AI search optimisation Manchester: get cited, not just ranked
AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity now answer your customers’ questions directly. AIO/GEO makes sure yours is the business those answers cite.
Search is changing shape. AI Overviews now appear in roughly 45% of Google searches, and a growing share of buying research starts in ChatGPT or Perplexity rather than a results page. When an AI answers, clicks to traditional listings fall sharply, and the visibility that matters becomes something new: being the source the answer cites.
That is what generative engine optimisation (GEO, sometimes AIO) does. It is not a replacement for SEO; it builds on it. AI systems select sources on structure, authority and clarity rather than rank position alone, which means a well-structured page can be cited even when it does not hold the top spot. The research is unusually clear on what works: citing sources, adding statistics and expert attribution each lift AI visibility by 30-40%, while old-fashioned keyword stuffing actively reduces it.
We audit where you appear in AI answers today, restructure your content so machines can extract and quote it, build the authority signals AI systems trust, and report your share of AI answers alongside your rankings. Early movers are winning citations their competitors have not noticed exist yet.
What’s included
AI visibility audit
Where you and your competitors appear across AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity for the queries that matter.
Extractable content structure
Answer-first sections, comparison tables and FAQ blocks that AI systems can lift and cite.
Authority signals
Sourced statistics, expert attribution and citations: the elements proven to lift AI visibility by 30-40%.
Schema & machine-readable files
Structured data plus llms.txt and agent-readable files, so AI systems can parse what you offer.
AI crawler configuration
GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended access reviewed and set deliberately, not by accident.
Share-of-answer reporting
Monthly tracking of who AI answers cite in your market, reported next to your rankings in plain English.
What is generative engine optimisation?
GEO is the practice of making your content discoverable, extractable and citable by AI systems: Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Copilot. Traditional SEO gets you ranked; GEO gets you quoted. The mechanics differ too: AI systems extract passages rather than pages, so answers need to lead sections, comparison content needs tables rather than prose, and every key claim needs to stand alone and carry a source.
It also reaches beyond your own website. AI answers cite third-party sources far more often than brand domains, so presence in the publications, directories and communities AI systems trust matters alongside on-site work. Our digital PR and content marketing build exactly that footprint.
Why Manchester businesses should move on AI search now
AI answers are already between you and your customers: informational searches increasingly end without a click, and AI assistants now research purchases on buyers’ behalf. The businesses being cited today are setting the default answers for their markets, and defaults are hard to displace. Acting early is a genuine advantage in a way it rarely is in mature channels.
The good news: GEO compounds with work you may already be doing. Clean technical foundations, well-structured content that answers real questions, schema markup and open crawler access cover most of it. We add the AI-specific layer: extractable answer blocks, machine-readable files, crawler configuration and monitoring, so every future page earns visibility in both kinds of search.
Who this is for
- Your traffic is slipping as AI Overviews answer questions you used to rank for
- Competitors are being named by ChatGPT and Perplexity when buyers ask for recommendations
- You have invested in SEO and want that authority working in AI answers too
- Your market researches carefully, exactly the queries AI assistants now intercept
- You want to be the default answer in your category before someone else is
How we work
- 01
AI visibility audit
Your key queries tested across AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity: who gets cited, and why.
- 02
Access & structure
Crawler permissions, schema, machine-readable files and extractable answer blocks put in place.
- 03
Authority signals
Statistics, sources, expert attribution and third-party presence built into your content.
- 04
Monitor & compound
Share of AI answers tracked monthly alongside rankings, and the strategy refined from the data.
Sound like a sensible way to work? Tell us what you’re trying to do.
What our clients say
“We’ve been working with James from JM Digital Solutions for a few years now, and the results speak for themselves. Thanks to their consistent and strategic SEO work, we’re now ranking #1 for our key search terms. James has been reliable, knowledgeable, and always proactive in helping us grow our online presence.”
“We’ve worked with JM Digital Solutions for the past three years, and they’ve been instrumental in growing our organic presence. Their work has improved our keyword rankings, boosted website performance, and delivered measurable results. Professional, proactive, and knowledgeable, a great partner we’re happy to recommend.”
“Working with JM Digital Solutions has made a real difference to our business. They’ve helped us improve keyword performance and grow our revenue through a stronger organic presence. A reliable and results-driven partner we highly recommend.”
Questions, answered honestly
What is the difference between SEO, AIO and GEO?
SEO earns positions in traditional search results. GEO (generative engine optimisation, also called AIO) earns citations inside AI-generated answers on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. They overlap heavily: strong SEO is the foundation, and GEO adds the structure, authority signals and machine-readable elements AI systems select sources by.
Can you guarantee we will appear in ChatGPT or AI Overviews?
No, and nobody honest can: AI systems choose their own sources. What we can do is systematically improve every factor they select on, measure your share of answers monthly, and show the trend. The published research and our testing make the levers unusually clear for such a young channel.
Should we block AI crawlers from our website?
Blocking GPTBot, PerplexityBot or ClaudeBot means those platforms cannot cite you, which for most businesses quietly removes you from a growing discovery channel. There are legitimate reasons to restrict training crawlers specifically, and we will talk you through the trade-off, but a blanket block is usually an own goal.
How do you measure AI search visibility?
We track your most valuable queries across AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity monthly: whether an AI answer appears, who it cites, and how you are described. That share-of-answer data sits alongside your rankings and traffic in the same plain-English report, so you see both kinds of search in one place.
Do we need this if we already invest in SEO?
Your SEO investment is the head start: authority and rankings correlate strongly with AI citations, especially in Google AI Overviews. What is usually missing is the AI-specific layer: extractable structure, sourced statistics, schema, crawler access and monitoring. Adding it protects the traffic AI answers are starting to intercept.