How do you rank in AI engines?

You can rank better in AI engines by understanding how they work, optimizing for search engines, targeting conversational phrases, producing exceptional content, developing content assets, getting listed on third-party sites, and prioritizing review management.

How to rank in AI search

Learn how to rank in AI search engines now, based on what actually works across real AEO engagements:

1. Understand how answer engines work

AEO does not start with producing content. It starts with understanding how AI engines generate their answers because you cannot optimise for something you do not understand.

At a basic level, answer engines pull from 2 sources:

Most AI engines use both. But they do not all use the same search index, and this changes everything about how you get found:

So if your business ranks well on Google but is not indexed on Bing, ChatGPT cannot find you. That is the first problem most businesses have never thought to check.

2. Fix your technical foundation

Before content strategy matters, AI engines need to be able to find and read your website. Most businesses assume that if Google can crawl them, AI tools can too. That is not accurate.

AI crawlers read raw HTML. They do not render JavaScript or click to expand content.

So what does that mean for you? It means you need to:

• Submit your sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools, not just Google Search Console

• Expand accordion FAQs and tabbed content into visible on-page text

• Check your robots.txt file to confirm AI bots are not accidentally blocked

• Verify your most important content is visible in the raw HTML source

• Ensure key service and location pages load without JavaScript

3. Optimise for traditional search engines

Some businesses that have been practising SEO for years assume that as AI search grows, traditional SEO matters less. That is not what the data shows. Websites that rank well in traditional search are significantly more likely to appear in AI responses.

• 73% similarity exists between Bing search results and ChatGPT responses

• 61% similarity exists between Google's first page results and AI Overviews

That means strong SEO directly supports your AEO. The core areas to focus on:

• A fast, crawlable, mobile-friendly website

• Clear page structure with logical heading hierarchy

• Content that directly addresses what people search for

• Backlinks and mentions from credible, industry-relevant websites

4. Target conversational queries

People search differently in AI tools than they do on Google. Instead of typing short keyword phrases, they ask full questions with context. That shift changes what your content needs to cover.

The practical steps:

• Talk to your sales team about the exact questions customers ask before buying

• Build content around full questions, not just keyword phrases

• Include context-specific answers covering location, budget range, or business size

• Write FAQ sections that answer these questions directly and specifically

5. Produce exceptional content

This is the most important step in AEO. AI engines read far more content than they ever cite. Getting crawled by AI tools is easy, but getting cited requires content that earns their trust.

The AI models powering these engines value:

Producing this level of content requires a few key steps:

1. Research: Go deeper than what already exists out there. Include original data, first-hand experience, and named client outcomes. Copying content from your competitors from search results isn't enough to get you ranked in AI.

2. Edit: Use headings, tables, and bullet points to make content easy for both humans and AI engines to extract

3. Repurpose: Turn strong written content into social posts, short videos, and LinkedIn articles to build citation touchpoints across different platforms where AI would be looking for answers

4. Promote: Outreach to relevant publications and directories to earn external mentions for your website and social media to build more reputation and trust with AI

5. Measure: Most comapnies are already tracking their performance across their content, but many more buisnsesse need to adapt to track which pieces are getting cited and iterate based on what is working

6. Build your off-site authority

AI engines do not just read your website. They read what the rest of the internet says about you. Getting mentioned and listed on third-party sites is 1 of the most effective ways to appear in AI-generated responses.

You can build off-site authority by:

• Claiming and completing listings on Google Business Profile, Bing Places, and Apple Business Connect

• Getting featured in industry-specific comparison articles and directories

• Publishing content with original data that other sites want to reference

• Outreaching to relevant publishers and offering to contribute insights or case studies

• Being active in forums and communities where your category is discussed

7. Collect and manage reviews

No one asks an AI to recommend a poorly reviewed business. Reviews are a core ranking signal in AI search, not just a trust factor for website visitors.

There are 3 steps to review management for AEO:

1. Create profiles on Google Business Profile, Trustpilot, and any industry-specific review platforms relevant to your sector

2. Collect reviews consistently through follow-up emails, direct requests after a positive engagement, and a structured review funnel

3. Respond to reviews regularly, including negative ones, which signals to AI engines that you are an active and credible business

Building a consistent review presence across multiple platforms gives AI engines more sources confirming your credibility, and more reasons to name you in their answers.

8. Track your AI visibility

Standard analytics tools do not capture AI citation data right now. You cannot see in Google Analytics whether ChatGPT is recommending you or ignoring you. Still, without any measurement, you are optimising blind.

However, there are still some ways to track your AI ranking performance:

• Set up tracking in a specialist tool such as Peec AI, Profound, or Otterly

• Build a prompt set of 20 to 50 questions matching what your customers ask AI tools

• Track citation rates across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity separately

• Review performance monthly and identify which content changes drove movement

• Benchmark against 3 to 5 competitors to understand your relative visibility, not just your own numbers

Start ranking across the most popular AI engines

You now know how to rank in AI search, from fixing your technical foundation to producing content specific enough to be cited. The next step is putting it into practice.

Need professional help? Contact Sarac Ramsay to learn how our AEO service can get your business cited across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.