SEO for AI means making it easier for Google’s AI Overviews and AI tools like ChatGPT to find, understand and surface your business when people search for what you offer. There’s no special trick and no guaranteed placement. It’s the same fundamentals as good SEO (clear structured data, genuine FAQ answers, a complete Google Business Profile and specific, credible content), just done better than your competitors.
A few years ago, “being found online” meant one thing: ranking on Google. Today, more and more of your future clients aren’t typing a search and scrolling through links. They’re asking Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT and other AI tools a question and reading whatever answer comes back. If your business isn’t part of that answer, you don’t just rank lower. You can disappear from the conversation completely.
The shift is already bigger than most business owners realise
Similarweb data reported by TechCrunch in July 2026 found Google’s AI Overviews (the AI-written summary that appears above the normal search results) showing up in 43% of searches, up from 15% a year earlier.
And when an AI Overview appears, people click through to websites less often. A 2025 Pew Research Center study of 900 U.S. adults found people clicked a traditional search-result link on 8% of Google visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% when one didn’t. In other words, a growing share of your potential clients may get their answer without visiting a website, including, potentially, yours.
Locally, this isn’t a “someday” problem. 46% of Australians report recently using generative AI, according to the Australian Digital Inclusion Index (November 2025). Your clients are already asking AI questions like “who’s a good accountant near me” or “trustworthy family lawyer in Melbourne’s north”. Here in Preston and across Melbourne’s northern suburbs, the question is whether your business is part of the answer.
Let’s clear up a myth first
There’s a lot of noise right now about secret “AI SEO hacks”: special files, hidden code, magic markup that supposedly gets you featured by AI. Google’s own guide to AI features in Search (updated July 2026) puts this to rest. It confirms its AI features are “rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems”, and that there’s no special schema you need to add.
So the honest answer is: there’s no trick. The businesses that show up in AI answers tend to be the ones already doing the fundamentals well, just more clearly and more specifically than everyone else.
What actually moves the needle
Structured data (schema markup). Structured data helps search engines understand the content and entities on your pages. It isn’t a magic AI signal and isn’t required to appear in Google’s AI features, but it’s a solid part of good technical SEO. We use it on our own website and check it in every audit.
Clear, genuine FAQ content. Clear questions with specific answers make content easier for people to navigate and understand. Google’s guidance emphasises helpful, reliable, people-first content, not writing in a special format purely for AI. Generic marketing copy gives search and AI systems relatively little specific information to work with. Clear, useful answers to genuine customer questions provide much stronger context.
A well-optimised Google Business Profile. For local businesses, this is one of the most important parts of your online presence. Google’s own guidance says Business Profiles “can help your products and services to be visible in both AI responses and other Google Search results.” Keep your categories, hours, website details, photos and reviews accurate, complete and up to date. But your Business Profile is only one part of the picture: Google’s systems also draw on information from across the web, so your website and other listings need to tell the same story.
Specific, credible content, not filler. “We provide quality accounting services” tells a reader (or a search system) very little. “We specialise in BAS lodgement and cash flow forecasting for trades businesses in Melbourne’s north” says exactly who you help and how.
Clear structure helps people, and search systems. Descriptive headings, a logical page layout and concise explanations help visitors quickly understand what you offer. Good structure also helps search engines understand how the different parts of your content relate. That’s good SEO and good user experience.
AI visibility isn’t a fixed ranking
Unlike a traditional Google ranking, there isn’t a single permanent “position” for your business in ChatGPT, Perplexity or other AI tools. A business might appear for one question and not another. Answers can change depending on how the question is worded, the person’s location, the tool being used and the information available online.
So instead of asking “Am I ranked #1 in ChatGPT?”, a better question is: “When potential customers ask AI about businesses like mine, does my business appear, and is the information accurate?”
We put this into practice ourselves
Recently, we tested a generic customer-style question in ChatGPT, without being logged in, asking about SEO agencies serving Melbourne’s northern suburbs. PiXedra Digital appeared among the businesses returned, and ChatGPT also cited one of our Insights posts as a source.
This isn’t evidence of a permanent “ChatGPT ranking”. AI results can vary by question, location and other factors. We can’t say exactly which signals led to it, but it’s consistent with what we recommend: a clear website, consistent business information and a complete Google Business Profile. It shows that AI systems can discover and surface a relatively new local business when enough relevant information exists across its online presence.
What we’d tell you to skip, for now
You may also come across advice to add a file called “llms.txt” to your website, the idea being that it tells AI tools how to read your site. Google’s guidance says Google Search ignores it: it will neither help nor harm your visibility or rankings. Some other services may use it, but there’s no clear evidence yet that it improves visibility.
Our recommendation: if your website platform can create one automatically (Yoast SEO does it with one switch, and we have it switched on for our own site), there’s no harm in it. But don’t pay anyone who sells it as an “AI visibility” service. Part of doing this properly is being honest about what’s proven and what’s still speculation.
Where to start
If you’re not sure where your business stands right now, the first step isn’t a big technical overhaul. It’s an honest look at what’s already there. A proper technical review, clear FAQ content built around real client questions and a fully optimised Google Business Profile will do more for your AI visibility than any shortcut. (New to this? Start with what an SEO health check is and why your business needs one.)
This is exactly what we build into our SEO work, whether you choose it as a single service or as part of a package: structured data, AI-ready content and ongoing visibility work, tested on our own website before we ever recommend it to a client. If you want to know where your business actually stands, book a free strategy call or grab a free SEO and website health check. No sales pitch, just a clear, honest picture of where you’re at.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a separate strategy for AI search?
No. Google confirms its AI features are rooted in the same core ranking and quality systems as normal search. A strong SEO foundation (technical health, clear content, structured data and a complete Google Business Profile) can help your business be discovered and understood by search and AI systems, but it doesn’t guarantee inclusion in AI-generated answers.
What is llms.txt and do I need it?
llms.txt is a proposed file meant to guide AI tools through your website. Google says Google Search ignores it, so it neither helps nor harms your rankings there. If your platform creates one automatically, that’s fine. Just don’t pay extra for it.
Does schema markup guarantee I’ll appear in AI answers?
No. Structured data isn’t required for Google’s AI features and doesn’t guarantee anything. It helps search engines understand your pages and is part of sound technical SEO, working best alongside clear content and a strong Google Business Profile.
How long before my business shows up in AI answers?
There’s no fixed timeline, and anyone promising one is guessing. AI visibility depends on many factors, including your site’s technical health, content, relevance, authority and the information available across your online presence. Improvements in search visibility generally take time, and there’s no guaranteed timeframe for appearing in AI-generated answers.
Written by Mary, PiXedra Digital, a Preston-based SEO and digital marketing agency for service-based businesses and online stores across Melbourne’s north.