SEO basics every growing business should get right
A practical starting point for improving discoverability, page quality and search visibility without chasing shortcuts.
Read articleKey takeaways
- AI answers still rely on clear, crawlable, trustworthy web content.
- Write direct answers to real questions near the top of relevant pages.
- Keep brand facts consistent everywhere AI tools may look.
What changed in search
People now ask full questions and expect a direct answer—from featured snippets, AI overviews in search results or assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity. Many of these answers are assembled from web pages, which means your content can still shape them.
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) focuses on being the clearest answer to specific questions. Generative engine optimisation (GEO) focuses on how AI systems understand, summarise and cite your brand overall.
Write answer-first content
For each important question, put a concise, direct answer in the first sentences under a heading phrased like the question. Then add depth: steps, examples, comparisons and caveats. This structure helps both human readers and machines.
- Use the question as an H2 or H3
- Answer in one or two plain sentences
- Follow with specifics only you can provide
- Use lists and tables for steps and comparisons
- Add schema such as FAQ or HowTo where it genuinely applies
Make your brand facts consistent
AI tools combine information from your website, business listings, directories, reviews and news. If your services, locations or contact details differ between sources, answers become vague or wrong. Audit and align these facts, and keep an accurate About page.
Be worth citing
Generic content that repeats what every other site says gives AI systems no reason to reference you. Original explanations, first-hand experience, clear pricing guidance, data you have collected and expert input make a page more useful—and more likely to be used as a source.
Track it honestly
No one can guarantee an AI recommendation. A practical approach is to keep a fixed list of buyer prompts, check how AI tools answer them each month and record mentions, accuracy and cited sources, alongside referral traffic from AI tools in analytics.
