Do you do SEO for AI (AI Optimization)?

Last updated: 02/12/2026

No matter if you call it AI Optimization (AIO), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), or something else entirely, SEO for AI search is proving to be one of the most important digital marketing tactics in 2026. We are frequently asked if we can help companies with their AI-SEO. The answer is yes.

We put together this guide to show you how. Read on to learn more about our process, discover DIY tips, and see case studies about our own success with AIO for the USDP brand.

The philosophy behind AI optimization

Before discussing the tactics that drive AI optimization, it’s important to have an understanding of how AI search fits into the modern marketing landscape.

How AI search works

AI search (including both queries to chatbots like ChatGPT and AI functionality integrated into traditional search engines) is all about answering questions as directly as possible. Rather than outputting a raw list of links as search results, answer engines provide synthesized, conversational answers that typically result in less visits to the cited websites. When AI search is used with transactional intent, such as searches for specific products or services, the search results often look like recommendations.

For example, your search for local lawn care services doesn’t just yield a list of company names. Each listing also contains information about a company’s ratings and services:

AI search leads are more qualified

The way people query AI is typically different from their interactions with traditional search. Because many AI users have shared large amounts of personal context with their platform of choice, the recommendations an answer engine gives are often highly-personalized to the specific goals and constraints of the user. Businesses that appear in an answer engine’s list of recommendations often find that the leads they get are well-qualified, similar to word-of-mouth referrals.

In the case of searching for lawn care services the more context an AI chatbot has about your budget and property the better. With more information, it will be able to provide a better curated list of companies and insight into their pros and cons:

The main driver of AIO: great content

The current reality for AI optimization is that most businesses lack the content they need to reliably show up in AI search results. Chat bots and answer engines rely on detailed and trustworthy content to create personalized answers to questions. If a user asks AI a question about a problem that your business can solve, but you don’t have any content on your website that addresses it, you will not be cited in its answer. Even worse, you run the risk of AI reporting outdated information or even fabricating an incorrect answer.

So how do we help you fix this?

Our AI optimization content strategy

Identifying content gaps

It is an unfortunate tendency for many businesses to create website content that is focused on self-promotion rather than answering common buyer questions. This sort of self-affirming content is attractive to marketing departments and executives, but it is utterly unhelpful to real buyers hoping to have their questions answered.

But this common problem provides the perfect place to start for implementing AI Optimization for your business.

We will interview key members from your team to gain a better understanding of your customer and the common questions that they ask. Next, we will analyze your content and prompt answer engines to test their understanding of your site. This exercise will likely identify a list of “content gaps” where your website fails to address topics that are important to your customers.

This list can include topics such as:

• Pricing information for your products or services
• What sort of people or business your products and services are best for
• Important policies (e.g., your return policy, how your contracts work, etc.)
• Frequently asked questions
• Important questions often asked about your industry

Writing “question and answer content”

Because AI search is all about directly answering questions using conversational language, adopting that same approach with your online content will help to increase the likelihood that it gets cited. We can turn your list of content gaps into pages or sections that follow a question-and-answer format with clear headings and supporting copy. To see how we’ve done this for ourselves, check out our Digital Marketing FAQ page.

Q&A-style content is especially important for Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). This is the subset of AI optimization that’s focused on getting your content cited in the AI summary section at the top of most search result pages.

Creating content clusters

AI chatbots are more likely to cite information from websites that demonstrate clear expertise on a given topic. To do this, we will help you create content clusters, or groups of pages that cover specific topics in detail. For example, a lawn care company looking to get referenced in more AI search results may benefit from content clusters like:

Lawn care service information

• How much can I expect to pay for weekly lawn care services in Cincinnati?
• What services are included in a standard lawn care service agreement?
• How can I evaluate lawn care service companies?
• What are the pros and cons of working with a lawn care service?

Yard treatment

• What are the benefits of treating my yard?
• How much does it cost to have your yard chemically treated?
• How does professional yard treatment work?

Continual content creation

Even once you have crossed the last topic of your list of content gaps, you aren’t done writing. Chatbots and answer engines favor content that is fresh and clearly well maintained. AIO takes continual effort, and we provide ongoing content planning and writing for our clients. For more information about what services can be included in a partnership with USDP, read about our Managed Service Agreements (MSAs).

Beyond content: authority signals

While quality content is essential for SEO it isn’t the only element of a complete AI Optimization strategy. Both AI chatbots and answer engines rely on authority signals ( tangible signs of a website's credibility) when deciding what references to include in the answers they provide. While there are many different types of authority signals that have been important SEO tactics for many years, AI search has particularly increased the importance of third-party sources as authority signals.

Here are the top three third-party authority signals we have decided to focus on for our AIO strategy.

Certifications

Every industry has several certifications that help businesses quickly communicate a certain level of expertise. For example, the widely-known ISO certification system helps search engines quickly identify if manufacturing companies meet certain standards or quality and safety. Because it is very easy to make unsubstantiated claims on a company website, AI chatbots often use these industry certifications to evaluate businesses before recommending options to searchers.

There are many certifications available in most industries, so focus on pursuing the few that are most important to your business if you’re limited on bandwidth. An easy way to identify them is to query AI as if you were a potential customer and ask which certifications you should look for when choosing a company to buy from. For our example of a lawn care business, that would look like this:

While the act of achieving new certifications has to fall on you as a company, USDP can assist in finding new certifications for you to pursue and help you publicize them in the right way on your website.

Publications

In addition to certifications, AI chatbots and answer engines often turn to industry publications and directories when evaluating options to recommend to their users. This is where the classic SEO discipline of backlinking comes into play. Having your company mentioned positively in reputable industry publications shows both AI and human viewers that you are trusted by third-party sources.

Beyond traditional backlinking, being listed accurately and favorably in industry directories is important for ensuring the quality of AI-synthesized answers. When key information on your company isn’t available on your website, AI chatbots and answer engines will often pull from information listed in these third-party directories. For ourselves at USDP, this meant updating our profiles on platforms like Clutch and Design Rush.

While much of the work of improving your listings in third-party publications has to be done by you, we can help you identify publications to focus on and develop a strategy for doing so. If you are trying to identify the publications or directories that are significant for searches related to your business, start by querying your AI of choice and seeing which websites are frequently cited.

For our example of the lawn care company, that would look like this:

Reviews

Good reviews have always been invaluable to both B2C and B2B businesses, but AI search has made them even more important. Ratings and reviews are one of the primary tools that AI chatbots use when ranking their recommendations. Having a large number of recent, detailed, and positive reviews on reputable platforms quickly communicates that your products or services lead to customer satisfaction. If you have struggled to get good reviews from your customers in the past, USDP can help you develop a review collection strategy to help you secure a constant flow of positive reviews.

AI Optimization with USDP

If you are interested in working with USDP to prepare your business for the new wave of search, you will first meet with one of our AI professionals so that we can develop a mutual understanding of your current standing and your goals for advancement. From there we will develop a partnership approach focused on content generation and technical optimization. For more information on this type of approach, check out our guide to working with USDP and our SEO pricing document.