Ranking on Google and in AI for your business

What does ranking on Google AND in AI (ChatGPT, Gemini) mean?

For twenty years, ranking a business meant one single thing: showing up on Google. So that when someone searched for "Italian restaurant in Girona" or "dentist near me", your website and your business profile appeared at the top. That still matters, a lot. But something has changed: it's no longer the only place where people look for you.

More and more people open ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity and, instead of searching, they ask: "where can I have a nice dinner with kids in my area?", "recommend me a physio open on Saturdays". The AI replies with a few specific names. If your business isn't among them, then for that person you don't exist, just as you didn't exist before if you were on page 4 of Google.

That's why the work is now twofold. SEO is the classic work for Google. GEO (from Generative Engine Optimization) is the new work that makes AI take you into account. They share much of the engine —a fast website, clear content, a well-kept Google business profile, real reviews— but they have their own nuances. We explain it in depth in what GEO is.

Why do you have to work on both at the same time today?

Because your customers are already in both places. Whoever uses AI hasn't stopped using Google, and whoever uses Google is starting to try AI. It's not about choosing one: it's about being present in both before your competitors are, while almost no local business website works on it yet.

That figure is the context, not a promise. The honest way to put it is this: more and more people decide who to call or where to go by asking an AI, and almost no neighborhood business has done anything to show up there. That window —being there early where almost no one is yet— is exactly what we work on every month.

How are SEO and GEO alike and how do they differ?

So it doesn't sound like hot air, here's the difference in a table. You can read it at a glance (and an AI can too, which is why it's here):

The big thing in common: in both cases, you don't pay to show up. You earn it by doing the work well, month after month. Anyone who promises you "I'll put you first" or "I guarantee AI will cite you" is selling you something they can't deliver.

What exactly do we do every month?

This is what the fee covers: the concrete work, repeated and measured. It's not "maintenance" in the abstract; these are tasks you can see in your report.

1. Structured data (schema). We tag your website with invisible code that tells Google and AI exactly what you are —your type of business, hours, area, services— so they understand you without guessing.
2. Extractable content. We write and organize your information (services, FAQs, areas) in a way that lets an AI copy the right answer straight from your website. If it's clear to a person, it's clear to the machine.
3. Bing indexing. ChatGPT draws heavily on Microsoft's search engine, so we make sure you're properly registered there, not just on Google.
4. Complete Google business profile. Correct category, description, hours, photos, services and posts. It's the piece that moves both Google's map and AI's recommendations the most. We develop it in local SEO on Google Maps.
5. Real reviews. We set up a simple system for you (for example a QR code on the premises) so your happy customers leave genuine reviews, steadily, and we respond to them. Never fake or bought: the law forbids it and AI detects it.
6. Mentions and citations. We work to get your business named consistently in the places Google and AI look (directories and platforms in your sector), always white-hat.
7. llms.txt file. A file designed so AI models can quickly find and understand the essentials of your business. Almost no local business has it; we set it up for you.
8. Monthly report: The Mirror Report. Every month we show you what we did, where you appear on Google today, and what happens when we ask AI the real questions of your sector. You pay for the work you see, not for a promise.

What does the monthly support include?

The fee is tailored (it depends on your business and your area), but what's always in it is this. And the technical side is included: we don't charge you for the domain or the SSL separately.

The support has an honest minimum of a few months (around three), because ranking is gradual and there's no point measuring it in two weeks. Depending on the case, the first few months may be paid upfront; we talk that through with you clearly before we start, with no small print. We explain it in detail on the how-it-works page.

And what will you never hear us say?

Here's the uncomfortable part that almost nobody in the industry puts in writing. We say it because it's what sets us apart:

• We won't tell you you're going to come up first on Google. Nobody controls that.
• We don't guarantee that AI will cite you, nor do we promise you a number of customers.
• We don't sell "pay per result" or "you only pay if it works": it would be dishonest, because the result depends on many things beyond us.

What we do promise you is the work: doing it well, doing it every month and showing it to you. The audit we start with is a snapshot of the current state of your business on Google and in AI —where you appear today—, not a promise of where you'll be. From there, we do what makes improvement more likely. That's The Bet on the Work: we put our hours in upfront, for free, before you pay anything.

Where should you start reading?

If you want to understand "ranking in AI" before talking to us, these are the logical next steps:

• What GEO is and how to appear in ChatGPT — the definition, in plain terms.
• How to get ChatGPT to recommend your business — the five concrete things you need to have.
• Local SEO and Google Maps — the part of Google that moves the most for a neighborhood business.
• How we work at Zenith — the model, step by step.

Local SEO: get found in your area

• Local SEO ranking
• What local SEO is
• Google Business Profile
• How to get reviews on Google

"Ranking in AI" is not the same as "building the website with AI"

There's a very common mix-up worth clearing up, because a lot of people search for "build a website with AI for free" thinking that's the same as appearing inside ChatGPT. It isn't, and confusing the two leads to bad decisions.

Building the website with AI means using an automatic generator that spits out a template in five minutes. Ranking in AI is the opposite: it's the work —human and technical— that makes your name appear in the answer when someone asks ChatGPT or Gemini about a business like yours. One thing is the tool that makes the site; the other is that site existing for the machines that recommend.

At Zenith we don't set you up with a generic auto-generator template: we build you a custom website (you don't pay for the build), made to load fast and for Google and AI to understand. The "with AI" part that matters isn't that a robot drew it, but that it's ready for the robots that recommend businesses to take you into account. That's the difference between a pretty website nobody finds and a website that works for you.

GEO, AEO, LLMO: why there are so many names for "AI SEO"

If you've searched for "what is AI SEO called" or "what is AEO", you'll have run into a mess of acronyms. It's worth getting it straight so nobody sells you hot air with new words.

The most widespread term is GEO, which we explain in depth on its own page. Here we just add the map of labels, because you'll see more than one: alongside GEO you'll find AEO (Answer Engine Optimization, optimization for engines that give direct answers) and LLMO (optimization for language models, the "brains" like ChatGPT). They're different names for the same underlying idea: making your business appear when an AI answers, not only when Google lists websites.

A heads-up so they don't confuse you: "geo" on its own also means geographic, and in Spain there are even companies named that way. When we say GEO we always mean ranking in AI search engines. What matters isn't the trendy acronym, but the concrete work behind it: that your information is easy to extract, that you're indexed where AI looks, and that your reviews and mentions are consistent. If someone overcharges you for inventing an acronym, be wary.

• GEO — Generative Engine Optimization: the most used term (we develop it on its own page).
• AEO — Answer Engine Optimization: focused on engines that give direct answers.
• LLMO — optimization for language models (the "brains" like ChatGPT).
• Careful: "geo" also means geographic; it's not the same as ranking in AI.

Can you rank for free, on your own? What you can do and where the limit is

It's a fair question, especially if you search for "free search engine ranking" or "AI tools for SEO". The honest answer has two parts, and we give it to you even if you don't hire us.

There are things you can do yourself without paying anyone: set up and complete your Google Business Profile, ask your happy customers for real reviews, respond to them and keep your hours up to date. That's already a base, it's free and worth doing. We won't tell you otherwise.

The limit shows up in the technical, sustained part: structured data, the llms.txt file, correct indexing on Bing, a genuinely fast website and the extractable content AI can copy. That's not done in an afternoon, nor with a free paste-and-go tool: it takes judgment and, above all, repeating it every month and measuring it. AI tools help you produce faster, but they don't replace the work or decide for you. That's where a monthly fee comes in: not for magic, but for hours of work you see in the report.