AI’s Role in SEO: Visibility, Summaries & Discovery

AI has quickly become one of the most important influences on how people discover brands online. It doesn’t just sit behind search engines like it used to — it now actively provides the answers people need.

For small businesses, this means your website content isn’t just competing for a spot in the search results — it’s also being interpreted, summarised, and sometimes paraphrased by AI systems.

How AI Sees Your Business

When someone types (or speaks) a question into Google’s AI Mode, ChatGPT, or Perplexity, the AI looks across the web to find information that answers the query.

It doesn’t just grab one site. It scans multiple sources, compares them, and then produces a summary. If your business is mentioned or if your content is clear and well-structured, you have a better chance of being included.

Visibility in AI Overviews

Google’s AI Overviews are now a regular part of search results. Instead of just showing a list of links, Google generates a short, AI-written summary and cites the sources it used.

Your goal is to have your content be one of those cited sources. That means:

• Writing content that directly answers common customer questions.
• Using clear headings and structured formats (like FAQs and lists).
• Building credibility through links from other websites, reviews on Google and other platforms, and mentions on social media.

Summaries Across Platforms

It’s not just Google. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini also generate their own summaries of information, websites and brands.

If your business has little or no online presence, these AI tools may show very little (or not mention you at all) — or worse, they may rely on outdated or incorrect sources.

This is why monitoring how AI represents you (and your competitors) is now a vital part of SEO.

Discovery Beyond Search

AI has changed the way people research purchases and services. Instead of clicking through 10 websites, users often rely on the AI-generated summary – they place trust in this summary and that’s why it’s important to ensure we are included.

That means discovery happens inside the summary itself. If your brand isn’t mentioned, you may not be considered. On the flip side, if you are mentioned in a positive way, AI can accelerate trust and inquiries.

Practical Tips to Improve AI Visibility

• Keep content people-focused: Write in natural language that AI models can easily interpret.
• Answer questions directly: Short, clear explanations at the top of your content help both people and AI.
• Use structured data: Schema markup and FAQs give search engines context.
• Check your brand regularly: Run your brand name and service queries through AI tools to see what they show.

Action Step

1. Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and type:
   “Tell me about [Your Business Name] in Australia.”
2. Note what comes back. Is it accurate? Outdated? Missing important details?
3. Record your findings in your SEO log. Highlight at least one thing you’d like to improve (e.g., “AI didn’t mention our reviews” or “Our social media wasn’t listed”).

This exercise gives you a baseline of how AI currently sees your brand — and shows you where you might need to take action.

Use our template: