AI search optimization · AEO/GEO
AI search optimization (AEO/GEO): get your brand named in AI answers.
When someone asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google's AI Mode what to buy, the answer names two or three brands and moves on. We find out what the engines say about you today, which sources they trust, and work to put you in that set. Then we measure it the honest way.
We publish our method and name our tools. We will not promise a "#1 in ChatGPT". Nobody can.
Plain definitions
SEO, AEO and GEO in one sentence each.
Most agencies use the terms interchangeably. Here is what they mean, and the one thing they share.
- SEO: search engine optimization
Getting your pages to show up in Google's ordinary results when people type what you sell. Measured in rankings, impressions, clicks and the sales those clicks produce. Still the largest channel by a wide margin.
- AEO: answer engine optimization
Writing and structuring pages so a machine can lift a direct answer from them: a clear question, a short answer, FAQ sections, clean headings and accurate structured data. It covers featured snippets, voice assistants and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, which are built on Google's normal index.
- GEO: generative engine optimization
Getting your brand named, or your page cited, inside answers written by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google's AI features. These engines read a handful of sources at answer time and quote them. The goal is to be in that handful.
- What all three share
A site the engines can crawl, a brand they can identify as a clear entity, pages clear enough to quote, and other people talking about you. Google states that no special files or markup are needed to appear in its AI features. The work is clarity and presence, not tricks.
Why it matters now
AI answers are a shortlist, and you are either on it or not.
The engine picks a handful of brands
An AI answer does not show ten links. It names a few options it found in sources it trusts, describes them, and stops. Being absent from that answer is a silent loss you never see in your analytics.
Google itself now answers, in the US and in India
Google launched AI Mode in the US in May 2025 and in India in July 2025, its first market outside the US, and AI Overviews already sit above the results for many questions in both. Whether your buyers are in Ohio or Bengaluru, they are seeing AI answers.
Being talked about matters more than links
Ahrefs' study of 75,000 brands found that mentions of a brand across the web correlated far more strongly with AI Overview visibility than backlinks did. That changes what "off-site work" means. Read the study.
How the engines choose
What decides whether an AI answer cites you.
At answer time the engine runs searches, reads a small set of pages it can access and trusts, and writes an answer from them. Four things decide whether you are in that set.
Access. If your CDN or firewall blocks the engine's crawler, you cannot be cited. Cloudflare has blocked AI crawlers by default on new domains since July 2025, so many Shopify and D2C sites are invisible without knowing it.
Entity clarity. The engine has to be sure who you are: consistent name, description and facts across your site, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, directories and structured data.
Quotable pages. Answer-first structure, real questions as headings, comparison tables, pricing on the page, and original data. Pages that make the engine's job easy get quoted.
Presence elsewhere. Listicles, review sites, Reddit threads, YouTube and industry press are where the engines look first for "best X for Y" questions. Being there is most of the work.
What we do
Six steps, repeated every month.
- 01
Baseline audit on a fixed prompt set
We build a list of the questions your buyers actually ask (comparisons, "best X for Y", pricing, alternatives), lock it, and run it across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews. We record whether you are named, where, how you are described, and who is cited instead.
- 02
Fix access and the technical basics
robots.txt and CDN rules for every AI crawler, rendering, indexation, page speed, schema validity, and a check of your server logs to confirm the crawlers actually arrive after the fix.
- 03
Make the entity unambiguous
Organization and Service schema with sameAs links, consistent facts across your profiles and directories, Wikidata and Crunchbase entries where they make sense, and founder profiles linked to the company.
- 04
Make pages worth quoting
Answer-first rewrites of your money pages, comparison and pricing pages, FAQ sections marked up properly, and original data or research the engines have a reason to cite.
- 05
Get present where the engines look
From the baseline we know which third-party sites are cited in your category. We work to get you genuinely and helpfully present on them: listicles, review platforms, Reddit and communities, YouTube, industry publications.
- 06
Measure, report, adjust
Monthly: mention rate and citation rate per engine, share of voice against named competitors, how your description changed, which sources moved, AI-referral visits and leads in your GA4, and Search Console's AI impressions. Then we adjust the plan.
What we track and how
The method, in public.
AI answers change from run to run, so a single check proves nothing. Every figure we report carries the engine, the prompt count, the number of runs and the date window, and is expressed as a rate with a range, never as a "ranking".
| Metric | What it means | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Mention rate | Share of prompt runs, per engine, in which your brand is named | Our repeated prompt runs, 3 runs per prompt per check |
| Citation rate | Share of runs in which one of your pages is linked as a source | Same prompt runs |
| Share of voice | Your mentions and citations as a share of the total, against 3 to 5 named competitors on the same prompts | Same prompt runs, plus Semrush AI visibility data where useful |
| Description accuracy | What the engines say about you, and whether it is right | Sampled answers, read by a founder |
| Cited sources | Which third-party sites the engines quote in your category, and how that list changes | Same prompt runs |
| AI-referral traffic and leads | Visits and enquiries from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, claude.ai and copilot | A custom channel group in your GA4 |
| AI impressions on Google | How often you appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode | Google Search Console's generative AI performance report |
| Crawler activity | Proof that GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and friends can reach you | Your server or CDN logs |
Promises
What we will and will not promise.
What we guarantee
- A baseline report within 10 working days of access
- A fixed prompt set you can see, so month-on-month numbers are comparable
- Every number reported with engine, prompt count, runs and dates
- A founder reads the answers, not just a dashboard
- AI-referral tracking set up in your own GA4
- Plain language when something is not working
What we will not say
- "Guaranteed #1 in ChatGPT" or any placement. No one controls a probabilistic model's output
- "We train the AI on your brand." Nobody can influence model weights on demand; we influence what is retrieved and quoted
- That llms.txt is a lever. We maintain one because it costs nothing, but Ahrefs found 97% of such files are never fetched
- Conversion multiples for AI traffic. The famous figures come from single-site studies
- "AI is replacing Google." AI referrals are a small share of traffic for almost every site; SEO stays the base
Pricing
AI search is included in every search package.
We do not sell AEO/GEO as a separate line, because it shares the same foundation as SEO. Prompt tracking, entity work and off-site presence are built into these packages.
SNIFF Audit and 90-day plan
One-time audit for anyone unsure what is wrong. Also the lowest-risk way to try us.
₹15,000$300one-timeDelivered in 7 working days
No ongoing commitment
- Technical audit, 150+ checks (see the checks we run)
- 50-keyword opportunity map with volume and difficulty
- Content-gap analysis against 3 competitors
- Backlink profile review
- AI visibility test: 30 prompts, 3 runs each, across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews
- Competitor teardown
- 90-day prioritised action roadmap
FETCH Growth retainer
Monthly retainer for growing brands that want steady organic and AI visibility.
₹45,000$900/monthOne-time setup ₹15,000$300
Minimum 3 months, then month to month with 30 days' notice
- Technical fixes, up to 10 issues a month
- On-page optimisation of 8 pages a month
- 4 articles a month (1,500 words, written and published)
- 50-keyword rank tracking with alerts
- 5 quality backlinks a month
- Internal linking and schema upkeep
- Google Business Profile optimisation and weekly posts, where local demand matters
ALPHA Full search programme
For funded startups and established brands that treat search as a primary channel.
₹95,000$2,000/monthOne-time setup ₹25,000$500
Minimum 6 months, then month to month with 30 days' notice
- Everything in FETCH
- 8 articles + 2 pillar guides a month
- 200-keyword tracking
- 12 quality backlinks a month + digital PR outreach
- Full entity work: Wikidata, Crunchbase, citation-source placement
- 50-prompt AI tracking across 5 engines with competitor share of voice
- CRO testing, 2 tests a month
FAQ
AEO and GEO questions we get asked
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?
AEO (answer engine optimization) is structuring your pages so a machine can lift a direct answer from them: snippets, voice, Google AI Overviews. GEO (generative engine optimization) is getting your brand named inside answers written by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. In practice they overlap heavily and we do both as one service.
Do I need AI search optimization if my SEO is good?
Probably, if your buyers research before buying. Good SEO helps, because the engines lean on pages that already rank, but being cited also depends on crawler access, entity clarity and mentions on third-party sites. The free check tells you in two working days whether you are being named today.
How much do AEO and GEO services cost?
At WoofRank they are included in every search package rather than sold separately. The one-time SNIFF audit with a 30-prompt AI visibility baseline is ₹15,000 or USD 300. The FETCH retainer, which includes monthly prompt tracking, entity work and answer-first content, is ₹45,000 or USD 900 a month plus a one-time setup fee. Every figure is on the pricing page.
Can GEO replace traditional SEO?
No. AI engines draw most of their answers from pages that already rank, and Google says plainly that optimising for its AI features is still SEO. GEO adds three things on top: crawler access for AI bots, an unambiguous brand entity, and presence on the third-party sites the engines cite. Without the SEO foundation there is nothing for the engines to find.
Will AI Overviews reduce my organic traffic?
For informational searches, usually yes: independent studies through 2025 and 2026 found materially fewer clicks on ordinary results when an AI Overview appears. That is why we report leads and revenue rather than sessions, and why being cited inside the answer matters. We link the studies, with dates, in our guide to AEO.
How do you measure whether it is working?
By running a fixed set of buyer prompts across the engines every month, three runs each, and reporting the share that name or cite you, against named competitors. Alongside that, AI-referral visits and leads in your GA4 and AI impressions in Search Console. Every figure carries its prompt count and date window.
Which AI engines do you cover?
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode as standard. Copilot on request. ALPHA tracks 50 prompts a month across five engines with competitor share of voice.
Can you guarantee my brand will show up in ChatGPT?
No. AI answers are generated fresh each time and vary between runs, and no one can force a placement. Anyone who guarantees one is either guessing or selling something else. We guarantee the method, the measurement and the honesty of the report.
Does llms.txt help?
The evidence says rarely. Ahrefs' 2026 study of 137,000 domains found 97% of llms.txt files were never fetched, and Google says no special files are needed for its AI features. We keep one on our own site because it costs nothing, and we will not charge you for it or call it a strategy.
How long before we see AI mentions change?
Access and entity fixes can change what the engines say within weeks, because answers are generated live. Earning presence on the third-party sites the engines cite takes months, in the same way links do. We show the trend monthly and never claim a single good run as a result.
Will this work for a D2C brand, or only for B2B?
Both. D2C questions are "best X under ₹Y" and "is brand A better than brand B"; B2B questions are "alternatives to X" and "best tool for Y". The method is the same: find the prompts, see who is cited, fix access, make pages quotable, get present where the engines look.
What do you need access to?
Google Search Console, GA4, your CDN or hosting dashboard (to check crawler rules), your CMS, and your Google Business Profile and LinkedIn page. Access is requested through partner or manager roles, never personal passwords.
Next step
Find out what ChatGPT says about you today.
Ten buyer questions, four engines, one honest two-page summary. Free, no call required, back within two working days.