AI search visibility
AI search visibility: get named when buyers ask AI
AI search visibility means being mentioned, cited or recommended when buyers ask AI assistants and AI search features about your category. Corelead measures this question by question, finds out who is named instead of you and why, and gives you a plan to close the gap. It is also known as AEO, GEO or AI search optimization, and it builds on strong SEO.
Why it matters
More buyers now ask an AI assistant before they search or visit a website. If the answer names three rivals and not you, you may never be considered. Classic SEO still matters, but AI answers lean on different signals, including structured content, clear entity information and the third-party pages that answers cite.
SEO, AEO and GEO
Strong SEO is the foundation of AI search visibility
SEO is not outdated. AI assistants and AI search features draw on pages that search engines can crawl, understand and trust. If your site is weak in search, it is usually weak in AI answers too.
AEO, GEO and AI search optimization build on that foundation. They add answer-style content, clear entity information and a presence on the third-party pages AI answers cite.
That is why Corelead is well placed for this work: our leadership has decades of SEO and digital marketing experience, since 1995, and we now apply it to AI search with our own agentic tools.
One family of work, many names
- AEO
- Answer engine optimization: shaping content so AI assistants and answer features can quote and cite it.
- GEO
- Generative engine optimization: the same idea, framed around generative AI answers.
- AI search optimization
- A plain-English name for improving how you appear in AI search features.
- LLM visibility
- How often large language models mention, cite or recommend your business.
- SI search
- Superintelligence search: an emerging term for where AI search is heading.
How we measure visibility
We score each buyer question for you and your rivals on a four-step ladder:
- 1
Recommended
The answer suggests you.
- 2
Cited
Your page is used as a source.
- 3
Mentioned
Your name appears.
- 4
Absent
You are not there.
We also track share of answers per company, which source domains get cited and which new rivals appear. Every finding comes with the quoted sentence and source link.
Where we check
- Web search and AI answer surfaces we can reach directly
- ChatGPT and Claude, through accounts you are signed into
- Answers you paste in from other tools, clearly tagged
See your own baseline first
The free check runs 5 of your buyer questions and shows who AI names instead of you.
What you get
- A prompt list of real buyer questions, tagged by category, problem, comparison and brand
- A dated baseline capture of every answer and its sources
- A share-of-answer scoreboard for you and your rivals
- A site audit for AI crawlers
- Outreach targets: the roundups and pages AI answers cite
- Content suggestions with hub, slug, target query, one-line answer and related pages
- A weekly brief with one clear action, plus twice-weekly spot notes
How Corelead uses AI here
Our own agentic tools run prompts, capture answers and compare sources at a pace manual checks cannot match. Our team reviews the results, decides what matters and writes your plan.
What we will not claim
We do not promise rankings or AI mentions, and we do not present visibility scores as industry benchmarks. AI answers change, so we report dated snapshots, not real-time data.
Example baseline (anonymous, illustrative)
A website about 10 days old was absent from all 10 non-brand buyer questions we tested, while established rivals appeared in 3 to 4 each. That baseline is the starting point for a plan, not a result.
Frequently asked questions
What is AI search visibility?
It is how often and how favourably AI assistants and AI search features mention, cite or recommend your business when buyers ask questions about your category.
Is this the same as SEO?
It builds on SEO but is not the same. Strong SEO is the foundation; AI answers also depend on structured content, clear entity pages and third-party sources they cite, so we audit and act on those too.
Is AEO different from SEO?
AEO (answer engine optimization) builds on SEO rather than replacing it. SEO makes your pages crawlable, relevant and trusted; AEO adds answer-style content, clear entity information and presence on the third-party pages AI answers cite. You need both.
What do GEO, AI search optimization and LLM visibility mean?
They are names for the same family of work. GEO means generative engine optimization, AI search optimization is the plain-English version, and LLM visibility describes how often large language models mention or cite you. Some people also use the emerging term superintelligence (SI) search.
Which AI assistants do you check?
Web search and directly reachable AI answer surfaces, plus ChatGPT and Claude through your signed-in accounts.
Can you guarantee my business will be recommended?
No. No one controls AI answers. We measure, fix what we can on your site, and pursue the sources AI answers rely on.
How often do you re-check?
Your top prompts are re-run twice a week, with a weekly brief.
How do I start?
Request the free AI visibility check. It takes a few minutes to fill in and we reply in a day or two.
Is AI recommending you or your rivals?
We check 5 real buyer questions and send you the answer in a day or two, free.