--- name: AI Search Optimization slug: ai-search-optimization category: SEO description: Optimizes a brand to be cited and recommended by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI. Use when aiming to appear in AI-generated answers rather than just search results. github: "https://github.com/social-media-skills/skills/tree/main/skills/ai-search-optimization" language: Shell stars: 19 forks: 4 install: "npx degit https://github.com/social-media-skills/skills/tree/main/skills/ai-search-optimization ~/.claude/skills/ai-search-optimization" installs_to: ~/.claude/skills/ai-search-optimization source_path: skills/ai-search-optimization/SKILL.md collection_size: 25 category_size: 164 collection_url: "https://dirskills.com/collections/social-media-skills/skills" added: 2026-08-11T07:22:40.368Z last_synced: 2026-08-11T07:22:40.368Z canonical_url: "https://dirskills.com/skills/ai-search-optimization" --- # AI Search Optimization Optimizes a brand to be cited and recommended by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI. Use when aiming to appear in AI-generated answers rather than just search results. **Install:** ```bash npx degit https://github.com/social-media-skills/skills/tree/main/skills/ai-search-optimization ~/.claude/skills/ai-search-optimization ``` ## README # AI Search Optimization (GEO) Get your brand **into the answer** when people ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI, Gemini, or Copilot a question in your space — instead of watching a competitor get named. This is **GEO** (Generative Engine Optimization; also AEO/LLMO): optimizing to be **cited and recommended** by AI engines. It supplements search/SEO; it doesn't replace it. Four truths shape everything: 1. **AI answers are built by retrieval + fan-out.** Engines retrieve live from search indexes (ChatGPT via OpenAI's own crawler/index, OAI-SearchBot — historically Bing-seeded; Google feeds AI Overviews/AI Mode) and split your topic into sub-queries — so **ranking in search feeds AI citation**, and you optimize for a constellation of questions. 2. **AI cites community/social sources most.** Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, listicles and review sites dominate citations — **the cited pages are usually not your pages.** Earned mentions beat product pages. 3. **Platforms disagree.** ChatGPT skews Wikipedia, Perplexity skews Reddit, AI Overviews lean on E-E-A-T + the community web. Optimizing for one ≠ all. 4. **Extractable, fresh, well-sourced content gets quoted.** Quotations, statistics, citations, Q&A structure, and schema lift citation; stale content gets displaced. (Full mechanics: `references/how-ai-engines-cite.md`.) ## Step 0 — Read the foundation + the goal Load `brand-profile.md` and `audience.md` (entity clarity + the real questions matter). Identify the **queries** the user wants to be recommended for and the **engines** their audience uses. ## Step 1 — Run the prompt-audit (always start here) Ask the user's **10–30 buyer-intent queries** (plus fan-out sub-questions) across ChatGPT / Perplexity / Gemini in fresh sessions; document **whether the brand appears, how it's described, and which sources are cited.** The cited sources *are* the strategy; the gaps are the content list. This is the honest ground-truth method — see `references/audit-and-measurement.md`. ## Step 2 — Be retrievable (the foundation) If you can't be found in search, you can't be cited: rank in **Google/Bing** and in platform search → `social-seo` (the sibling). Same keyword/question research powers both. And **verify AI retrieval crawlers can reach the site** — robots.txt and CDN/bot-protection defaults (e.g. Cloudflare) often block OAI-SearchBot / ChatGPT-User / PerplexityBot / Claude's bots unintentionally. ## Step 3 — Earn brand mentions across cited sources (the social core) Where AI looks most — done **authentically**: valuable **Reddit** participation in buyer-intent threads; **YouTube** with brand + keywords in **titles/transcripts** (a top AI-Overview signal); **LinkedIn** expertise; **Quora**; earned **"best [X]" listicle** and **review-site (G2/Trustpilot)** inclusion; relationship-driven PR. The goal is a **web of mutual verification.** See `references/the-geo-levers.md`. ## Step 4 — Make content extractable So a model can lift a clean claim: lead with a **TL;DR answer**, **question-shaped headings**, lists/ **tables**, **quotations + verifiable stats + citations** (the research-backed levers), **FAQ/Article schema**, **named author + dates**, and keep it **fresh** (citations decay). (This lever spans your **website/blog** too — broader than social; pair with `social-seo`.) ## Step 5 — Build entity clarity Give the model a clean entity to recommend: a **consistent one-line description** across site/profiles/ listings → `brand-profile`; Wikipedia/Wikidata *if genuinely notable*; claimed listings + consistent NAP; a corroborated "the X for Y" position. ## Step 6 — Measure (honestly) + the boundary Re-run the **audit monthly** (expect a multi-week lag; judge over quarters), optionally add a GEO tracking tool, and watch **AI referral traffic** (chatgpt/perplexity referrers). **Never fabricate a "share of voice" or citation %.** **No WoopSocial analytics.** Sibling boundary: `social-seo` = found in platform + Google search; **this** = cited by AI answer engines. ## Orchestration map ai-search-optimization sets the AI-visibility layer; it routes to / pairs with: `social-seo` (retrieval/search foundation — sibling) · `brand-profile` (entity) · `content-pillars` (question clusters) · `reels-script` / the growth skills (the YouTube/Reddit/LinkedIn content that earns mentions) · `viral-reverse-engineering` (what gets cited/shared) · `scheduling-and-queue` (publish). ## Quality bar — self-check - Did I **start with the prompt-audit** and let the **cited sources** drive strategy? - Did I apply the four levers (**retrievable → earned mentions → extractable → entity**), foregrounding the **community/social** plays? - Did I respect that **AI cites earned/community sources over product pages**, and that **platforms differ**? - Did I keep it **authentic** (refuse astroturfing/fake reviews) and **never fabricate** share-of-voice numbers? - Did I hand the **search/retrieval foundation to `social-seo`**, note GEO **spans the web too**, and use **audit/tools/referral** measurement (no WoopSocial analytics)? ## Edge cases & pushback - **"Flood Reddit / buy reviews"** → refuse astroturfing; it's detectable, removed, and trust-destroying → authentic participation + earned reviews. - **"Tell me my AI share of voice %"** → can't see inside models; run the audit / a tool; don't invent. - **"Just optimize my product page"** → that's ~3% of it; most citations are earned/community sources. - **"Optimize for AI search" (one thing)** → engines differ (ChatGPT≠Perplexity≠AI Overviews); pick the field. - **"Is this my TikTok/Google SEO?"** → related but distinct → `social-seo` owns platform/Google search. - **"Does WoopSocial track this?"** → no; measure via audit + GEO tools + referral analytics. - **AI-generated content dump** → AI down-weights low-quality AI content; needs human judgment + sources. ## Related skills - `social-seo` — the sibling: platform + Google search (the retrieval foundation AI pulls from). - `brand-profile` — the entity/positioning AI must understand; `content-pillars` — question clusters. - `reddit-marketing` — the how of credible Reddit participation (the top AI-citation source). - `reels-script`, `instagram-growth`/`tiktok-growth`/`linkedin-growth` — the YouTube/Reddit/LinkedIn content that earns the mentions AI cites. - `viral-reverse-engineering` — what gets shared/cited; `scheduling-and-queue` — publish. ## References - `references/how-ai-engines-cite.md` — RAG + query fan-out, which sources get cited, per-engine differences, freshness/decay. - `references/the-geo-levers.md` — the four levers (retrievable · earned mentions/social plays · extractable · entity), with the research-backed lifts. - `references/audit-and-measurement.md` — the manual prompt-audit method, GEO tools, referral traffic, honesty rules. - `references/examples.md` — a worked audit + Reddit/YouTube/extractability/entity plays + honest scope.