AI visibility: be the name the engines recommend

When a buyer asks AI who to buy from, four engines answer. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity each give a short list, usually three or four names. We measure whether yours is on it, and then we do the work to put it there.

People search for this as AI visibility, AI SEO, answer engine optimization or generative engine optimization. They are four names for one job: making your business the answer, not just a result. We run it as one program rather than selling you four.

What is AI visibility?

AI visibility is whether the engines name your business when someone asks them who to buy from. It is measured on the questions your buyers actually ask, on each engine separately, and it is a different thing from your Google ranking. A page can rank first and still never be named, because the answer quotes a list or a comparison rather than your product page.

Conversely, being named does not prove you rank. On one client report we found a business named in 26 of 47 Google AI answers while its own site was cited in none of them: the answer was routing buyers to a stockist instead. Both numbers are real, they just answer different questions, which is why we report them apart.

How is AI visibility different from SEO?

SEO targets a ranked list. AI visibility targets a recommendation, and the two behave differently. Google states that its AI features are grounded in the same index as Search, which is why they share a foundation rather than competing. Google's own AI optimization guide is blunt about it: asked whether SEO still matters for generative AI search, its answer is “in short, yes”.

So the ranking work is the foundation, not a separate product. A site that does not rank is not in the assistant's answer either. What the answers add is a second, narrower question: among the three or four names an engine offers, are you one of them?

One buyer question can open several searches

AI search may take one question and explore related subtopics before it recommends a business. Google calls this query fan-out: the engine can issue several related searches across the decision, not only the exact words the buyer typed.

That does not mean creating a thin page for every variation. It means choosing the useful pages that answer a real buyer decision, then checking whether your brand is named across the connected questions. Google explicitly warns against generating pages for every fan-out variation just to manipulate AI results.

Which engines do you measure?

Four: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. Each is reported on its own, never blended into a single score, because they do not agree with each other. Ahrefs measured the overlap of most-cited domains between Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity at roughly 14 percent. An average across four engines that share that little would tell you less than the four separate numbers do.

It also matters that they read the world differently. Perplexity and Gemini retrieve live, so a miss there is a content problem you can fix. Claude leans on training data, so a miss there will not change quickly. We say which engine missed, not just how many.

Does local search still matter most?

It does, and it is the part most owners already win without noticing. For a business with a location, the highest-volume searches are local: google business profile and local seo carry more search than the AI-visibility terms do, and the money question is whether you appear in the map results.

We measured this on our own vertical and the result was not what the industry claims. For nearby dispensary searches across five US metros, Google returned no AI answer in any of them. It returned three map pins and marketplace links instead. So for a local business the fight is the map, and the AI answer is a different surface that appears on different questions.

That is why the local cluster is part of this program rather than a separate upsell: the Google Business Profile, the name-address-phone consistency behind it, and the pages that answer the questions buyers ask before they choose a shop.

How do you know if it is working?

We ask your buyers' real questions to all four engines and count in how many each one names you. Then we run the same questions again next month. Same questions, same engines, same country, so a change in the number is a change in your visibility and not a change in what we asked.

You can check us. The report lists every question and who was named instead, so you can type any of them into the engine yourself and see the same answer. A measurement you cannot reproduce is not evidence, and we would rather you falsify ours than take it on trust.

What do you actually do?

What does it cost?

Two retainers, $997 a month each, month to month. The AI SEO Engine gets you found and chosen. The Leads Engine gets you in front of buyers. Either stands alone, and there is no bundle discount because neither is a discount of the other.

We are offering the founding rate to the first ten clients. The price rises after that, and the founding rate is locked for as long as you stay.

Do AI crawlers even reach your site?

They have to be allowed to. Every engine needs to fetch the page before it can quote it, so an accidental block in a robots file removes you from every answer at once. Google publishes how crawling and robots rules work, and we check yours before anything else. One of the most common causes is a content delivery provider that blocks AI crawlers by default without the owner knowing.

What we do not promise

We do not promise a specific ranking, a position, or revenue. We do not run ads. What we promise is a measurement you can falsify: the questions, the engines, and who was named instead of you. If the number does not move, you will see that too.

How do we start?

Send us your domain and we run the scan. You get a report showing the engines, the questions your buyers ask, and where you stand in each one today. It takes a couple of minutes and costs nothing.

Frequently asked questions

What is AI visibility?

AI visibility is whether AI engines name your business when someone asks them who to buy from. It is measured on your buyers' real questions, on each engine separately, and it is different from your Google ranking: a page can rank first and never be named.

How is AI visibility different from SEO?

SEO targets a ranked list; AI visibility targets a recommendation. Google states its AI features are grounded in the same index as Search, so ranking is the foundation, not a separate product. A site that does not rank is not in the assistant's answer either.

What is query fan-out?

Query fan-out is when an AI search system explores several related searches or subtopics before answering one buyer question. We use it to map the decision around a topic, not to create thin pages for every variation. We measure whether your brand appears across the useful questions that support the same buying decision.

What is AEO and GEO?

Answer engine optimization and generative engine optimization are two of the names used for the same work: getting named when an engine answers a question. We use the terms where people search them and describe the work plainly everywhere else.

Which AI engines do you measure?

Four: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. Each is reported separately, never blended into one score, because they agree on as little as 14 percent of their most cited domains.

Does local SEO still matter for AI visibility?

For a business with a location it matters most, because the local searches carry more volume than the AI terms. We measured nearby dispensary searches in five US metros and Google returned no AI answer in any of them, only a map of three shops. The map and the answers are different surfaces.

How much does it cost?

Two retainers at $997 a month each, month to month: the AI SEO Engine and the Leads Engine. Either stands alone. The founder rate applies to the first ten clients. Last 2 slots available.

How do you know if AI visibility is working?

We ask your buyers' real questions to all four engines, count in how many each names you, then re-run the identical questions monthly so a change in the number is a change in your visibility and not in what we asked.

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