What is AI SEO?
AI SEO, also called generative engine optimization (GEO), is the practice of making your website easy for AI tools to understand, trust and quote. Assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews build answers from web pages, so clear and credible pages have a better chance of being used.
It does not replace traditional SEO. It builds on it. If your site cannot be crawled or your content is thin, AI tools have little to work with.
A practical checklist
Start with access: allow search and AI crawlers in robots.txt, submit a sitemap and make sure important pages load without needing scripts to show the main text.
Write answer-first content. Put a direct two or three sentence answer at the top of each page, then add detail. Use question-style headings that match how people ask.
Add structured data such as Organization, Service, FAQPage and Article schema so machines can read who you are and what you offer.
Build trust signals: a real About page, named authors, contact details, reviews and consistent business information across Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and social profiles.
Keep content fresh and specific. Original examples, clear pricing structure and updated dates help.
What about llms.txt?
llms.txt is a proposed plain text file that summarizes your site for language models. It is cheap to add, but major AI platforms have not confirmed that they rely on it, so treat it as a small extra and not the main strategy.
Where to start
Fix the basics first, then improve your most important service pages. If you would like help auditing your site for AI search, MeriAsk offers SEO and AI SEO support.