AI search gives SEO more places to do its job. Get the foundations working, build evidence that makes your business worth choosing, and measure whether that visibility brings enquiries.
Another change. Another obituary.
The pitch is familiar: the old way is finished, everything has changed, and you need a new service before your competitors get there first. This time, AI answers are the reason you are supposed to stop thinking about SEO.
But start with the customer. Someone still needs a roofing contractor, bookkeeping support or a supplier they can trust. They still have questions, compare options and look for evidence. The business that answers those questions convincingly has something valuable to offer, whichever interface the customer uses.
That is why we still invest in search work for clients. The job keeps developing: understand what buyers need, make the relevant information accessible and give them a reason to choose the business. A change in how answers appear creates more decisions to make.
AEO and GEO, without the sales pitch.
AEO means answer engine optimization. GEO means generative engine optimization. Both labels describe efforts to make a business visible in answer-based or AI-generated search experiences.
Picture a homeowner researching roof replacement. They might type a short search and open several websites. They might ask an AI search service to explain materials, costs and local options in one answer. Your commercial goal is the same: become a relevant business for that homeowner to consider.
In its guide to generative AI search, Google says its AI features build on its Search ranking and quality systems. From Google’s perspective, this optimisation is still SEO. It also says there is no special AI schema to add, and that an llms.txt file does not improve visibility in Google Search.
There can be legitimate work in an AI visibility brief. The useful distinction is the actual problem being solved: which audience, which platform, which content gap and what evidence of progress. “We make you AI-ready” tells you very little about any of those things.
The interface changes. Your evidence matters more.
AI answers can give someone enough information to continue without visiting your site. A mention, a citation and a website visit are different outcomes. Treating them as interchangeable makes it hard to judge whether the work helps the business.
That gives each page a sharper commercial question: why would someone need this business after reading the answer? A generic description of roof materials is easy to substitute. A contractor’s own project photos, explanation of local conditions, pricing guidance and relevant experience give a homeowner something specific to evaluate.
For Pak Exteriors, we connected those kinds of questions to homeowner tools, useful content and a route to an enquiry. The broader cooperation generated 15 qualified organic leads alongside steady paid leads. Those are business results; we do not present them as proof of AI citations or rankings.
Google’s guidance describes Google’s systems. Other AI services can discover and present sources differently. A search ranking is no promise of an AI recommendation. The sensible response is to understand the channels your customers use and keep checking how your business appears there.
What we would fix before buying the new acronym.
Start with a real service page. Does it explain what you do, who it helps and the questions a buyer needs answered? Does it show relevant work? Can a visitor get in touch without hunting for the next step? These are useful questions even before a search engine sees the page.
Then check whether the important pages can be discovered and indexed, whether their titles describe them clearly and whether internal links help people reach them. Google’s Search Essentials sets out the basic requirements and practices. Meeting them is a foundation, not a guarantee of rankings.
The work should leave you with concrete improvements: a service explained properly, a search question answered with experience, a technical obstacle removed, or a clearer way to measure enquiries. Ask a provider to name those changes and explain how they connect to your customers.
SEO earns its place when it helps the business.
During our Uassist.ME engagement, organic search became a source of enquiries, confirmed in client meetings, alongside 4× organic search traffic. Research, service pages, content and a working enquiry process supported that result. The value was in connecting discovery to a sales conversation.
That is the standard we would use for your site too. Track visibility and visits, then follow what happens next: relevant enquiries, bookings and work won. AI visibility can be part of that picture. It needs a business purpose.
SEO is very much alive in 2026. Its scope is changing, and AI search belongs in that discussion. Before buying a replacement for SEO, make sure somebody is doing the fundamentals well.
Our SEO Essentials offer starts with your existing pages: refining their content and structure, addressing technical and on-page issues, matching search intent and setting up measurement. It gives the work a defined starting point you can understand.
