SEO, AEO and GEO: what should a small business actually do?

Google treats optimisation for its generative search features as part of SEO. Its guidance emphasises distinctive, useful content and established technical foundations. Meeting those requirements does not guarantee inclusion. Google’s AI optimisation guidance

Begin with questions close to a buying decision

Write down what customers need to understand before they can choose your service.

For a marketing systems business, those questions might include:

• Is this recurring task worth automating?
• What would the system need access to?
• Who checks its output?
• What happens when information is missing?
• Can the business take ownership after delivery?
• How will we judge whether it works?

Give each substantially different question an appropriate home. A service page explains the offer. An article explores a decision. A case study demonstrates an outcome.

Make the answer easy to find

Put a direct explanation near the beginning, then provide the detail needed to assess it.

Use descriptive headings, readable paragraphs and tables where comparison helps. Include exceptions and examples when they materially change the answer.

This structure serves readers. There is no fixed paragraph length or question-and-answer format that guarantees an AI citation.

Show your reasoning and evidence

A useful case study explains the starting position, the work completed, the measurement period and the limits of the result.

For example, a paid media result is more informative when it identifies the spend, attribution basis, time period and relevant commercial context. A percentage without those details is difficult to evaluate.

Practical demonstrations also help prospective customers inspect your approach. Show an annotated report, an example alert or a documented handover process. Label reconstructed examples clearly.

Google’s content guidance encourages original information, clear authorship and evidence of relevant experience. Google’s helpful content guidance

Check that search systems can access the pages

Important content needs a dependable URL, appropriate crawl access and a clear place in the site’s internal navigation.

For ChatGPT search, OpenAI documents OAI-SearchBot as its search crawler. Search access and permission to use crawled content for model training are controlled separately. Review the relevant crawler and hosting rules when configuring the site. OpenAI crawler documentation

Access makes discovery possible; the usefulness and relevance of the page still matter.

Use structured data accurately

Article markup can describe the author, headline, image and publication dates. It should reflect the visible page. Google’s Article documentation

Google says special AI markup and llms.txt are unnecessary for its search visibility. These are optional considerations for other systems, rather than a substitute for useful pages. Google’s AI optimisation guidance

Keep FAQs when they help customers. Google retired FAQ rich results from 7 May 2026, so that search presentation should no longer be promised as a benefit. Google’s documentation updates

Measure the business outcome

Review which pages attract relevant visitors, which generate enquiries and whether those enquiries become suitable opportunities.

Track observed AI referrals and citations as additional evidence. A citation in one response is an observation, not a stable ranking.

Peach & Stone approaches search content as part of a working marketing operation: useful expertise, clear presentation and a measurable route to enquiry.

Next step: Choose one service and list the questions customers ask before buying it. Use that list to identify the most useful improvements to its service page and supporting content.