SEO, AEO & GEO

Getting found is now three jobs, not one.

Search engines still send the traffic. But answer engines lift your content into the box above the results, and generative engines — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews — increasingly answer the question without sending anyone anywhere. Being invisible in that third layer is the quiet risk most businesses have not priced yet.

The three layers

SEO — Search Engine Optimization

The foundation, and still where most of the traffic is. Technical audits for crawlability and indexing, site speed, information architecture, keyword research mapped page by page, on-page optimisation, and Google Search Console and GA4 configured so you can actually see what is happening.

AEO — Answer Engine Optimization

Structuring pages so a machine can lift a clean answer: question-form headings with the answer stated in the first two sentences, structured data that labels what the machine is reading, and content shaped into the lists, tables, and definitions that extract cleanly.

GEO — Generative Engine Optimization

Getting cited inside AI assistants. An llms.txt file, strict entity consistency across your site and schema, explicitly stated facts rather than implied ones, Google Business Profile and entity alignment, and AI crawlers — GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, OAI-SearchBot — explicitly permitted in robots.txt. Most sites silently block the crawlers they most need.

Entry point

AI Search Visibility Audit & Setup — from $299

A fixed-scope way to find out where you stand before committing to anything ongoing. Full technical crawl, AI crawler access check, structured data audit and implementation, an llms.txt file written for your business, entity consistency review, and a written report with the fixes prioritised. Three-day delivery. No obligation to continue.

Request the audit

Recent builds

A few of these, live.

Every one of these shipped and is running today.

The Rebound website, shown on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone Life Sciences Rebound Go-to-market marketing for life-science technology
The DashPoint Analytics website, shown on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone Health Tech DashPoint Analytics Interactive data visualisation for post-acute care
The Climate Capital website, shown on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone Climate Climate Capital The world's energy transition marketplace
The Dominion Financial website, shown on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone Finance Dominion Financial Full-service lender for real estate investing
The Write a Must-Read website, shown on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone Authors Write a Must-Read AJ Harper's book-coaching practice The Capital Wealth Planning website, shown on desktop, laptop, tablet and phone Wealth Capital Wealth Planning Investment advisory firm

Questions

Common questions.

What is the difference between SEO, AEO, and GEO?

SEO gets you ranked in a list of results. AEO gets your answer into the box above those results — featured snippets, voice answers, and People Also Ask. GEO gets you cited inside an AI assistant's response when someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity a question your business answers. They share a technical foundation but optimise for three different surfaces, and a site can do well at one while being invisible in the others.

How long does SEO take to work?

Technical fixes — indexing problems, speed, broken structure — can show up in weeks. Competitive keyword movement realistically takes three to six months, and anyone promising faster is either lying or targeting terms nobody searches. AI citation visibility often moves faster than traditional rankings, because far fewer sites have done the work.

Do you offer ongoing SEO management?

Yes — this is the core of the service. Monthly retainers cover continuing technical maintenance, content strategy and optimisation, tracking across both search and AI surfaces, and monthly reporting on what moved. Retainers are month-to-month. No annual lock-in.

Is my site blocking AI crawlers?

Quite possibly, and most site owners have no idea. Many WordPress security plugins and default robots.txt files block GPTBot and similar agents by default, which removes you from AI answers entirely. It is the first thing I check, and it is a five-minute fix once you know.

What does an AI Search Visibility Audit include?

It is a fixed-scope starting point: a full technical crawl, AI crawler access check, structured data audit and implementation, an llms.txt file written for your business, entity consistency review, and a written report of what is blocking you with the fixes prioritised. It starts at $299 with three-day delivery, and it works as a standalone piece — there is no obligation to continue into a retainer.

Want a straight answer about your situation?

Describe what is happening and I’ll tell you what I would actually do about it — including when the answer is that you do not need me.