simply to target every nearby town. If you genuinely work with businesses in a location and have useful information to say about that service, a location page can make sense. Creating interchangeable pages with only the town name changed is far less valuable.
Build a connected body of useful content
One strong page can rank and be cited on its own, but a coherent website is usually more valuable than a collection of disconnected articles.
Your core service pages should explain what you sell. Supporting articles can explore the questions customers ask before buying. Case studies then demonstrate that you have actually delivered the work being discussed.
For a website development agency, that might look like:
Website Development as the core commercial page.
How Much Does a Website Cost in the UK? as a pricing guide.
WordPress vs Webflow as a platform comparison.
7 Signs Your Business Website Needs Rebuilding as problem-aware content.
Website Support and Maintenance as post-purchase information.
These pages can naturally link to one another. Over time, the website develops a much clearer body of information around its actual expertise.
That is useful for SEO, AI search and—more importantly—the potential customer researching whether the agency is right for them.
Can you guarantee that a website will appear in AI answers?
No.
Any agency promising guaranteed placement in ChatGPT, AI Overviews or other generative search results should be treated cautiously. Search and AI systems ultimately decide which sources they retrieve and present.
Google makes clear that meeting its technical requirements does not guarantee crawling, indexing or inclusion in search results.
The sensible goal is therefore eligibility and visibility, not guaranteed inclusion.
Make the site technically accessible. Publish useful and distinctive information. Explain the business clearly. Build credible supporting content. Allow relevant search crawlers to access the site. Then measure what happens.
OpenAI notes that referral traffic from ChatGPT search includes utm_source=chatgpt.com, allowing publishers to identify visits in analytics tools. Google also now provides reporting for generative AI performance through Search Console.
Measurement will become increasingly important as AI-driven discovery develops.
So, what does an SEO and AI-search-ready website actually look like?
It is not a website stuffed with keywords, hidden AI files and hundreds of automatically generated articles.
It is a technically accessible website with a logical structure, clearly written service pages, useful supporting content, relevant internal links and information that demonstrates genuine expertise. It performs properly across devices, gives search systems access to important pages and makes it easy to understand who the company is and what it offers.
Much of that would have been considered good SEO several years ago. The difference is that the same foundations now influence a wider range of discovery experiences.
Google itself currently frames GEO and AEO as extensions of search optimisation rather than replacements for SEO. That is probably the most useful way for businesses to approach the subject.
Don't build a website for an algorithm.
Build a website containing information worth discovering, then make sure search engines and AI systems can access and understand it.
SEO and AI-ready website development with Beyond Forge
Beyond Forge designs and develops professional websites for UK SMEs with strong foundations for search visibility, performance and future growth.
Our approach considers technical SEO, site structure, content management, performance and modern AI-search discoverability from the beginning rather than trying to bolt them onto the website after launch.
Website Development starts from £2,500. For businesses with an existing website that want to understand where the biggest opportunities and problems are, our Website Discovery Audit starts from £295.
If your website needs rebuilding, improving or preparing for the changing search landscape, talk to Beyond Forge about your project.
