How do you show up in AI search answers?

Search is spreading out. Google shows AI Overviews and AI Mode. ChatGPT can search the web and show its sources. Perplexity is built around answers with citations. Claude (from Anthropic) can search the web too. Each tool picks sources in its own way, but they all draw on public web content. The goal: be one of the sources they can find and cite.

AI search tools (AI Overviews, Perplexity, ChatGPT with search) look up pages, pick a few sources, write an answer, and link to some of those sources. None of them publish a full list of how they choose. For Google, the rule is simple: a page must be indexed and eligible to show a snippet in normal Search to be shown as a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Google says normal SEO best practices apply, and no special optimization is needed (Google: AI features and your website).

This is our approach, not a rule from any engine. We put the answer first in each section, in a sentence or two, then explain. We use headings that match how people ask the question. We use lists and tables where they make things clearer for a reader. And we try to make each section make sense on its own. It helps people skim, and it makes the answer easy to quote. There is no magic word count.

Google says you do not need special schema or structured data to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Schema is still worth doing for normal Search: it can make you eligible for rich results, and it helps search engines read facts like your business name, address and hours. Just make sure the schema matches what is visible on the page. Think of it as good SEO, not an AI switch.

AI systems inherit ranking signals from their index. Pages that are trusted and linked to in normal search tend to be easier for AI tools to find. Show who wrote the page and why they know the topic, cite your sources, and publish real facts you can back up. Original, well-sourced information gives other sites, and AI tools, a reason to point to you.

Traditional rank tracking doesn’t work for AI search — there’s no ‘position 1.’ Track five things separately: crawler access (bots fetching your pages, which proves access only), indexing, URL citations, brand mentions, and referral visits and leads. Use a fixed list of unbranded prompts, run in fresh sessions on a set schedule, and log the engine, model, web search on or off, date, whether you were mentioned and which URL was cited. Keep leads in their own log. Answers vary by day and session, so judge the trend, not one answer.