You ask an AI assistant which providers could solve a problem. It returns names, explanations and sometimes sources. Your business appears among them. It is interesting, but what decision can you make from that observation?
The mention may be accurate and commercially relevant. It may describe a service you no longer offer. It may disappear when the question is phrased differently. A screenshot of the company name tells only part of the story.
The useful question is whether the information helps the right person understand your offer and move toward a decision.
What we call SEO, AEO and GEO
SEO concerns visibility in search engines. AEO is used for optimizing content for answer engines, and GEO for visibility in generative experiences. Not every provider uses these terms the same way. A proposal should explain the actual activities and measurement, even if it uses these labels.
For Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Google says the foundations of SEO still apply. There are no additional technical requirements or special mandatory schema. A page needs to be indexed and eligible to appear with a snippet in Search; meeting those conditions does not guarantee inclusion. This guidance concerns Google’s features, not every AI assistant. Google Search Central: AI features
So before buying into a new acronym, it is worth finding out what the actual problem is: inaccessible content, an ambiguous offer, conflicting information or a lack of useful explanations.
Mention, source and visit are different things
An answer can mention a business without linking to it. It can cite an article for a definition without recommending the author’s services. A visit can arrive without any interest in the offer.
| What we observe | What it can tell us | What remains to be verified |
|---|---|---|
| Named brand | Name appears in that answer | The correctness and relevance of the context |
| Page cited | Content was used as a source | Which point does the citation support, and whom does it help? |
| Identifiable visit | Someone continued to the site | Experience and subsequent action |
| Inquiry received | There is a commercial contact | Suitability of the inquiry and the source’s actual influence |
One appearance does not prove the whole customer journey.
Each observation answers a different question.
MENTION
The brand is mentioned. Check the context and accuracy.
CITATION
A page is cited as a source. That does not imply a commercial recommendation.
VISIT
The person continues to the website, if the visit can be identified.
REQUEST
There is a contact. We evaluate the fit and the stated or measured source.
Illustrative framework. Application depends on the project’s context and data.
These differences protect the budget. If the objective is to attract suitable projects, the number of mentions is only part of the evaluation. If the problem is that services are described incorrectly, accuracy may take priority over volume.
A useful explanation starts from a real question
Imagine a design firm that fits out commercial spaces, while its website says little beyond “design that inspires.” A prospective client wants to know whether it can work with leased premises, which documents are needed and how the stages are planned.
An article answering those questions can help whether someone arrives from search, an AI answer, email or a recommendation. Explain the actual conditions, distinguish included services and show a verifiable process example. Do not promise identical timelines for every project.
“We create premium design” is a claim. “What we check before designing a commercial space” offers information someone can use to evaluate the service. The latter does not guarantee an AI citation; it gives the reader something concrete.
What information should be consistent
Services, areas served, terms of collaboration, authors and examples need to support one another. If one page says you deliver nationwide and another limits service to one city, anyone researching the offer is left confused.
Structured data can describe page information in formats certain systems use. It must correspond to the visible content. It does not transform an unclear offer into a good one and does not grant an automatic right to recommendation.
Likewise, publishing dozens of near-identical texts does not demonstrate expertise. An original explanation of a difficult choice can be more useful: when we recommend an intervention, which alternatives we consider and what limits the solution has. The content should be verifiable and kept up to date.
How to assess appearances without overclaiming
An indicative check can use a set of questions relevant to the business, recording the wording, date, product used and observable conditions. We check whether the mention is accurate and which sources support it. Repeating under the same conditions helps comparison, but does not turn the test into a representative sample of all users.
Suppose the business appears in four of ten questions tested. That is not “40% AI market share.” It is four appearances in a chosen set. Question selection, language, location and variation in the answers limit the conclusion.
Four out of ten describes a test.
The questions, the product used and the timing must be documented.
OBSERVATION
Brand appears in 4 of the 10 questions chosen for verification.
LIMIT
This does not establish 40% AI market share, four visits or four inquiries.
Fictional example, not NOT MORE. results or forecasts.
Google includes data from its AI features in Search Console’s overall Web reporting and also provides a dedicated “Generative AI performance (Search)” report with impressions for AI Overviews and AI Mode. The dedicated report may be missing when the website does not have enough impressions. We distinguish impressions from visits and check commercial outcomes separately. Google Search Console: Generative AI performance report
In analytics, we look at identifiable sources without assuming every visit can be recognized. In sales conversations, we can ask how the person found us, treating the answer as self-reported information with its own limits.
What the customer understands about you
People may arrive with expectations formed before visiting the website. The first page should help them check whether the service exists, fits their situation, has supporting evidence and offers a clear next step.
This is also a communication question. If people see only superlatives, they have to look for explanations on their own. If we show how we think and what information we use, we give them concrete reasons to start a conversation. Persuasion comes from relevance and credibility, not from merely appearing in an answer.
How we approach the subject at NOT MORE.
We connect visibility with the actual offer, customer questions and the pages that help people continue. We prioritize problems affecting understanding and eligibility, then agree on what appearances and outcomes can honestly be monitored.
Strategy, research, content and implementation need to work together. A report of screenshots is useful when it informs decisions: what to correct, what to develop and what to check next.