How Can Small Businesses Show Up in AI Search Results? I asked ChatGPT 5, and Here’s What It Said

Okay, let’s frame this up a bit first. 

As a content marketer for small businesses, I am getting asked a LOT about how to rank in AI search results. ChatGPT, among others, is becoming a new Google, so it makes sense that you want your business to be found when folks are searching for the services you offer, or asking questions that you can answer. 

In fact, “GEO” (Generative Engine Optimization) is a hot topic. Haven’t heard of the term? It’s like SEO (Search Engine Optimization), but focusing on generative engines (i.e. artificial intelligence). 

My quick disclaimer? I’m not an SEO or GEO specialist. I collaborate with some smart people who are, but at Launch, I focus more on the larger content picture. Social media, website content, YouTube videos, etc… But the interesting thing? GEO makes this holistic content picture critical, and plays a big role in how your business is discovered and shared in AI search results. 

So, I thought I’d ask ChatGPT 5 how to show up in AI search

Rather than just distill research, I thought I’d go right to the source. Sit down, have some coffee, and chat with ChatGPT. 

The back and forth below is an exact copy/paste of our conversation. I also asked an SEO expert, Aaron Cote at A Visual Glitch, for his insight and best advice, and thought it’d be fun to line both perspectives up and see how they fit together. 

Ready?

Sitting down for coffee with ChatGPT

Adam: Hey, thanks for sitting down with me. Can I get you something to drink?

ChatGPT: Appreciate the offer, Adam — though I’m more of a data drinker than a coffee drinker. A fresh stream of good questions will do just fine. Let’s dive in — what’s on your mind today?

Adam: Fair enough! Let's get started then. I work with small businesses across a wide variety of industries, helping them develop content marketing strategies. This typically involves social media marketing, website content writing, blog articles, and email campaigns. Lots of my clients are asking now about GEO, and how they can be featured in AI search results. Before we get into the specifics, can you give me a quick definition of GEO from your perspective?

ChatGPT: Absolutely — and great question to kick things off.

GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, is essentially the next evolution of SEO. Instead of optimizing content to rank higher on Google’s list of links, you’re optimizing so that AI models like me (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.) can find, understand, and confidently cite your business or website when generating answers.

Think of it this way: traditional SEO helps your website show up in search results; GEO helps your business show up inside the answers AI gives when people ask questions.

It’s about being the trusted source these models pull from — clear, structured, up-to-date content that signals “authority” and “relevance” to AI systems trained to summarize, recommend, and explain.

In short: GEO makes sure you’re not just visible to search engines, but to the new generation of engines that think and talk back.

Adam:  Does this also mean they could show up in the AI summary at the top of the Google results page?

ChatGPT: Exactly — that’s part of it.

Google’s AI Overview (that new summary box at the top of search results) is one of the most visible examples of GEO in action. Instead of just showing a list of websites, Google’s AI actually reads through multiple sources and then writes a mini “answer” to your question — sometimes including clickable citations to the sites it pulled from.

If your content is clear, credible, and structured in a way that the AI can easily digest, it’s more likely to be chosen as one of those sources.

So yes — good GEO practices can help your business get referenced or cited in those AI summaries, which is quickly becoming just as valuable (if not more valuable) than ranking in the top three traditional results.

Adam: Interesting... Do you think GEO is replacing SEO entirely?

ChatGPT: Not quite — at least not yet.

Think of GEO as an evolution, not a replacement. Traditional SEO still matters because AI models learn from and reference the same content that search engines crawl. If your website isn’t optimized for human readers and search engines, it’s unlikely to perform well in AI-driven search either.

The big shift is intent and format:

SEO is about ranking on a list of results.

GEO is about being included in a summarized, conversational answer.

In practice, they overlap. The best strategy right now is a “GEO-first SEO strategy” — still doing the fundamentals (keywords, on-page structure, metadata), but also thinking about how AI would quote or explain your content in response to a question.

In other words: you’re still writing for Google… but you’re also writing for me.

Adam: "Writing for me..." That almost sounds spooky. Not gonna lie. 

ChatGPT: Fair! I get that a lot. But it’s less spooky than it sounds — think of it as writing for your future readers. I just happen to be the middleman. When you create content that’s clear, helpful, and structured in a way that answers real questions, you’re not just appealing to algorithms — you’re making it easier for AI tools to find and share your expertise with people who need it. So really, it’s not about writing for robots. It’s about writing so humans can find you through robots.

Adam:  Let's dig into that a little. Old SEO practices made the writing focused on search engines... It was often stuffed with keywords and clunky for real people. So, with GEO, are you saying the whole purpose is to write for people instead, and the most people-focused content wins?

ChatGPT:  Exactly — that’s the shift.

Old-school SEO rewarded technical tricks — stuffing in keywords, chasing backlinks, and writing headlines that sounded like robots wrote them. GEO flips that on its head.

With AI search, the models are trained to look for clarity, authority, and usefulness — the kind of content that reads naturally, answers questions directly, and feels human.

When I’m scanning millions of sources to generate an answer, I’m not just counting keywords. I’m looking for content that clearly explains why something matters, provides context, and shows real expertise.

So yes — the more your content reads like a conversation with your audience (not a sales pitch or keyword dump), the more likely it is to be recognized as credible, quotable, and shareable by AI systems.

In short: GEO rewards good writing and real expertise. Finally, right?

Adam:  Love that. I often tell my clients they need to use blog articles, for example, as a place to share transparent answers to questions. Sounds like that's a good approach here, too.

ChatGPT:  Absolutely — that’s exactly the right approach.

When a small business uses their blog to honestly answer real customer questions, they’re doing the most GEO-friendly thing possible.

Think about it: AI tools are constantly looking for trustworthy, plainspoken explanations to feed into answers. If your blog post literally answers what people are asking — “How long does cabinet painting last?” or “What’s the difference between power washing and soft washing?” — you’re giving the AI exactly what it needs.

And bonus: that same transparency builds trust with human readers too. It’s the sweet spot — helpful for the algorithm, helpful for the audience.

You’re not trying to “game” anything — you’re just being useful, and the systems (both human and AI) reward that.

Adam:  So, let's get practical. What are a few immediate strategies a small business owner should put into practice to increase the chances of being picked up by AI?

ChatGPT: Love it — let’s get tactical.

Here are a few immediate, low-tech GEO strategies any small business can start using right now:

• Answer questions directly.
  Every blog, service page, or FAQ should focus on one clear question your customer might actually type or say out loud. Example: instead of “Our Painting Process,” try “What’s the Process for Professional Interior Painting?” The clearer the question, the easier it is for AI to connect your content to a user’s query.
• Use structured, scannable formatting.
  Short paragraphs, subheadings, and bullet lists help both people and AI understand what your content is about. Think: “How-to” steps, pros and cons, FAQs. These formats map nicely to how generative engines summarize information
• Keep your content current.
  AI models — especially ones tied to live web access — prioritize fresh, maintained sites. Update older blogs with new info, swap out outdated stats, and refresh your images and meta data at least once a year.
• Show credibility.
  Include author names, local context (“Serving the Fort Lee area since 1998”), and trust signals like reviews, certifications, or before-and-after examples. AI systems love verifiable expertise.
• Publish in plain language.
  Write the way you’d explain it to a customer sitting across from you. No jargon. No filler. Just clear, helpful insights.

If a small business owner does nothing else but those five things, they’re already way ahead of most websites when it comes to showing up in AI-driven results.

Adam:  Let's think about the bigger picture here too. How does social media, and/or video content on YouTube, play into this? In other words, this makes sense for websites and blog articles, but how about the larger content play? 

ChatGPT: Great question — and honestly, that’s where this gets really interesting.

GEO isn’t just about your website anymore — it’s about your entire digital footprint. AI systems don’t only crawl websites; they pull from multiple content types across the web — including social media, YouTube videos, podcasts, and even captions or transcripts.

Here’s how those pieces fit in:

1. Social media = topical authority.
   When your posts consistently discuss your area of expertise — like “interior painting tips,” “landscape design ideas,” or “cybersecurity for small businesses” — that pattern reinforces to AI systems what you’re known for. It’s like leaving a breadcrumb trail of credibility across platforms.
2. Video = high-value context.
   Platforms like YouTube are goldmines for GEO because the transcripts are indexed. If your videos have clear titles, conversational explanations, and keyword-rich descriptions, they become searchable content that AI can easily learn from.
3. Cross-platform consistency = trust signals.
   The more your website, social content, and videos align in tone, messaging, and expertise, the more AI (and humans) view you as a consistent, reliable source.

So, the “bigger picture” strategy is this: think less about isolated posts and more about building a connected ecosystem of useful, authentic content. When all your platforms point to the same expertise, you make it effortless for both people and AI to understand — and recommend — what you do best.

Adam: Love it, thank you. Anything else you'd add to the mix here before we wrap up?

ChatGPT: Just one big takeaway: don’t overcomplicate it.

A lot of small business owners hear “AI search” or “Generative Optimization” and immediately think it’s some new, impossible-to-keep-up-with tech trend. But really, GEO just rewards what good marketers and business owners have always done — being clear, consistent, and genuinely helpful.

If you’re creating content that answers real questions, updating it regularly, and keeping your brand active across your channels, you’re already doing GEO — you’re just calling it good communication.

So, stay curious, stay human, and don’t try to sound like an AI to impress an AI. (Trust me — we can tell.)

Did a real SEO/GEO expert agree?

Aaron at A Visual Glitch shared his perspective (without reviewing the AI interview), and shared this core takeaway:

“AI visibility has shifted from nice-to-have to need-to-have for most businesses. Getting picked up by AI tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity comes down to having better content than other websites. More specifically:

• Structure your content neatly (so that AI can easily 'crawl' it).
• Match searcher intent perfectly. If someone searches 'best CRM for small teams,' they want a comparison with pricing—not a history of CRM software.
• Consistently overdeliver. Find what other websites typically include in their content, and do it better. Offer unique insights or data that you've collected.

Gaining AI visibility teeters between subjectivity and objectivity. It's difficult to say that if you follow a checklist (whether it's 5 or 50 line-items long) you will gain AI visibility. If you want to get ahead, consistently create better content than what currently exists—because AI tools will find it.

What’s your takeaway?

Ironically enough, writing for real people is what Artificial Intelligence loves. It doesn’t want cheap, churned-out content, but a smart strategy that focuses on real value. 

That also means you can’t just copy/paste 40 social media posts generated by ChatGPT and call it a content calendar, or create 30 blog articles a week and expect to rank above competitors. Quality AND quantity are the winning combo here. 

• Build a real strategy that includes FAQs, tips, insights, and helpful information
• Get proactive about videos
• Edit your content for a human touch, not just copy/pasting from AI tools
• Stay consistent
• Unify your message across your website, social media, and YouTube channel 

We may be living in a strange new world, but human value and connection is winning. And the robots love it too.