There is a new category of service being sold to local businesses, variously called AI search optimisation, answer engine optimisation or generative engine optimisation. The pitch is that AI answers work differently and require new technical work.
It is worth checking that claim against what Google actually publishes, because the answer changes what you should spend money on.
What Google says is required
Google’s guidance on optimising for its generative AI features is unusually blunt. It states that structured data is not required for generative AI search and that there is no special schema.org markup you need to add. It also states that you do not need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files, markup or markdown to appear in Google Search.
The stated position is that the same ranking and quality systems apply, so content performing well in Search appears in AI experiences through the same mechanisms.
That is not a claim we are making. It is Google’s own documentation, and it is worth reading before buying anything sold on the opposite premise.
What that means practically
The work that helps is the work that already helped.
Crawlable content. Your pages should deliver their content in the initial HTML rather than assembling it in the browser. This is the most broadly robust format for search engines and AI crawlers alike — not because Google cannot execute JavaScript, but because static content survives more conditions.
Specific, non-generic content. This matters more than it used to. If your page says what a thousand other pages say, a summarised answer replaces it entirely. If it contains your actual pricing logic, the local constraint that applies in Washtenaw County, or the failure mode you see three times a winter, it contains something a summary cannot manufacture.
Consistent business facts. Your name, location, phone number and services should agree across your site, your Business Profile and your listings. Systems that assemble answers about your business are drawing on all of them, and contradictions produce uncertainty.
Structured data that matches your visible content. Worth implementing where it accurately describes what a visitor can read — as good practice, not as an AI shortcut.
What we are sceptical about
llms.txt. An emerging proposal for a file describing your site to language models. It is not a standard, Google has indicated such files are unnecessary for its AI features, and nobody has demonstrated a ranking or citation benefit. We do not add it by default and we would not charge for it.
Guaranteed AI citations. Nobody controls whether an AI system cites a particular business. Anyone promising it is promising something they cannot deliver, and our written position on what we will not promise says so explicitly.
FAQ schema for AI visibility. Frequently recommended for this purpose. Google’s supported search appearance list no longer includes FAQ rich results, and its guidance says structured data is not required for generative AI. We use visible FAQ content — this page has some — and do not add the markup purely for hoped-for AI benefit.
Where local businesses are genuinely exposed
The honest concern is not technical. It is that informational traffic gets absorbed by summarised answers.
If a large share of your visitors arrive from “how do I fix” or “what causes” queries and then convert later, some of that will be answered before anyone clicks. Publishers are hit hardest; local service businesses are more insulated, because the map pack still sits at the top of local commercial searches and somebody still has to be phoned.
The practical response is to make sure your content earns the click — by containing specifics a summary cannot replicate — and to hold the local visibility that produces direct enquiries. That is profile and map pack work more than anything new.
What we would actually change
Nothing dramatic, which is the point. Keep pages crawlable. Make content genuinely specific to your business and your market. Keep facts consistent everywhere. Use structured data honestly. Keep the local presence strong.
If someone is proposing work that only makes sense in a world where AI requires special files, ask them to show you the documentation supporting it.
The underlying organic work is the organic search foundations.
Call 734-747-3922 or request a free audit, and bring any AI optimisation proposal you have been sent — we will go through it with you.