Everything You Need to Know About AI Search Optimization

Traditional SEO optimizes for search engine rankings—getting your pages to appear in the "10 blue links." AI SEO optimizes for AI answer engines that don't rank pages—they synthesize information and choose one source to cite. This requires different signals: clear entity definitions, structured content that AI can parse, authoritative expertise signals (E-A-T), and answers formatted for direct extraction. A site ranking #1 in Google may not be the source AI chooses to cite.

We audit your readiness across all major AI search surfaces: Google AI Overviews (formerly SGE), ChatGPT Search, Google Gemini, Perplexity AI, Microsoft Copilot, and Claude. While each has nuances, the core signals they use to determine trustworthy sources are similar—clear entity recognition, structured content, authoritative signals, and answer-ready formatting.

AI search is already here and growing rapidly. Google AI Overviews now appear in 40%+ of search results. ChatGPT has 200M+ weekly active users. Enterprise buyers increasingly use AI for vendor research. By 2026, Gartner predicts traditional search volume will drop 25% as AI becomes the primary discovery interface. Early movers who optimize for AI now will have significant advantages as this shift accelerates.

The Deep Dive is a comprehensive fixed-fee diagnostic that includes: full site-level AI Answer Readiness analysis, detailed audits of your 10 most important pages, 3 ROI scenarios (conservative, expected, aggressive), a 30-minute audio walkthrough of findings, a prioritized 90-day action plan with specific tasks, 2 strategy calls, and a board-ready executive summary. Launch cohort pricing is $1,400 (regular $2,000).

The 90-Day Sprint is done-with-you implementation. We take your Deep Dive findings and execute the fixes: page rewrites and restructuring, schema markup and JSON-LD implementation, entity optimization, internal linking improvements, and E-A-T signal building. We run before/after audits at 60 and 90 days to prove impact. Pricing typically ranges from $9,500-$20,000+ depending on scope.

The AI Search Control Tower ($3,500/month) is ongoing AI search operations: quarterly re-audits and score tracking, continuous AI search monitoring, support for new pages and product launches, algorithm change detection and response, competitive displacement alerts, and executive-ready monthly reports. It ensures you maintain and improve your AI Answer Readiness over time.

Yes. If you complete the Deep Dive diagnostic and don't feel the insights are valuable, we'll refund your investment. We're confident in our methodology because we've seen it work across hundreds of brands. The only requirement is that you complete the process—partial engagement doesn't qualify for refund.

ROI varies by industry and current state, but typical results include: 20-40% improvement in AI Answer Readiness Score within 90 days, increased visibility in AI-generated answers for target queries, more qualified inbound leads from AI-assisted research, and future-proofing against the shift from traditional search to AI search. Our Deep Dive includes specific ROI projections for your business.

For the free audit and Deep Dive diagnostic: no. We analyze your public-facing pages. For 90-Day Sprint implementation, we typically need: CMS access to make content changes, Google Search Console access for technical insights, and optionally, analytics access for baseline metrics. We can work with your dev team if direct access isn't possible.

Schema markup (JSON-LD structured data) is code that explicitly tells search engines what your content means—not just what it says. For AI engines, schema is crucial: it defines entities (your company, products, people), establishes relationships between concepts, provides explicit answers AI can extract, and builds the knowledge graph that AI references. Sites with proper schema are significantly more likely to be cited by AI.

The Deep Dive diagnostic is typically delivered within 5-7 business days. This includes: initial site and 10-page analysis (2-3 days), ROI scenario development and strategy planning (1-2 days), audio walkthrough recording and executive summary (1-2 days), and your first strategy call is usually scheduled within 10 days of purchase.

Timeline depends on implementation speed and your site's starting point. Typical milestones: Weeks 1-2: Discovery and planning complete. Weeks 3-8: Core implementation (schema, content, technical fixes). Day 60: First re-audit showing initial improvements. Day 90: Final audit showing full impact. Most clients see measurable score improvements by the 60-day mark.