AI search for local businesses: a UK guide to AEO and GEO

Just over half of UK adults (54%) now use tools like ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini, and three in four online adults read the AI summaries in their search results at least some of the time, according to Ofcom's 2026 research. This guide is for people who run a local business and want to be named when those tools get asked who to use. It covers what AI search is, how the tools pick names, eight jobs that help, how to check them and what isn't worth paying for.

What is AI search?

AI search is when someone asks a tool a question and gets a written answer with a few sources, in place of a page of links to work through. The main ones are Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity.

A customer might ask "Who can fit an EV charger near Norwich, and what should it cost?" and get three businesses with a line about each, a rough price and links to the pages the tool read. Those three get the first call.

You'll see three labels for the work that gets a business into those answers:

• SEO (search engine optimisation) helps your pages appear in search results.
• AEO (answer engine optimisation) helps your business appear in a written answer.
• GEO (generative engine optimisation) means the same as AEO. The name comes from the generative AI that writes the answers.

We say "AI search" because it's the plainest of the three. Google's guide for site owners treats AEO and GEO as other names for the same work, and tells people to review third-party advice before paying for it.

How many people use it?

The best UK figures come from Ofcom's Adults' Media Use and Attitudes report, published in April 2026 and based on 7,533 adults surveyed in late 2025.

Ofcom doesn't ask how many people use these tools to find a local business. The closest figures we've found are American. BrightLocal's survey of 1,002 US consumers in March 2026 found 45% were using AI tools for local business recommendations, up from 6% in 2025. A second BrightLocal survey, of 1,227 US consumers in July 2026, put it at 31% at least once a month, and found that 43% of people who started with AI went on to check Google.

Clicks are changing too. Pew Research Center tracked the browsing of 900 US adults in March 2025. They clicked a traditional search result on 8% of visits that showed an AI summary, and on 15% of visits that didn't.

We read those numbers like this: plenty of people now use AI tools, fewer click through when the answer's on the page, and many still go to Google to check who they've been told about. A local business needs to turn up in both places.

How do AI tools choose who to name?

When a question needs current information, these tools can search the web first and write the answer from what they find. None of them publishes a full list of what it weighs, but the documented parts are useful.

• Google says its AI features can run several related searches for one question, which it calls query fan-out. To be shown as a supporting link, a page has to be indexed and eligible to appear with a snippet, and there are no extra requirements on top.
• ChatGPT needs to be allowed in. OpenAI says a site has to allow its crawler, OAI-SearchBot, to appear in ChatGPT search answers.
• Copilot is reported through Bing. Bing Webmaster Tools shows citations in Copilot and Bing's AI summaries, so check your site is in Bing as well as Google.

We also ran our own check. On 31 October 2026 we asked ChatGPT and Perplexity 17 questions about web design, SEO, AI search and ads in Norwich, signed out and once each. It's a sample, and the answers will have moved on since. Here's what we saw.

• Price questions got tables. Ask for an affordable option and the answer tends to list companies next to their published prices. A business that only says "call for a quote" has nothing to go in the table.
• Review counts got quoted. Businesses were described by their star rating and number of reviews.
• The tools lag. ChatGPT quoted an old price of ours that we'd already changed on our site.
• The tools disagree. ChatGPT named us on four questions about websites. Perplexity didn't name us on any it answered.

Our free audit runs a small version of this check. It asks an AI assistant with live web search three questions your customers might ask, then shows whether you were mentioned and who was named instead.

Is it different from SEO?

Less than most sellers suggest. Google's guide, updated in July 2026, says that optimising for generative AI search is "still SEO". It says you don't need special schema, you don't need to chop pages into chunks, there's no ideal page length, and Google Search doesn't use llms.txt files.

So for Google's AI answers, the work is local SEO done well: a site Google can read, useful pages, a complete Business Profile and good reviews.

The extra work comes from the tools outside Google. They have their own crawlers, and you can only see what they say by asking them. That adds four jobs: allowing their crawlers, checking your site is in Bing, asking your target questions every month, and getting listed on the sites their answers cite.

That's how we've split our two plans. Local SEO covers Google and the map. SEO + AI Search adds the monthly checks, the answer pages and the work on those sources.

Eight jobs that help

They're in the order we'd do them, because the later jobs lean on the earlier ones.

1. Choose your target keywords and questions

Start with 10 keywords and 20 questions. Keywords are what people type into Google, like "electrician Norwich". Questions are what they ask an AI tool, like "Who can rewire a three-bed house in Norwich, and how long does it take?" Take them from your enquiries and phone calls, and cover the services you most want to sell and the towns you want work in. Everything below is aimed at this list.

2. Let the crawlers in

Open yourbusiness.co.uk/robots.txt and look for lines blocking Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot. Blocking GPTBot is a separate choice: OpenAI uses that one for training, and the settings are independent. Security plugins and firewalls can block crawlers too, so check those if a tool can't read your site. OpenAI says robots.txt changes take about 24 hours to reach its search results.

3. Say the same facts everywhere

Your name, address, phone number, services, areas and prices should match on your website, Google profile, Facebook page and every directory listing. These tools repeat whichever version they find, including the old one. Keep the full set on one page of your site, and update that page first when something changes.

4. Keep your Google Business Profile complete

Google lists Business Profiles among the things that can help you show up in its AI responses, and tells owners to keep them up to date. Fill in the categories, services, hours, areas and links, add photos as you get them, and post regularly. Our Google Business Profile guide covers each part.

5. Write pages that answer the questions

Give each service its own page saying what you do, where you do it, what it costs and how it works. Then write articles and guides for the questions on your list, each opening with a direct answer. If customers ask how much a rewire costs, a page with a price range can answer them and a page saying "contact us" can't.

Comparison pages help too, such as repair or replace, or the difference between two products you fit. Write for the person asking, since Google says there's no ideal length and no need to break pages into chunks. How to check if AI can find your business lists what these tools need from a page.

6. Add schema that matches the page

Schema is code that labels your business name, address, services and FAQs so software can read them without guessing. Google says AI search needs no special schema, so treat this as housekeeping that keeps your facts clear. It won't get you named on its own. Mark up what the page shows, and nothing it doesn't.

7. Get mentioned on the sites AI cites

Ask your 20 questions and write down the sites each answer links to. They're often directories, review sites, trade bodies, local press and best-of lists. Get listed on the ones that fit your trade, and earn the rest the normal way: a membership, a story for the local paper, a supplier's case study. Google says chasing inauthentic mentions doesn't help much, and its spam policy now covers attempts to manipulate its AI answers.

8. Ask for reviews, and reply to them

AI answers quote ratings and review counts, as our check showed. Ask every happy customer soon after the job, with a direct link, and reply to each review. Our guide to getting more Google reviews covers how to ask.

A checklist for this week

• Write down 20 questions your customers ask, starting from your last few enquiries.
• Ask five of them in ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode. Note the date, who's named and which sites get cited.
• Open yourbusiness.co.uk/robots.txt and check it doesn't block Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot.
• Search your business name in Google, Bing and ChatGPT, and correct anything out of date wherever it came from.
• Fill in every empty field on your Google Business Profile.
• Put a price or a range on your main service pages.
• Send your review link to your last five happy customers.
• Run the free AI search audit for the technical checks.

How to check it's working

Keep a sheet. Ask your 20 questions once a month, with the same wording, signed out, and record what you get. Here's one question over two months, with made-up results: "Who can fit an EV charger near Norwich?"

Answers change between tools, wording and days, so look at the trend over several months. One good or bad answer doesn't tell you much. Then add what the free tools show.

• Google Search Console added generative AI reports in June 2026, with impressions, pages, countries and devices. AI features also count towards the normal Performance report, under Web.
• Bing Webmaster Tools has an AI Performance report covering Copilot, Bing's AI summaries and some partner tools. It shows citations, the pages cited and a sample of the queries.
• Your analytics shows visits from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and copilot.microsoft.com. Expect small numbers, because many people read the answer and then search for you by name or ring you.
• Your enquiries fill that gap. Ask "How did you find us?" on every call and form, and add "ChatGPT or another AI tool" as an option.

What isn't worth paying for

• Guaranteed mentions. Each tool writes its own answers, so nobody can promise you a place in them.
• A single AI ranking score. Answers change by tool, wording and day, and one number can't stand for all of them. Our own audit scores your website's foundations and shows the AI answers separately, as a dated snapshot.
• An llms.txt file sold as the fix. It's a short text file listing your key pages for AI tools. Google says Google Search doesn't use them, and other tools may. We add one as a small job on our SEO + AI Search plan, and it won't get you named on its own.
• Chopping your pages into chunks. Google says there's no need.
• Bought mentions and mass-produced pages. Forum spam, paid mentions and hundreds of near-identical town pages all fall into what Google warns against.
• Separate AEO and GEO packages. They're the same work, so ask what each one includes before paying for both.

How long it takes and what it costs

Some fixes are quick, and Google Business Profile work tends to show up fastest. On our SEO page we say to expect movement in the map results within one to three months, and in the organic listings in three to six. AI answers can lag behind that, as our old price showed. Give it three to six months, and judge it on the trend across your monthly checks.

You can do all of this yourself for the cost of your time. If you'd like it done for you, here's what we charge.

The plans have no contract. None of this includes a promise of rankings or AI mentions, for the reasons above.

Common questions

Sources

• Ofcom, Adults' Media Use and Attitudes 2026 (UK, 7,533 adults, published 2 April 2026)
• Google, Optimizing for generative AI (updated 10 July 2026)
• Google, AI features and your website
• Google, spam policies for web search
• Google, generative AI performance reports in Search Console (3 June 2026)
• OpenAI, overview of its crawlers
• Bing, AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools (10 February 2026)
• Pew Research Center, clicks when an AI summary appears (US, 900 adults, March 2025)
• BrightLocal, AI use for local recommendations (US, 1,002 consumers, 10 March 2026)
• BrightLocal, consumer search behaviour by channel (US, 1,227 consumers, 9 July 2026)
• Brava Digital's own check of ChatGPT and Perplexity (Norwich questions, 31 October 2026, a sample)

Last updated 31 October 2026.