Getting cited by AI isn't a single setting to flip - it's a process, run the same way you'd run any SEO campaign, just aimed at a different set of signals. Here's exactly how our AI search optimization process works for London, Ontario clients, step by step.
Step 1: AI visibility audit
We start by checking what ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews currently say - or don't say - about a business for its key customer searches. This establishes a real baseline instead of guessing, and often surfaces something useful on its own: sometimes a business is already being mentioned inconsistently, or a competitor is being cited for a search the client should be winning.
Step 2: NAP and citation consistency
Before anything else, we confirm the business's name, address, and phone number match exactly across the website, Google Business Profile, and major directories. This is foundational for traditional local SEO too, but it matters even more here - AI systems cross-reference multiple sources to build confidence, and inconsistent data is one of the fastest ways to undermine that.
Step 3: Structured data implementation
We add or fix LocalBusiness, FAQPage, and Review schema across key pages, giving AI crawlers a clean, machine-readable version of the same facts a human visitor sees. This is one of the more technical steps in the process but also one of the most reliably impactful.
Step 4: Direct-answer content rewrites
We identify the specific questions a business's customers actually ask - "how much does X cost," "do you serve Y area," "how long does X take" - and make sure the site contains clear, quotable, direct answers to each one, rather than answers buried in vague marketing copy. This mirrors exactly how we write our own blog content, including this post.
Step 5: Multi-platform review coverage
We help build out genuine review presence across Google, Facebook, and any relevant industry-specific platforms, since AI tools weigh consistency across multiple independent sources more heavily than volume on a single platform.
Step 6: Ongoing monitoring
AI search visibility isn't a set-and-forget outcome - we periodically re-check how a business appears across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI Overviews for its target searches, and adjust as these tools and their behavior evolve, since this space is still changing faster than traditional search algorithms did.
What this doesn't include
No legitimate process can guarantee a specific AI-generated answer, since these systems synthesize responses dynamically and aren't directly controlled by any agency. What the process above does is systematically strengthen every signal these tools are known to reference, which meaningfully improves the odds without overpromising a specific outcome.
See our AI search optimization service page for the full offering, or start with a free SEO audit to see where your current AI visibility stands.