Get found in AI search by building a credible and consistent online presence that extends beyond your website. Traditional SEO still matters, but customers are increasingly using platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity to research businesses, compare services, and find trusted experts.
In this episode of Biz Help For You, host Candy Messer speaks with Heather DeSantis Holmes, founder of Publicity For Good, about how AI is changing online visibility. They discuss why businesses should combine SEO with answer engine optimization, or AEO, and generative engine optimization, or GEO.
What are AEO and GEO?
SEO focuses on helping your website appear in traditional search engine results. AEO and GEO focus on helping your business appear in answers produced by search and AI platforms.
When someone asks an AI tool to recommend a local business, service provider, or industry expert, the platform gathers information from multiple online sources. Your website is one of those sources, but it is not the only one.
AI platforms may also consider media coverage, podcast appearances, business directories, awards, LinkedIn content, and other third-party mentions. These sources can help confirm your experience and authority.
Audit your current online visibility
If you want to get found in AI search, start by reviewing what already appears about your business.
Search for your company, your name, your services, and questions your ideal customers might ask. Look at how AI platforms describe your business. Then perform similar searches for your competitors.
This audit can help you identify missing, outdated, or inconsistent information. Make sure your company name, address, phone number, services, and business description are consistent across your website and other platforms.
If your company has changed its name, added services, expanded its team, or moved to a new location, update that information everywhere you can.
Strengthen your authority with third-party mentions
Businesses cannot build authority through their own websites alone. Credible third-party mentions show customers and AI platforms that outside sources recognize your expertise.
Podcast interviews, digital news stories, awards, chamber listings, industry directories, and local media coverage can all contribute to your online presence.
Heather recommends starting with local media because it often wants to highlight relevant businesses and community stories. Look for timely topics that connect your expertise to current news, local events, or awareness days.
Whenever possible, focus on media opportunities connected to an established website. A searchable digital article, podcast page, or news segment can become part of your lasting online footprint.
Make your media coverage work harder
After earning media coverage, add it to a press page on your website. Share it through LinkedIn, social media, and your email list.
You can also repurpose one interview into short videos, blog posts, social captions, newsletters, quotes, and other content. This helps create consistent signals about who you are, what you do, and why people should trust your business.
Long-form content, FAQs, and schema markup can also help search engines and AI platforms understand your expertise.
Build visibility consistently
AI visibility is not a one-time project. Businesses need an ongoing system for publishing helpful content, updating company information, pursuing media opportunities, and sharing their expertise.
You do not need to tackle everything at once. Begin with a visibility audit, correct outdated information, and choose one authority-building activity you can maintain.
The way customers search will continue to change. Businesses that build a clear, accurate, and credible online presence will be better prepared to get found in AI search and traditional search results.
Key Notes
- Traditional SEO still matters, but it should work alongside AEO and GEO.
- Audit what appears when people search for your business on Google and AI platforms.
- Compare your visibility with competitors to identify missing information and opportunities.
- Keep your business name, contact details, services, and company description consistent.
- Build authority through media coverage, podcasts, awards, directories, and other third-party sources.
- Repurpose media appearances and publish content consistently to strengthen your online presence.
Links
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Bonus Content- Rank Higher in AI Search: https://www.youtube.com/c/CandyMesser/join
About Heather Holmes
Heather de Santis Holmes is the founder of Publicity For Good, a leading PR agency helping purpose-driven consumer brands grow through strategic media, storytelling, and authority-building. With more than seven years of experience in public relations, Heather has helped numerous wellness and CPG brands increase visibility while staying aligned with their mission to create positive impact. Now at the forefront of AI visibility and brand authority, Heather created the AEO Flywheel — a structured system that combines AEO, GEO, and LLM ranking strategies into one compounding content engine. Known for her practical and forward-thinking approach, she helps brands move beyond traditional SEO and position themselves to be discovered, cited, and trusted in the age of AI-driven search.
