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How to make AI engines recommend your business.

AEO Fundamentals11 min

How to Optimize for ChatGPT Business Recommendations

ChatGPT recommends local service businesses in 22% of relevant queries — but only when the business has structured data, third-party citations, and a track record the model can verify. Here is the exact optimization playbook for getting named in ChatGPT answers.

ChatGPT does not rank businesses — it reads them. The businesses it names in answers are the ones whose information is structured, cited elsewhere on the web, and consistent across every directory the model already trusts.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 24, 2026

AI Visibility10 min

Should Local Businesses Care About Perplexity and Gemini?

Perplexity and Gemini cite local businesses in 31% and 19% of relevant queries respectively. Google AI Overviews cites in 48%. ChatGPT cites in 22%. The right answer is not 'optimize for all five.' It is 'optimize for the engines your customers actually use.' Here is the engine-by-engine breakdown for local service businesses.

Local businesses should care about all five engines, but Google AI Overviews is the highest-leverage starting point because it cites local businesses in 48% of relevant queries. Perplexity and Gemini are second-tier — worth optimizing for, but not at the expense of fundamentals that work across all engines.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 24, 2026

AEO Fundamentals14 min

The 47 AEO Ranking Signals Explained

Every signal an AI engine reads when deciding whether to cite your business — grouped into 8 categories, ranked by impact, and grounded in data from 1,200 local business audits. The complete AEO signals reference for local service businesses.

AI answer engines do not use a single ranking algorithm. They use 47 distinct signals across 8 categories. The 8 highest-impact signals account for 70% of the variance between businesses that get cited and businesses that do not. Start there.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 24, 2026

All posts

AEO Fundamentals11 min

How to Optimize for ChatGPT Business Recommendations

ChatGPT recommends local service businesses in 22% of relevant queries — but only when the business has structured data, third-party citations, and a track record the model can verify. Here is the exact optimization playbook for getting named in ChatGPT answers.

ChatGPT does not rank businesses — it reads them. The businesses it names in answers are the ones whose information is structured, cited elsewhere on the web, and consistent across every directory the model already trusts.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 24, 2026

AI Visibility10 min

Should Local Businesses Care About Perplexity and Gemini?

Perplexity and Gemini cite local businesses in 31% and 19% of relevant queries respectively. Google AI Overviews cites in 48%. ChatGPT cites in 22%. The right answer is not 'optimize for all five.' It is 'optimize for the engines your customers actually use.' Here is the engine-by-engine breakdown for local service businesses.

Local businesses should care about all five engines, but Google AI Overviews is the highest-leverage starting point because it cites local businesses in 48% of relevant queries. Perplexity and Gemini are second-tier — worth optimizing for, but not at the expense of fundamentals that work across all engines.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 24, 2026

AEO Fundamentals14 min

The 47 AEO Ranking Signals Explained

Every signal an AI engine reads when deciding whether to cite your business — grouped into 8 categories, ranked by impact, and grounded in data from 1,200 local business audits. The complete AEO signals reference for local service businesses.

AI answer engines do not use a single ranking algorithm. They use 47 distinct signals across 8 categories. The 8 highest-impact signals account for 70% of the variance between businesses that get cited and businesses that do not. Start there.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 24, 2026

AI Visibility9 min

Why Your Competitors Show Up in AI Search and You Don't

Two plumbing companies. Same city. Same services. Same reviews on Google. One gets named in every ChatGPT answer. The other is invisible. The difference is almost never what you think it is. Here are the seven real reasons competitors win AI citations — and the diagnostic that finds which one applies to you.

AI citation is not a popularity contest. It is a data quality contest. Your competitor wins because their information is structured, consistent, and cited — not because they are bigger, older, or better known.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 24, 2026

AEO Fundamentals9 min

How AI Answer Engines Decide Which Businesses to Recommend

AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews don't rank businesses the way Google Search does. They recommend the businesses whose information is structured, cited, and consistent across the web. Here are the 5 signals that decide whether your business gets recommended or ignored.

AI answer engines recommend businesses whose information is structured, consistent, and cited across the web — not businesses with the most backlinks or the oldest domain.

Marcus Reeves · Jun 22, 2026

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