AI and SEO: How They Work Together, and What AI SEO Adds
By Owen Nixon. Updated September 24, 2026. 7 minute read.
The short answer: SEO gets your pages ranked on Google. AI SEO, also called GEO, gets your business named in the answers ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews write. Most of the groundwork is shared: a site both can read, the same facts about you everywhere, and real reviews. AI SEO adds a few steps on top.
How do AI and SEO work together?
Search used to mean ten blue links. Now the same customer can type a question into Google and get an AI Overview above the results, or ask ChatGPT and get an answer that names two or three businesses. SEO is how you show up in the first. AI SEO is how you get named in the second.
The two pull from the same place: what the web says about you. Your website, your Google Business Profile, the directories that list you, and your reviews. Get that groundwork right and you help both at once.
It matters more every month. BrightLocal's 2026 survey found 45% of people now use AI to find a local business. A year earlier it was 6%.
What is the difference between SEO and AI SEO?
SEO (search engine optimization) gets your pages ranked on Google and your listing into the map pack. AI SEO, also called GEO (generative engine optimization), gets your business named and described correctly inside the answers AI tools write.
| SEO | AI SEO (GEO) | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you show up | Google's results and the map pack | Answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews |
| What earns the spot | A page that matches the search, plus links, reviews and a complete profile | Facts about your business that several sources agree on |
| What you track | Rankings, clicks and calls from Google | Whether AI tools name you, and whether they get your details right |
| What the customer does | Clicks through to your site | Often reads the answer and calls without visiting |
That last row is the big one. Pew Research Center studied 900 US adults in 2025: when an AI summary showed up on the results page, 8% clicked a result. Without one, 15% did. Inside the summary itself, 1% clicked a link. If the answer is where the decision gets made, being named in it is the new first place.
How is AI changing SEO?
AI answers are pickier than Google's results. SOCi's 2026 Local Visibility Index looked at about 350,000 business locations of multi-location brands. ChatGPT recommended 1.2% of them. Google's map pack showed 35.9%, nearly 30 times as many.
It also gets things wrong. In the same study ChatGPT had business details right about 68% of the time, so about a third were wrong.
And your website is only part of what AI reads. SOCi traced where AI's local answers come from:
- Google Maps: 32.5%
- Niche directories: 26.3%
- Business websites: 23.1%
- Yelp: 10.5%
- Facebook: 7.6%
So AI SEO reaches past your website. Your Maps listing and the directories in your trade carry more weight than your own pages. We cover that side in GEO, explained.
What stays the same for SEO and AI?
Most of the work you already know still counts, and it now counts twice:
- A site that loads fast on a phone and that Google can read. See Core Web Vitals and conversions.
- Clear titles and headings that say what each page is about.
- A complete Google Business Profile with the right category, hours and photos.
- The same business name, address and phone everywhere. See NAP consistency.
- Real reviews, answered.
What does AI SEO add on top of SEO?
- Let AI tools in. Check that your robots.txt doesn't block crawlers like GPTBot, ClaudeBot or PerplexityBot. The free check reads this for you.
- Answer the question first. Put a plain two-sentence answer at the top of each service page, then the detail. Short, clear passages are the easiest to quote.
- Mark up who you are. Schema markup (LocalBusiness, Service, FAQ) tells machines your name, services, area and hours in a format they don't have to guess at.
- Say the same thing everywhere. Your services, towns and hours should match on your site, Maps, Yelp and your trade directories.
- Get mentioned elsewhere. Reviews, local press and directory profiles are the sources AI leans on when it decides who to name.
- Ask the AI yourself. Type "best [your service] in [your town]" into ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Note who gets named and what they say about you.
The full list is in our answer engine optimization checklist, and how to get cited by ChatGPT goes deeper on step 5.
How can you use AI for SEO work?
AI tools are good at the slow parts: finding the questions customers ask, drafting FAQ answers, writing schema, and spotting gaps between your pages and a competitor's. They are bad at facts about your business. They will invent a service area or a price if you let them.
Google's own guidance (Google Search Central, February 2023) says it rewards helpful content however it was made, and treats content made mainly to game rankings as spam. So use AI to speed up the work, then check every claim before it goes live.
Do you need both SEO and AI SEO?
Yes, and for most local businesses it's a single plan. Google still sends the clicks. AI answers decide more of the shortlist every month. The groundwork is shared, and AI SEO adds a handful of steps on top. If you only have time for one thing this month, fix your Google Business Profile and your directory listings, because both channels read them.
For how Google and the AI tools compare as a place to start, see Perplexity vs Google: where to optimize first.
What this means for your business
When someone asks ChatGPT for a plumber in Plano and you aren't named, there's no click to lose. The customer just calls someone else. You won't see it in your analytics.
The fix starts with knowing where you stand. Run the free check to see what Google and AI tools can read on your website in about a minute. The $150 audit looks at the rest: your Google Business Profile, your reviews, Maps, and what ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity say about you. For the ongoing work, see SEO and GEO.
Sources
- BrightLocal, local consumer research, 2026: 45% used AI to find a local business, up from 6% a year earlier.
- Pew Research Center, study of 900 US adults, 2025: clicks with and without an AI summary.
- SOCi, 2026 Local Visibility Index, about 350,000 locations of multi-location brands: recommendation rates, accuracy and answer sources.
- Google Search Central, "Google Search's guidance about AI-generated content", February 2023.
Want to see what Google and AI tools can read on your own site? Run the free check.
Questions people ask
Is SEO still worth doing now that people use AI?
Yes. Google still sends most of the clicks, and the work that helps you rank also feeds AI answers: a readable site, a complete Google Business Profile, consistent listings and real reviews. What has changed is that fewer people click when an AI summary shows up. Pew Research Center found 8% clicked a result with a summary on the page, against 15% without one. So you want to rank and be named in the answer.
Is AI SEO the same as GEO?
Mostly, yes. AI SEO, GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) all describe the same goal: getting your business named and described correctly in answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. For a local business the steps are the same: let AI crawlers in, answer questions plainly, mark up your business, and keep your details consistent across the web.
How do I know if ChatGPT recommends my business?
Ask it. Type the question a customer would, like "best dentist in Frisco" or "who fixes AC in Allen", into ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Note whether you're named, who is named instead, and whether your details are right. Try a few different wordings, because answers change. SOCi's 2026 study found ChatGPT had business details right about 68% of the time, so check the facts, not just the name.
Can I use AI to write my SEO content?
You can use it to draft, as long as a person checks every fact before it goes live. Google's guidance says it rewards helpful content however it was made, and treats content made mainly to game rankings as spam. AI is quick at outlines, FAQ drafts and schema. It is careless with the details that matter most to a customer: your prices, your service area and your hours.
Where should a local business start with AI and SEO?
Start with what both channels read: your Google Business Profile, your directory listings and your website's basics. Run the free check on nixarsolutions.com to see what Google and AI tools can read on your site in about a minute. For the full picture, the $150 audit adds your Google profile, reviews, Maps and what AI tools say about you, with a 45-minute call to walk through the fix.
Owen Nixon
Co-Founder, NIXAR Solutions
Owen Nixon is co-founder of NIXAR Solutions, a Frisco-based digital transformation agency. He works with SMBs and enterprise clients across DFW and nationwide on SEO, AI search optimization, and brand-aligned web development.
More about Owen