Quick answer: AI SEO is the work of making your business easy for AI search tools to find, understand and recommend. In Australia that mostly means two places: Google (AI Overviews and AI Mode, now running on Gemini 3.5 Flash) and ChatGPT. Google’s AI still builds on its normal ranking systems, so classic SEO is the foundation. ChatGPT leans more on what other sites say about you, such as reviews, directories and forums. Melbourne small businesses that do well in both have clear, fact-checked pages, a complete Google Business Profile, consistent listings and genuine reviews.
Key takeaways
- More than 70% of Australians now use AI for at least some of their searching, and 16% say AI is where they usually start (YouGov, 2026).
- SEO is not dead. Google says its AI features rely on the same core ranking and quality systems as normal search.
- Google and ChatGPT pull from different sources, so one generic strategy will not cover both.
- Answer-first content, structured data, a strong Google Business Profile and real reviews do most of the heavy lifting for local businesses.
- Google now says AI-assisted content must be fact-checked by a person before it goes live.
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO (also called Generative Engine Optimisation, GEO, or Answer Engine Optimisation, AEO) is optimising your website and wider online presence so that AI tools quote, cite or recommend you when someone asks a question. Instead of ten blue links, the customer gets a written answer, and only a handful of businesses get named in it.
For a plumber in Mernda or a physio in Preston, that changes the goal. It is no longer only “rank on page one for plumber Mernda“. It is also “be the business the AI names when someone asks who’s a reliable plumber near Mernda who can come today?”
How Australians are searching in 2026
YouGov’s 2026 Australian web search research found:
- 36% of online searchers start at least one search a day with an AI assistant. That rises to almost six in ten for Gen Z and close to half of Millennials.
- The most common uses are getting a direct answer (50%), summarising information (37%) and comparing options (35%).
- Trust is still catching up: only 39% of searchers trust information from AI assistants, and about a third click through to the links AI provides.
The takeaway for local businesses: customers are using AI to shortlist, then checking your website, reviews and Google listing before they call. You need to show up in the AI answer and hold up when they click through.
How Google’s AI search works now
At Google I/O in May 2026, Google made Gemini 3.5 Flash the default model behind AI Mode in Search. Searches are increasingly conversational and multimodal, so people can search with a photo, a screenshot or a longer, more specific question rather than three keywords.
Two things matter most for your website:
- AI Overviews and AI Mode are built on normal Google ranking. Google has been consistent that its generative features use the same core ranking and quality systems. If your pages are slow, thin or poorly structured, they are unlikely to be cited.
- Google favours sources it already trusts. That includes your Google Business Profile, well-known directories and YouTube. Industry citation studies have repeatedly found YouTube among the most cited sources in Google’s AI answers, so a short video answering a common customer question can earn visibility a blog post alone may not.
How ChatGPT finds and recommends businesses
ChatGPT works differently. When it searches the web it leans heavily on Bing’s index and on what third parties say about you. Studies of ChatGPT citations consistently show a large share coming from review platforms, directories and forums such as Reddit, rather than from business websites directly.
In practice, for an Australian small business that means:
- Bing Places for Business matters more than most owners realise. Claim it and keep it matched to your Google listing.
- Reviews and directory listings (Google, Facebook, Yelp, True Local, Hipages, Healthengine and industry bodies) feed the AI’s view of who is reputable.
- Your robots.txt must allow OpenAI’s search crawler (OAI-SearchBot) if you want your own pages to be eligible as sources. We see plenty of sites that block AI crawlers by accident through a security plugin or CDN setting.
Google AI vs ChatGPT: what each one rewards
| Factor | Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | ChatGPT search |
|---|---|---|
| Main foundation | Google’s normal index and ranking systems | Bing’s index plus third-party sources |
| Local business data | Google Business Profile | Bing Places, directories and review sites |
| Sources it likes to cite | Well-ranked pages, YouTube, trusted directories | Review platforms, forums such as Reddit, news and listicles |
| Crawler to allow | Googlebot (Google-Extended only controls AI training, not Search) | OAI-SearchBot |
| How you measure it | Search Console generative AI report and Performance report | Referral traffic in GA4 from chatgpt.com |
| Best quick win | Answer-first pages and a complete Google Business Profile | More genuine reviews and consistent listings everywhere |
The AI SEO checklist for Melbourne small businesses
This is the order we work through for trades, clinics and local service businesses across Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
1. Lead every page with the answer
AI tools lift short, self-contained passages. Open each service page and article with a two or three sentence direct answer, then expand. Use the questions your customers actually ask as headings, for example “How much does a blocked drain cost to fix in Melbourne?” rather than “Our Services”.
2. State the facts plainly
Spell out your suburb and service area, prices or price ranges, hours, licences, insurance and turnaround times in plain text, not buried in images. If the AI cannot find a fact on your site, it will either skip you or take the answer from someone else.
3. Get your Google Business Profile right
For local searches, your Google Business Profile is often the single most important source Google’s AI uses. Choose accurate categories, list every service, add real photos, post regularly and respond to every review. Then mirror the same details on Bing Places and Apple Business Connect.
4. Build reviews and mentions, not just links
Ask happy customers for reviews that mention the job and the suburb (“fixed our hot water in Doreen the same day”). Get listed with your industry association and local chamber of commerce. These third-party signals carry extra weight with ChatGPT.
5. Add structured data
Schema markup tells search engines exactly what your business is. At minimum: LocalBusiness (or the right subtype) with your address and service area, Service schema on service pages, and FAQPage on genuine FAQ sections. Do not mark up your Google reviews as on-site ratings, as that breaks Google’s review guidelines.
6. Make sure AI crawlers can get in
Check your robots.txt, firewall and CDN settings allow Googlebot, Bingbot and OAI-SearchBot. Keep your site fast on mobile, because a slow, fragile site is less likely to be crawled thoroughly and less likely to convert the visitors AI sends you.
7. Answer questions on video
Record short videos answering your top five customer questions, upload them to YouTube with accurate titles, descriptions and captions, and embed them on the matching page.
8. Fact-check anything AI helped write
In October 2026 Google updated its guidance on AI-generated content to say it is critical to manually fact-check and review AI content before publishing. Using AI to draft is fine. Publishing it unchecked is a risk to your rankings and your reputation.
How to measure AI search traffic
- Google Search Console: Google launched dedicated generative AI reports in June 2026, covering AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover. They are rolling out gradually and show impressions only, not clicks, so use them to see which pages are appearing, alongside the normal Performance report.
- Google Analytics 4: Create a channel group or exploration for referrals from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com. In late September 2026 Gemini started adding UTM parameters to outbound links, which makes its traffic easier to attribute, though Google has not formally documented it yet.
- Ask the AI yourself: Once a month, ask ChatGPT and Google AI Mode the questions your customers ask (“best electrician in Epping VIC”, “physio near Preston for running injuries”) and note who gets named.
- Ask new customers: Add “ChatGPT or another AI tool” as an option on your enquiry form’s “How did you hear about us?” field.
Common AI SEO mistakes
- Publishing bulk AI content. Google’s March and September 2026 spam updates are a reminder that scaled, low-value content still gets demoted, whether a person or a tool wrote it.
- Blocking AI crawlers by accident through a security plugin, firewall rule or CDN bot setting.
- Inconsistent business details across Google, Bing, Facebook and directories, which makes AI tools less confident about recommending you.
- Chasing the AI and forgetting the click. When someone does click through from an AI answer, they are close to deciding. A slow or confusing website loses that enquiry.
Where to start this month
If you only do three things: tighten your Google Business Profile, rewrite the top of your main service pages so they answer the question directly, and ask your last 20 happy customers for a review. For a deeper look at how Google picks the sources it cites, read our guide on how SEO helps your business get found in AI search results.
If you would rather have it done for you, our local SEO service for Melbourne businesses covers your Google Business Profile, review responses and monthly rank tracking, and our website health check will flag speed, schema and crawler issues that hold you back in AI search. Get in touch and we’ll tell you where you stand.
Frequently asked questions
Is SEO dead because of ChatGPT and AI Overviews?
No. Google’s AI features are built on its normal ranking and quality systems, and ChatGPT relies on search indexes too. SEO has widened rather than disappeared: you now need to rank, be cited and be recommended.
What is the difference between SEO, GEO and AEO?
SEO is optimising to rank in search results. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) describe optimising to be quoted or recommended inside AI-generated answers. In practice they overlap heavily, and good SEO is the base for both.
How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT?
Make sure OAI-SearchBot can crawl your site, claim Bing Places for Business, keep your details identical across every directory, and build genuine reviews on the platforms your customers use. Clear, factual pages that answer common questions also help ChatGPT describe you accurately.
Does my Google Business Profile affect AI Overviews?
Yes. For local searches such as “electrician near me” or “dentist in South Morang”, Google’s AI draws heavily on Business Profile data, including categories, services, hours, photos and reviews. An incomplete profile is one of the most common reasons local businesses miss out.
Can I use AI to write my website content?
Yes, as long as a person with real knowledge of your business reviews and fact-checks it before it is published. Google’s guidance now says this human review is critical. Content that adds nothing new, or contains errors, is unlikely to rank or be cited.
How long does AI SEO take to work?
Fixes such as Google Business Profile updates, crawler access and on-page answers can show results within weeks. Building reviews, mentions and authority is ongoing and usually takes three to six months to make a clear difference.
