SEO
AI search optimization (AEO): how to rank in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews
9 min read · April 8, 2026
The 2026 playbook for AI search — entity SEO, citations, brand mentions, structured data and llms.txt.
AI search rewards three things: clarity, citations and structure. Optimise for those and your brand shows up.
Entity SEO: make sure your brand has a clean Knowledge Graph entry — Wikidata, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, sameAs in your Organization schema.
Direct-answer formatting: 40–80 word definitions, bullet lists, and tables. AI loves scannable structure.
Original POV + data: AI summaries cite the source with something unique to say.
llms.txt: publish a `/llms.txt` mapping your top pages — early signals show AI crawlers respect it.
Brand mentions: unlinked brand mentions on authoritative sites lift AI citations too. PR matters again.
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