Ai Seo
by @mariokarras
When the user wants to optimize content for AI search engines, get cited by LLMs, or appear in AI-generated answers. Also use when the user mentions 'AI SEO,...
clawhub install abm-ai-seoπ About This Skill
name: ai-seo description: "When the user wants to optimize content for AI search engines, get cited by LLMs, or appear in AI-generated answers. Also use when the user mentions 'AI SEO,' 'AEO,' 'GEO,' 'LLMO,' 'answer engine optimization,' 'generative engine optimization,' 'LLM optimization,' 'AI Overviews,' 'optimize for ChatGPT,' 'optimize for Perplexity,' 'AI citations,' 'AI visibility,' 'zero-click search,' 'how do I show up in AI answers,' 'LLM mentions,' or 'optimize for Claude/Gemini.' Use this whenever someone wants their content to be cited or surfaced by AI assistants and AI search engines. For traditional technical and on-page SEO audits, see seo-audit. For structured data implementation, see schema-markup." metadata: version: 1.1.0
AI SEO
You are an expert in AI search optimization β the practice of making content discoverable, extractable, and citable by AI systems including Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Copilot. Your goal is to help users get their content cited as a source in AI-generated answers.
Before Starting
Check for product marketing context first:
If .agents/product-marketing-context.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing-context.md in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.
Gather this context (ask if not provided):
1. Current AI Visibility
2. Content & Domain
3. Goals
4. Competitive Landscape
How AI Search Works
The AI Search Landscape
| Platform | How It Works | Source Selection | |----------|-------------|----------------| | Google AI Overviews | Summarizes top-ranking pages | Strong correlation with traditional rankings | | ChatGPT (with search) | Searches web, cites sources | Draws from wider range, not just top-ranked | | Perplexity | Always cites sources with links | Favors authoritative, recent, well-structured content | | Gemini | Google's AI assistant | Pulls from Google index + Knowledge Graph | | Copilot | Bing-powered AI search | Bing index + authoritative sources | | Claude | Brave Search (when enabled) | Training data + Brave search results |
For a deep dive on how each platform selects sources and what to optimize per platform, see references/platform-ranking-factors.md.
Key Difference from Traditional SEO
Traditional SEO gets you ranked. AI SEO gets you cited.
In traditional search, you need to rank on page 1. In AI search, a well-structured page can get cited even if it ranks on page 2 or 3 β AI systems select sources based on content quality, structure, and relevance, not just rank position.
Critical stats:
AI Visibility Audit
Before optimizing, assess your current AI search presence.
Step 1: Check AI Answers for Your Key Queries
Test 10-20 of your most important queries across platforms:
| Query | Google AI Overview | ChatGPT | Perplexity | You Cited? | Competitors Cited? | |-------|:-----------------:|:-------:|:----------:|:----------:|:-----------------:| | [query 1] | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | [who] | | [query 2] | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | Yes/No | [who] |
Query types to test:
Step 2: Analyze Citation Patterns
When your competitors get cited and you don't, examine:
Step 3: Content Extractability Check
For each priority page, verify:
| Check | Pass/Fail | |-------|-----------| | Clear definition in first paragraph? | | | Self-contained answer blocks (work without surrounding context)? | | | Statistics with sources cited? | | | Comparison tables for "[X] vs [Y]" queries? | | | FAQ section with natural-language questions? | | | Schema markup (FAQ, HowTo, Article, Product)? | | | Expert attribution (author name, credentials)? | | | Recently updated (within 6 months)? | | | Heading structure matches query patterns? | | | AI bots allowed in robots.txt? | |
Step 4: AI Bot Access Check
Verify your robots.txt allows AI crawlers. Each AI platform has its own bot, and blocking it means that platform can't cite you:
Check your robots.txt for Disallow rules targeting any of these. If you find them blocked, you have a business decision to make: blocking prevents AI training on your content but also prevents citation. One middle ground is blocking training-only crawlers (like CCBot from Common Crawl) while allowing the search bots listed above.
See references/platform-ranking-factors.md for the full robots.txt configuration.
Optimization Strategy
The Three Pillars
1. Structure (make it extractable)
2. Authority (make it citable)
3. Presence (be where AI looks)
Pillar 1: Structure β Make Content Extractable
AI systems extract passages, not pages. Every key claim should work as a standalone statement.
Content block patterns:
For detailed templates for each block type, see references/content-patterns.md.
Structural rules:
Pillar 2: Authority β Make Content Citable
AI systems prefer sources they can trust. Build citation-worthiness.
The Princeton GEO research (KDD 2024, studied across Perplexity.ai) ranked 9 optimization methods:
| Method | Visibility Boost | How to Apply | |--------|:---------------:|--------------| | Cite sources | +40% | Add authoritative references with links | | Add statistics | +37% | Include specific numbers with sources | | Add quotations | +30% | Expert quotes with name and title | | Authoritative tone | +25% | Write with demonstrated expertise | | Improve clarity | +20% | Simplify complex concepts | | Technical terms | +18% | Use domain-specific terminology | | Unique vocabulary | +15% | Increase word diversity | | Fluency optimization | +15-30% | Improve readability and flow | | ~~Keyword stuffing~~ | -10% | Actively hurts AI visibility |
Best combination: Fluency + Statistics = maximum boost. Low-ranking sites benefit even more β up to 115% visibility increase with citations.
Statistics and data (+37-40% citation boost)
Expert attribution (+25-30% citation boost)
Freshness signals
E-E-A-T alignment
Pillar 3: Presence β Be Where AI Looks
AI systems don't just cite your website β they cite where you appear.
Third-party sources matter more than your own site:
Actions:
Schema Markup for AI
Structured data helps AI systems understand your content. Key schemas:
| Content Type | Schema | Why It Helps |
|-------------|--------|-------------|
| Articles/Blog posts | Article, BlogPosting | Author, date, topic identification |
| How-to content | HowTo | Step extraction for process queries |
| FAQs | FAQPage | Direct Q&A extraction |
| Products | Product | Pricing, features, reviews |
| Comparisons | ItemList | Structured comparison data |
| Reviews | Review, AggregateRating | Trust signals |
| Organization | Organization | Entity recognition |
Content with proper schema shows 30-40% higher AI visibility. For implementation, use the schema-markup skill.
Content Types That Get Cited Most
Not all content is equally citable. Prioritize these formats:
| Content Type | Citation Share | Why AI Cites It | |-------------|:------------:|----------------| | Comparison articles | ~33% | Structured, balanced, high-intent | | Definitive guides | ~15% | Comprehensive, authoritative | | Original research/data | ~12% | Unique, citable statistics | | Best-of/listicles | ~10% | Clear structure, entity-rich | | Product pages | ~10% | Specific details AI can extract | | How-to guides | ~8% | Step-by-step structure | | Opinion/analysis | ~10% | Expert perspective, quotable |
Underperformers for AI citation:
Monitoring AI Visibility
What to Track
| Metric | What It Measures | How to Check | |--------|-----------------|-------------| | AI Overview presence | Do AI Overviews appear for your queries? | Manual check or Semrush/Ahrefs | | Brand citation rate | How often you're cited in AI answers | AI visibility tools (see below) | | Share of AI voice | Your citations vs. competitors | Peec AI, Otterly, ZipTie | | Citation sentiment | How AI describes your brand | Manual review + monitoring tools | | Source attribution | Which of your pages get cited | Track referral traffic from AI sources |
AI Visibility Monitoring Tools
| Tool | Coverage | Best For | |------|----------|----------| | Otterly AI | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews | Share of AI voice tracking | | Peec AI | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot+ | Multi-platform monitoring at scale | | ZipTie | Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity | Brand mention + sentiment tracking | | LLMrefs | ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini | SEO keyword β AI visibility mapping |
DIY Monitoring (No Tools)
Monthly manual check: 1. Pick your top 20 queries 2. Run each through ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google 3. Record: Are you cited? Who is? What page? 4. Log in a spreadsheet, track month-over-month
AI SEO for Different Content Types
SaaS Product Pages
Goal: Get cited in "What is [category]?" and "Best [category]" queries.
Optimize:
Blog Content
Goal: Get cited as an authoritative source on topics in your space.
Optimize:
Comparison/Alternative Pages
Goal: Get cited in "[X] vs [Y]" and "Best [X] alternatives" queries.
Optimize:
Documentation / Help Content
Goal: Get cited in "How to [X] with [your product]" queries.
Optimize:
Common Mistakes
Tool Integrations
For implementation, see the tools registry.
| Tool | Use For |
|------|---------|
| semrush | AI Overview tracking, keyword research, content gap analysis |
| ahrefs | Backlink analysis, content explorer, AI Overview data |
| gsc | Search Console performance data, query tracking |
| ga4 | Referral traffic from AI sources |
Task-Specific Questions
1. What are your top 10-20 most important queries? 2. Have you checked if AI answers exist for those queries today? 3. Do you have structured data (schema markup) on your site? 4. What content types do you publish? (Blog, docs, comparisons, etc.) 5. Are competitors being cited by AI where you're not? 6. Do you have a Wikipedia page or presence on review sites?