Field notes on winning the answer
Practical, engineer-written guides to GEO, AI search, and the mechanics of getting recommended by LLMs.
Agency, Software or In-House: Which Fits Your AI-Search Acquisition Problem
An existing SEO agency, a visibility tool, an internal team, or a managed programme: when each is the right answer, what each actually buys you, and where we have a commercial interest.
Where to start, depending on what you came for
There are more articles here than anyone should read in order. Four entry points cover almost every reason people arrive.
- You have noticed the problem but cannot name it. Traffic sliding, pipeline thinner, analytics clean. Start with why your brand is not showing up in ChatGPT, which is ordered by how quickly each cause can be ruled out, cheapest first.
- You want to measure before you spend. Tracking your visibility by hand is the whole method, free, in an afternoon — the same loop every paid tracker automates. Read it before buying software.
- You are choosing a supplier or a tool. The tool comparison links every vendor's own pricing page, and the agency buyer's guide sets out the questions that separate firms in this category.
- You want to fix the configuration first. The AI crawler access checklist covers which agents each vendor documents and what a blanket block costs. Our own measurements of the two surfaces sit in page depth and position and naming your URL is not reading your page.
- You want the terminology settled. GEO, AEO, LLMO and the rest grades which of these acronyms have a real origin and which are vendor coinages, and the glossary defines the terms without the sales layer.
What these articles will not do
They will not promise a timeline. We searched for primary evidence on how long AI-visibility work takes to show effect, found none, and removed the industry's standard figure from this site rather than keep repeating it. They will not quote the widely-cited “up to forty per cent visibility improvement” as a promise either: that number is a redistributive share metric from a single 2024 paper, measured on an older model in a custom harness, and a 2025 benchmark re-testing those same tactics found most of them ineffective or harmful. Both readings are set out with sources on the evidence register.
What they do instead is describe mechanisms, name the tools and papers involved, and publish our own measurements — including the run where our share of AI answers fell while our search impressions rose. Those are on our numbers. Everything here is written by the two people who build the pipeline rather than by a content agency, which is why the technical posts carry a different byline from the strategy ones.
The AI Crawler Access Checklist
Which agents each AI vendor documents, what a blanket block actually costs you, and how to check your own robots.txt in ten minutes with no tools.
MeasurementNaming Your URL Is Not Reading Your Page
We asked two engines questions that named our own pages, then checked whether the answers showed evidence of having read them. They came apart immediately.
MeasurementPage Depth and Position: Our Own Data
We joined rendered word count against search position for every page on this site that earns impressions. The pattern is real, and narrower than you would like.
GEOThe AEO and GEO Agencies AI Engines Name
We asked ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews who the best GEO and AEO agencies are. Here is who they named, how often, and what that list is worth.
MeasurementProfound Alternatives: The AI Visibility Tools Compared
Nine AI search visibility trackers compared on what each actually measures, who each suits, and the one question that decides whether you need a tool at all.
GEOWhat Is Actually in a GEO Retainer
What a monthly generative engine optimization retainer covers month by month, what should be in the contract, and the clauses worth refusing.
PlaybookWhy Your Brand Is Not Showing Up in ChatGPT
Six reasons a company is missing from ChatGPT answers, in the order worth checking, starting with the free one most people never look at.
MeasurementHow to Choose an AI Visibility (GEO/AEO) Tool
Most 'best AEO tools' listicles rank whatever the author is affiliated with. An honest framework for judging any list yourself.
StrategyShould You Chase AI Traffic Over Google? An Honest Take
Some teams see most new traffic arriving from ChatGPT and Perplexity. How to think about the shift without over-rotating either way.
StrategyDoes GEO Actually Work? An Honest Look
Is generative engine optimization real or repackaged SEO hype? The honest case, what the sceptics get right, and how to decide.
FundamentalsHow AI Assistants Decide Which Brands to Recommend
When ChatGPT names a few vendors, what drove the choice? What we know about how models pick brands, and what audits keep showing.
LocalGEO for Local Business: How Local Companies Show Up in AI Answers
When someone asks ChatGPT for the best plumber or clinic in their city, how does a local business get named? Where the wins are.
TechnicalHow to Optimize Content for LLMs: A Practical Checklist
LLM content optimization with before-and-after examples: how to write pages a model can lift and cite, and which popular tactics have no evidence.
FundamentalsCan You 'Rank #1' in ChatGPT? How AI 'Ranking' Actually Works
There is no ranked list inside a ChatGPT answer, so 'ranking #1' is the wrong model. What actually decides whether you are named.
StrategyWhy SEO Agencies Are Adding GEO Now
Clients are asking about ChatGPT visibility. The case for adding GEO now, and how to do it by partnering rather than rebuilding.
StrategyGEO vs AEO: The Difference, Explained Simply
AEO is being the answer box. GEO is being the source an AI cites when it writes its own answer. The plain difference, and which acronyms are real.
StrategyLLM SEO: What It Is, and How It Differs from SEO, GEO and AEO
LLM SEO is getting your brand into the answers language models generate. What the term means and what actually moves it.
PlaybookHow to Get Your Company to Show Up in ChatGPT
Buyers ask ChatGPT who to use and you are not in the answer. What actually decides that shortlist, what you can change this month, and what will not help.
MeasurementHow to Track Your Brand's Visibility in ChatGPT
Traffic falling and analytics explains nothing? Measure whether ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity name your company, by hand and free, in an afternoon.
StrategyWhat GEO Costs, and How to Budget for It
There is no public benchmark for GEO pricing. Our published ranges, what drives the number, and how to test whether a programme can pay for itself.
StrategyWhy AI Engines Keep Citing Reddit
Ask an AI engine a buying question and Reddit is often cited. Why models lean on community sources, and how to earn a place honestly.
GEOHow to Choose a GEO Agency in Dubai
The engineer-built guide to choosing a GEO agency in Dubai: the named alternatives, the questions to ask, and the red flags.
For commsWhen ChatGPT Gets Your Brand Wrong: AI Reputation Management
AI engines confidently repeat facts about your company — sometimes outdated or wrong. Here's how to monitor and fix what they say.
For salesYour Buyers Build the Shortlist in ChatGPT Before They Call Sales
B2B buyers now assemble vendor shortlists with AI before any human contact. If the model doesn't name you, the deal starts without you.
For foundersFounders: AI Search Is Deciding Your Category Right Now
In early markets, whoever the AI recommends first tends to define the category. Here's why founders should treat GEO as category strategy.
For marketersAI Visibility for CMOs: The New Share of Voice
How marketing leaders should think about, measure, and report AI visibility — in language the board already understands.
StrategyWhy Your Organic Traffic Is Declining
B2B sites are down 30–50% on organic traffic, and the usual SEO explanations miss the real cause: AI is answering the query before the click.
MeasurementHow to Measure AI Share of Voice
A clear definition of AI Share of Voice, the four inputs that go into it, why single samples mislead you, and how to score a run.
DistributionWhy AI Engines Love Reddit — and How to Use It (Ethically)
How to earn genuine presence in the Reddit threads AI engines keep citing, without astroturfing your way to a ban.
TechnicalSchema Markup for AI Search: The JSON-LD That Earns Citations
Which structured data types actually help AI engines understand and cite your content — and how to implement them without overcomplicating it.
Technicalllms.txt: What It Is, and Why No Engine Honours It Yet
llms.txt is cheap to ship, and as of 2026 no major AI engine reads it. Google says it ignores it. The evidence, and what to do instead.
StrategyHow LLMs Decide Which Sources to Cite
What makes a language model cite one source over another: retrieval, corroboration, extractability, and what none of it guarantees.
StrategyGEO vs. SEO: What Changes When AI Answers the Query
SEO wins you a ranked link. GEO wins you a mention inside the answer itself. The practical difference and what changes in the work.
FundamentalsWhat Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
A plain-language guide to GEO: how to get your brand mentioned, cited, and recommended inside ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.
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