10 SEO Practices That Determine Your AI Visibility
The CITE Framework™
Our proprietary approach to AI Search Optimization
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should I optimise for AI platforms beyond Google?
AI platforms are capturing significant search volume—ChatGPT reached 1 billion weekly searches in under a year. Users who find you through AI recommendations convert up to 6x higher than traditional Google traffic because AI citations carry an implicit endorsement. With AI Overviews now appearing on 30% of U.S. desktop queries, ignoring AI search means losing visibility where decisions are increasingly made.
What is schema markup and why does it matter for AI visibility?
Schema markup is structured data code (typically JSON-LD) that helps AI systems understand your content. FAQ schema has 87% average CTR; HowTo schema increases organic clicks by 60%. Only 44% of sites use schema globally—implementing it gives you an edge. Pages with proper schema see 2.5x more AI citations because AI can extract information more reliably.
How do I check if AI crawlers can access my content?
Check robots.txt for blocks on: GPTBot (ChatGPT), PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, Googlebot-Extended (AI Overviews), and CCBot (training data). Run: "curl -s https://yoursite.com/robots.txt | grep -i bot" to see all bot rules. Many CMSs block AI crawlers by default—verify and remove disallow rules for bots you want indexing your content.
What does "direct answers in the first 60 words" mean?
AI systems prioritise the first 40-60 words when extracting answers for citations. This is your "AI extraction zone"—place your main answer, definition, or key stat here. Don't waste opening paragraphs on introductions. Research shows AI Overviews and ChatGPT consistently pull from content that front-loads value. If your answer is buried in paragraph 5, AI will cite someone else.
How do I build authority through mentions and citations?
AI systems measure authority through entity recognition, not just backlinks. Get featured in industry publications and podcasts. Publish original research with "must-quote" statistics. Maintain updated Wikipedia/Wikidata presence. Reddit mentions appear in 46.7% of AI citations—participate authentically. ChatGPT favours domain rating and readability scores, while Perplexity weights academic and news sources heavily.
How often should I update content for AI visibility?
Refresh high-performing pages quarterly—update statistics, dates, and examples. Perplexity and Gemini heavily weight "last updated" dates when selecting sources. Stale content (6+ months without updates) gets deprioritised. seoClarity found that 97% of AI Overviews cite pages from the top 20 organic results—maintaining rankings through freshness directly impacts AI citations.
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Our SEO agency specializes in implementing the 10 critical practices for AI visibility—from direct answer optimization to citation-worthy content structures. We combine traditional SEO expertise with AI-first strategies to help brands dominate both traditional rankings and AI citations.