Section guide
AI Search
How AI answer engines find, read, and cite content — and why it works differently from classic search.
Not sure where to start?
Start with the foundations
New here? Three guides cover the ground
What AI search is, how it differs from the optimization you already know, and which popular tactics don't hold up.
What is AI Search?
AI search reads across multiple web sources and generates one direct answer — instead of handing back a list of links. The cornerstone guide: how it works, why it matters, and the vocabulary every other page in this section builds on.
Read the guideGEO vs AEO vs SEO
SEO ranks you in search results, AEO gets you into direct answers, GEO gets you cited inside AI responses — and how to split your effort across all three.
Read the guideAI Search Myths & Misconceptions
llms.txt files, fragmented pages, mass content, fake mentions — which tactics actually earn AI citations, and which quietly waste your time and budget.
Read the guideThe engine guides
How each AI tool finds information
Every engine runs a different pipeline — training knowledge, live search, or both. Pick the platforms your audience actually uses.
-
Google AI Overviews Explained
The AI summaries above Google's results — built from several sites at once, and the reason for fewer clicks.
-
How ChatGPT Finds Information
Answers from training first, then searches Bing's index and reads pages in chunks before citing.
-
How Gemini Finds Information
Search Grounding lets Gemini check the live web before answering instead of relying on memory alone.
-
How Claude Finds Information
How Claude decides between training knowledge and live web search — and what ends up as its cited source.
-
How Perplexity Finds Information
Searches first, writes second: hybrid retrieval and reranking turn live pages into cited answers.
Your website
From crawlable to cited, in three steps
The path an AI engine walks before it quotes you: it has to see your pages, recognize who you are, and find something worth citing.
Step 1 · Get seen
Can AI Tools See My Website?
The crawling and indexing mechanics that decide whether AI tools can find and read your pages at all.
Read the guideStep 2 · Get recognized
What Are Entities?
Why AI tools track real people, places, and programs instead of keywords — and how to make yours unmistakable.
Read the guideStep 3 · Get cited
What Makes Content Citation-Worthy?
The learnable traits — information gain, verifiable facts, extractable structure — that make an AI tool quote your page.
Read the guideGet new guides as they're published
Subscribe and get a weekly email with new guides, tips, and important news affecting your AI search marketing. Unsubscribe at any time.