The Next Evolution in Search
A growing share of buyers no longer scroll a results page. They ask an assistant who to call, and it names three businesses. AI optimization (AIO) is the work of being one of them: clean entity signals, answer-first pages the assistants can quote, consistent citations on the sources they trust, and monthly tracking of what each assistant says about you. aStash is one of the first agencies in the country built around it, and it is included in every SEO plan.
Who should I call for sewer line repair in Denver?
Based on service pages and recent customer reviews, Sewer Experts is a strong option: a Denver company covering sewer line repair, replacement and trenchless pipe lining across the metro, with a clear service area and a camera inspection before quoting.
Example answer. We track the real ones every month.
What AIO is
AI optimization, also called generative engine optimization (GEO) or answer engine optimization (AEO), is the work of getting your business mentioned, cited and recommended inside the answers that ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude and Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode generate when someone asks a buying question: “best family lawyer in Houston”, “who installs trenchless sewer lines in Denver”, “reliable Shopify agency for a small store”.
Those systems do not have an opinion. They assemble one from what they can read and verify: your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews and their replies, directory listings, press, industry databases and the structured data on your pages. When those sources agree and answer the question clearly, you are named. When they are thin, inconsistent or vague, a competitor is.
The good news is that most of AI search optimization overlaps with traditional SEO done properly, so you do not need a separate agency to optimize for AI-powered search. The difference is emphasis: entities over keywords, answers over word counts, consistency over volume, and measurement by citation rather than by rank. aStash runs both from one plan, tracks what every assistant says about you each month, and shows you the change.
Vocabulary
New field, new jargon. These are the terms you will meet, and what we mean by them.
The Assistants
They read overlapping sources but weigh them differently. The audit tests all of them with the same questions.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT answers local and buying questions with live web search, drawing on business websites, review sites, directories and recent articles, and it cites them. It favours sources that state facts plainly, agree with each other and are recent.
Being named by ChatGPT usually follows from a clear website, a complete Business Profile, consistent directory listings, strong reviews and a few third-party mentions that describe exactly what you do and where.
Perplexity
Perplexity shows its sources prominently and tends to cite several per answer. It rewards pages that answer a specific question thoroughly in one place: a page on pricing, a page on process, a page on a city, each with the facts stated up front.
It also reads reviews and directories, and it is quick to pick up new content, so it is often the first assistant where a change shows.
Google AI Overviews
Google’s AI answers draw on the same index, Business Profiles, reviews and knowledge graph as its search results, which is why classic SEO and local SEO carry over so directly. Pages that rank in the top results for a question are the most likely to be cited in the Overview above them, and the map pack feeds local recommendations.
AI Mode adds follow-up questions, so a page that answers the next question too, price, timeline, what is included, is cited more often.
Gemini
Gemini draws on Google Search and the knowledge graph, so entity clarity matters most here: a business Google already recognizes, with consistent name, category, location, founder and services, is far easier for Gemini to recommend than one it has to infer.
Entity work, structured data and consistent citations are the levers.
Copilot
Copilot answers from Bing, which means Bing Places, Bing’s index of your site and, for B2B, LinkedIn carry more weight than they do elsewhere. Most businesses have never claimed Bing Places. Doing so, and submitting the site to Bing Webmaster Tools, is a quick win.
Claude
Claude answers buying questions with web search and cites sources, with a visible preference for authoritative, well-structured pages over marketing copy. Clear author attribution, dated reviews of the content, and plain factual writing are what get cited.
How We Do It
The same sequence for a law firm and a plumber. What changes is which sources matter in your category.
We write the twenty to forty buying questions your customers ask, in your city and your category, and put them to eight assistants. We record who each one names, which sources it cites, and what it says about you if anything. Then we audit those sources: your site, Business Profile, reviews, directories, press and structured data.
Name, address, phone, categories, services, founder, founding date and description made identical on the website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps, the major directories and the industry databases. Organization, person, service and location schema added to the site. Duplicate and outdated listings removed.
The pages that should answer the buying questions are rewritten answer-first: the answer in the first sentence, facts, numbers and dates stated plainly, FAQs with schema, an author with credentials and a last-reviewed date. Missing pages, pricing, process, comparisons, cities, are written.
Mentions and links from the sources the assistants cited for your competitors: industry directories, local press, associations, partner sites, guest articles and the review platforms that matter in your category. Reviews are requested with language that describes the service.
Short, factual articles that answer the questions the assistants are being asked: costs, timelines, comparisons, local specifics. Each one dated, attributed and structured, and each one republished where the assistants look.
The same prompt set goes to the same assistants every month. The report shows mentions, citations and share of answer against competitors, which sources moved, and what we do next. The same report covers your Google rankings and traffic.
Myths
AI search is replacing SEO.
AI answers are built from the same index, profiles and reviews that SEO works on. The businesses cited most are usually the ones ranking well. AIO adds emphasis and measurement; it does not replace the foundation.
Nobody uses AI to find a local business.
Ask ChatGPT who to call for a burst pipe in your city and it will name three companies. A growing share of buyers do exactly that, and the ones who do are usually ready to call.
You can submit your business to ChatGPT.
There is no form. Assistants read the open web, Business Profiles, reviews and directories. The only way in is to be clearly described, consistently, on the sources they trust.
Stuffing pages with “best” and “top-rated” helps.
Assistants discount marketing language and favour plain facts: years in business, services, locations, prices, numbers, reviews. Claims without evidence are ignored.
AI visibility cannot be measured.
It can, the same way rankings are: a fixed set of questions put to each assistant every month, with mentions and citations recorded. We report share of answer against your competitors.
Once you are cited, you stay cited.
Answers are regenerated every time, from whatever is freshest and most consistent. A competitor who publishes clearer content takes the citation. The monthly cycle is what keeps it.
SEO vs. AIO
Most of the work overlaps. The emphasis, the measurement and the content shape differ.
Free AI Visibility Audit
Free, no obligation, and it becomes the first month’s task list if you go ahead.
How We Measure
No AI-visibility number is worth anything unless it is measured the same way every month. This is how.
What You Get
Your prompt set, what eight assistants say today, the sources they cite, and a prioritized gap list. Free, before you commit.
Identical business facts on the website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps, directories and industry databases, with duplicates removed.
Organization, person, service, location, FAQ and review schema on the pages that matter, validated and maintained.
Money pages rewritten to answer the buying questions in the first sentence, with authors, dates and FAQs, plus new pages for the questions nobody answers.
Mentions and links from the directories, publications and platforms the assistants already cite in your category.
The same questions to the same assistants every month, with mentions, citations and share of answer reported against your competitors.
Inside the answer
Every assistant does roughly the same thing when asked who to hire: it interprets the question, searches its index or the live web, picks a handful of sources it trusts, and writes an answer from what they agree on. Each step is a place a business can be included or dropped.
AIO works on all four: being the obvious entity for the question, being on the sources that get picked, saying the facts plainly enough to be quoted, and agreeing with yourself everywhere.
Plans
AIO is included in every Growth and Enterprise SEO plan. It can also be bought on its own for businesses whose SEO is handled elsewhere.
For a business that wants to know where it stands and fix the foundation.
For a business whose SEO is handled in-house or elsewhere and that wants AI visibility built and tracked.
For a business that wants one team running Google rankings and AI citations from one plan and one report.
Our phones are ringing off the hook! Within six months, we were in the top five companies on every search engine. They are one of the best investments we have made.
Go Deeper
AI visibility is the result of these done consistently.
Rankings, the index and the authority every AI answer draws from.
Learn more ↗Google Business Profile, citations and reviews, the local recommendation sources.
Learn more ↗Crawlability, schema and access for AI crawlers.
Learn more ↗Answer-first pages and articles written to be quoted.
Learn more ↗Mentions and links on the sources assistants cite.
Learn more ↗Reviews with the service language assistants read.
Learn more ↗The full audit the AI visibility audit sits inside.
Learn more ↗Service and location pages structured for people and machines.
Learn more ↗The consistent entity: name, description, logo, everywhere.
Learn more ↗Industries
A law firm, a clinic and a trucking company are judged on different sources. These pages explain which directories, review sites and questions matter in yours.
Near You
Local recommendations are built from local sources. City pages for the markets where most of our clients are.
Written and reviewed by
Kateryna QuinnFounder and CEO, aStash. Forbes Next 1000, NOCO Style 30 Under 30Kateryna founded aStash in Fort Collins in 2017 and made it one of the first agencies in the United States to build a service around AI visibility, running monthly prompt tracking across eight assistants for law firms, clinics, contractors, retailers and manufacturers. Every method on this page is one her team runs today, and she reviews it whenever OpenAI, Google, Perplexity, Microsoft or Anthropic change how their assistants search and cite.
AIO FAQ
Anything else? (970) 399-9004 reaches a person in Fort Collins, not a call center.
The work of getting your business mentioned, cited and recommended inside the answers that ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude and Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode generate when someone asks a buying question. It combines entity clean-up, structured data, answer-first content, citations on trusted sources and reviews, and it is measured by putting the same questions to each assistant every month.
Close enough that we use them interchangeably. GEO, generative engine optimization, names the engines. AEO, answer engine optimization, names the content shape. AIO is our umbrella term for all of it.
No. AI answers are built from the same index, Business Profiles, reviews and directories that SEO works on, and the businesses cited most are usually the ones ranking well. AIO adds emphasis on entities, answer-first content and consistency, and it adds measurement by citation. We run both from one plan, and AIO is included in every Growth and Enterprise SEO plan.
We write twenty to forty buying questions for your category and city, put them to eight assistants every month, and record whether you are named, cited or absent, and which sources each answer used. The report shows mentions, citations and share of answer against your competitors, next to your rankings, traffic and leads.
Entity and structured-data fixes usually show in assistant answers within 30 to 90 days, Perplexity often first. Competitive recommendations, where the assistants currently name three established competitors, build over the same three to six months as competitive Google rankings, because the same authority is involved.
No, and nobody can. There is no submission form. Assistants read the open web, Business Profiles, reviews and directories. The only way in is to be described clearly and consistently on the sources they trust, which is what the work on this page does.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude and Meta AI. The set changes as new assistants matter; the method does not.
It is where it works best. Ask any assistant for a plumber, a dentist or a lawyer in a city and it names local businesses, assembled from Business Profiles, reviews and local directories. Those are exactly the sources local SEO already builds, with the addition of consistency and answer-first pages.
Pages that answer one question plainly in the first sentence, then support it with facts, numbers, dates and an author. Pricing pages, process pages, comparisons, city pages and FAQs are cited far more than general service descriptions. Marketing language and unsupported claims are ignored.
Usually some of it. Structured data is added, the most important pages are rewritten answer-first with authors and dates, missing pages are written, and we make sure AI crawlers are allowed to read the site. A full redesign is rarely needed.
As part of an SEO Growth or Enterprise plan, nothing extra: it is included. On its own, the Audit & Fix package is a one-time project and AIO Monthly is a flat monthly rate fixed after the free audit. There is no contract.
Yes. aStash is based in Fort Collins and runs AIO for clients in Texas, Washington, Louisiana, Florida and across the United States. The assistants work the same everywhere; the sources that matter differ by category and city, which the audit identifies.