Masoud Azizi
Co-Founder and CMO of Indigo Mars, a Los Angeles marketing agency. He leads client strategy and creative across paid advertising, SEO, AI visibility, and web design for businesses across Los Angeles.
AI Optimization (AIO) or AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) is the practice of structuring your business’s online presence so that AI tools — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews — recommend you by name when someone asks for a business like yours. New to this topic? Start with What Is AI Search Optimization? A Practical Guide.
If you run a restaurant, a dental practice, a law firm, a salon, or any other business in Los Angeles, your next customer is increasingly likely to ask an AI for a recommendation before they ever type a search into Google. This guide covers what AIO actually is, how AI tools decide what to cite, and what a Los Angeles business needs in place to show up.
For proof this isn't theoretical, see how a coaching practice, a dental office, and a home renovation company are already winning with this approach: How Dental Practices, Coaches, and Home Service Businesses Are Already Winning at AI Search.
It is a long guide on purpose. Each section can be read on its own, so feel free to jump to the part that matches your situation. If you want a quick orientation first, read "5 Signs Your Business Is Invisible to AI Search" and "Where to Start" near the end, then come back for the detail.
What Is AI Optimization (AIO)?
Traditional SEO gets your website found in a list of search results. AI Optimization gets your business recommended — pulled directly into the answer someone receives when they ask an AI tool a question, with no list of links involved at all. If the AEO, GEO, and AIO terminology feels confusing, you're not alone — see AEO vs. GEO vs. AIO: What's the Difference (and Does It Actually Matter)?
The shift matters because the question itself has changed. A few years ago, someone looking for a personal injury lawyer in LA would type “personal injury lawyer los angeles” into Google and scan ten blue links. Today, that same person might just ask ChatGPT or Perplexity, “who’s a good personal injury lawyer in LA for a car accident case?” — and get a single, confident-sounding answer with two or three names in it. If your business isn’t structured to be understood and trusted by that AI, you’re not in the running at all, regardless of how good your actual work is.
This isn’t a replacement for SEO — it’s an additional layer on top of it, with its own rules.
Getting found is only half the picture — for LA specifically, being able to actually serve who finds you matters too. See Why Bilingual AI Readiness Is a Real Opportunity for Los Angeles Businesses.
What an AI answer actually looks like
It helps to picture the thing you are trying to appear in. When someone asks an AI assistant for a recommendation, the response is usually a short paragraph or a short list: a few business names, a sentence about each, and sometimes a note on what to check before choosing. There is rarely a page of results to scroll. The person reads it, may ask a follow-up question, and often goes straight to the business that sounded most credible.
That format changes the stakes. In a list of ten search results, being seventh still gets you occasional traffic. In an answer with three names, being fourth gets you nothing. The reward is concentrated in a very small number of mentions, which is why the work of becoming clearly understandable and trustworthy to these systems is worth doing deliberately.
The tools people are already using
Customers are not using one AI tool; they are using several, and they move between them. Some ask a general-purpose assistant like ChatGPT. Some use a search-focused one like Perplexity that shows its sources. Many simply see an AI-written summary at the top of a Google search without asking for it. Each works a little differently and they change often, but they share the same basic appetite: clear, consistent, credible information about who you are and what you do. Optimizing for that shared appetite is more durable than chasing the quirks of any single tool.
Why this is not hype for a local business
A fair question is whether this is a real shift or a marketing fashion. The honest answer is that nobody can promise how large it will become or how fast. What is observable is that people do ask these tools for local recommendations, that the answers name specific businesses, and that businesses with clearer, better-corroborated information tend to be the ones named. You do not need to believe that search is disappearing. You only need to accept that a growing share of decisions now includes an AI answer somewhere along the way, and that being absent from that answer is a cost you can reduce at modest effort.
How AI Overviews and ChatGPT Decide What to Cite
AI tools don’t cite businesses at random, and they don’t cite based on charm or ad spend. They cite based on a handful of concrete signals:
Structured data
Schema markup (a standardized, machine-readable format added to your website’s code) labels the facts on a page so software doesn’t have to guess: this is a business, here’s its name, its service area, what it offers, and how it’s connected to its social profiles. It helps systems interpret your page accurately, but it isn’t a magic switch. Google’s own documentation says no special markup or files are required to appear in its AI features, and that any structured data you use should match the visible text on the page. Treat it as a way to reduce guesswork, not as a guarantee of citations.
For a typical Los Angeles business, the useful starting set is modest. Markup that identifies the business and its type, with name, address, phone number, hours, and service area. Markup for the people behind it where relevant, such as a dentist or attorney. Markup for the services offered. And markup for the questions and answers that appear on a page. The rule is simple: the markup must describe what is actually visible on the page. Marking up claims or reviews that do not exist causes problems rather than solving them, and markup alone will not rescue a thin page.
Consistency across the web
AI systems build their understanding of a business from many sources, not just your own website — directory listings, review sites, social profiles, press mentions. If your business name, description, and service list are worded differently on your website than on your Google Business Profile than on a directory listing, that inconsistency makes it harder for an AI system to confidently treat all those mentions as the same, trustworthy entity.
A practical way to find the problems: search your business name and phone number and look at what appears. Old addresses from a previous location, a former business name, a duplicate listing someone created years ago, a phone number that no longer works. Each one is a small contradiction, and they add up. Fixing them is dull work with an outsized payoff, because it makes every other effort easier for a system to trust.
Direct-answer content
AI tools favor content that states its point plainly in the first sentence or two, rather than building up to it. A page that opens with three paragraphs of scene-setting before answering the actual question is far less likely to get pulled into an AI-generated answer than one that answers immediately and elaborates after.
The test is easy to apply to your own pages. Pick a question a customer would really ask, such as "how much does a root canal cost?" or "what areas of Los Angeles do you serve?" Find the page that should answer it. Does the answer appear in the first couple of sentences, in plain words, or do you have to hunt for it? If it is buried, rewrite the opening so that the answer comes first, then keep the detail underneath.
Third-party mentions
This is the one businesses most consistently underestimate. AI systems weight what other sources say about you more heavily than what you say about yourself. A business with a handful of solid directory listings, a few press mentions, and genuine reviews will out-cite a business with a beautiful website and nothing else pointing to it. For specifically where AI systems are pulling those third-party mentions from, see Why Reddit, YouTube, and Quora Matter More to AI Search Than Your Own Website.
This guide itself is a working example of the last two points: it opens with a direct answer to “what is AIO,” it’s broken into clearly labeled sections an AI system can parse, and Indigo Mars maintains consistent, matching information about itself across its own site and its directory listings — which is exactly the kind of structure this guide is describing. Practicing this on our own content is a deliberate choice, not a coincidence. Reviews specifically may matter more than most businesses realize — see The Star Rating Threshold Nobody Tells You About.
How the four signals work together
None of these signals works alone. Structured data helps a system read your page, but only consistent facts make it believe what it reads. Direct answers make your content usable, but only third-party mentions make it credible. Reviews and mentions create credibility, but only a clear website gives the system something specific to attach it to. Think of the four as a chain: a weak link anywhere reduces the strength of the whole. This is why businesses that fix one thing, say adding schema, and see no change are often missing another link, such as inconsistent listings or no independent mentions at all.
AI Visibility vs. Traditional SEO: Do You Need Both?
Yes — and the good news is they share a foundation. A fast, well-structured, mobile-friendly website with clear content helps both. From there, they diverge in what they add on top:
SEO focuses on keywords, backlinks, page speed, and search-engine-specific technical hygiene (sitemaps, crawlability, indexing).
AI visibility adds structured data, direct-answer content formatting, and consistency across the wider web — because an AI system is synthesizing an answer from many sources at once, not ranking a list of pages.
A Los Angeles business chasing only one of these is leaving real, current customer-search behavior uncovered. Most people are now doing both: searching Google and asking an AI tool, sometimes for the same decision. For a deeper look at where these two disciplines overlap and where they diverge, see Local SEO vs. AI Search: Do You Need Both?
One practical consequence is worth stating. Many AI tools that retrieve live information rely on the same search infrastructure SEO has always worked with. A page that cannot be crawled, or that search engines cannot understand, is usually a page AI tools cannot use either. So the first step of AI optimization is often just making sure the SEO basics are not broken: pages indexed, titles and headings that say what the page is about, no accidental blocks in the site's settings. Skipping that step and jumping to advanced tactics is the most common way to waste effort.
Local SEO vs. AI Search: Do You Need Both?
Same answer as above, and for the same reason: local SEO wins the customer who’s still typing into Google Maps or a search bar; AI visibility wins the customer who skips straight to asking an AI assistant for the answer. Both customers exist, often within the same household. A Los Angeles business with strong local SEO and no AI visibility is fully covered for half of that behavior and invisible for the other half. For Los Angeles specifically, targeting the right level of geography matters even more than most cities — see Why "Near Me" Searches in Los Angeles Need Neighborhood-Level AI Optimization.
Los Angeles is not one market. Someone in Silver Lake asking for a dentist is not looking for the same answer as someone in Encino, and few people will drive across the city for a routine service. That is why specific, neighborhood-aware content tends to outperform generic "Los Angeles" language. A page that explains which neighborhoods you serve, how to reach you from them, and what is nearby gives a system something concrete to match against a location-specific question.
For the data behind how customers now find local businesses, see our 2027 marketing trends report.
The strongest local assets are shared between both disciplines: a complete and accurate Google Business Profile, steady reviews from real customers, correct categories, accurate hours, and photos that show the real place. Treat them as the foundation, and layer the AI-specific work on top.
ChatGPT Ads vs. Google Ads: What’s the Difference
Google Ads is a mature, well-understood channel: you bid on search intent, and your ad appears alongside organic results for people actively typing a query. ChatGPT Ads is a much newer, still-developing channel — advertising placement within AI conversational answers themselves, appearing at the moment someone asks a question relevant to your business. Because this format is so new, there is little track record yet for local businesses, and the competitive picture is changing quickly — OpenAI has reportedly said it has more than 100,000 advertisers — while most relevant keywords on Google Ads in a competitive market like Los Angeles are already heavily contested. The specific mechanics of any AI ad platform are still evolving, so the practical point for a Los Angeles business is to learn the format early and test it with a small budget once the organic foundation is in place. For a deeper breakdown of how these two channels actually compare — cost, competition, and which to start with, see ChatGPT Ads vs. Google Ads: What's the Difference.
It is worth being clear about how paid and organic relate. Advertising buys a placement; AI optimization earns a recommendation. They are not substitutes, and the second does not switch off when you stop paying. A sensible approach for most local businesses is to build the organic foundation first, because it supports everything else, and treat paid placement inside AI answers as an experiment to run once the basics are in place and the format is better understood.
How to Check Whether AI Recommends You Today
Before changing anything, find out where you actually stand. This takes under an hour and tells you more than any generic audit.
Write down ten to fifteen real questions. Use the wording a customer would use, with your area included: "best [service] in [neighborhood]," "how much does [service] cost in Los Angeles," "who is a good [professional] for [specific need]," and "is [your business name] any good."
Ask several tools. Try ChatGPT, Perplexity, and a Google search that shows an AI summary. Different tools draw on different sources, so compare them.
Record what happens. In a simple spreadsheet, note whether you are named, how you are described, which competitors appear, and which sources, if any, are cited.
Look for errors. A wrong address, outdated service, or incorrect name tells you exactly which source to correct.
Repeat monthly. Answers vary from one run to the next, so judge by the pattern across several checks rather than any single result.
Be wary of anyone who promises a particular placement. These systems generate answers dynamically and nobody controls them. What you can do is become a clearer, better-corroborated source and then measure whether the pattern moves.
What This Looks Like by Type of Business
The principles are the same everywhere, but the emphasis shifts with the business. These are patterns to consider rather than rules.
Restaurants. People ask about cuisine, neighborhood, atmosphere, and occasion. Accurate menus, hours, and a clear description of what kind of place you are matter, along with reviews that mention specific dishes and experiences. Keep every listing identical.
Dental and medical practices. Because these are higher-stakes decisions, trust signals carry extra weight. Name the providers, state their credentials accurately, list the insurance you accept, and answer cost and safety questions plainly. A page per procedure outperforms one page listing everything.
Law firms. People ask situation-specific questions. A page that answers "what should I do after a car accident in California" and a page about each practice area, written by a named attorney, gives a system precise material. Keep claims accurate and compliant with professional advertising rules.
Salons and personal services. The work is visual and personal. Show real results with consent, name the stylists or practitioners, and describe services in the words customers use. Social profiles and reviews do a lot of the persuading.
Home services. Urgency and trust drive these searches. Service areas, licensing information where applicable, response times, and genuine reviews from named neighborhoods help a system judge whether you are the right local option.
A Page-Level Checklist You Can Apply This Week
For each important page on your site, ask the following:
Does the page say, in the first two sentences, what it is about and who it is for?
Does it name your business, your location or service area, and the specific service in plain language?
Does it answer at least one real customer question directly, before elaborating?
Are the key facts on the page, such as hours, address, and phone, identical to your listings?
Is there structured data that matches what the page actually says?
Is there evidence of real experience, such as named people, specific examples, or genuine reviews?
Is it clear what the visitor should do next?
A page that clears all seven is in good shape for readers and for machines. Most small business pages clear two or three.
5 Signs Your Business Is Invisible to AI Search
You’ve asked an AI tool about your own category and city, and you weren’t in the answer. This is the simplest test available, and most businesses have never actually tried it.
Your website has no structured data. If you’re not sure, this is usually the case — most small and mid-sized business websites don’t have it by default.
Your business information is inconsistent across the web. Different phone numbers, different service descriptions, or a business name that’s spelled differently across your website, Google Business Profile, and directory listings.
Your website has no content that directly answers real customer questions. A services page that describes what you offer in marketing language, without ever answering the plain question a customer would actually type or ask, gives an AI system very little to work with.
You have few or no third-party mentions. No directory listings beyond the bare minimum, no press coverage, thin or absent reviews. If the only place your business is described is your own website, an AI system has limited independent confirmation that you’re a real, established option worth recommending.
For more on recognizing these problems in practice, see 5 Signs Your Business Is Invisible to AI Search.
Common Mistakes That Waste Time and Money
Adding schema and stopping. Markup is one link in a chain. Without consistent facts, direct answers, and independent mentions, it rarely changes much on its own.
Believing in secret tricks. Claims about special files or hidden techniques that guarantee AI placement are mostly unproven. Clear content, accurate facts, and real credibility are what have a track record.
Writing for machines and forgetting people. Content that reads like a list of keywords loses the human reader and gains nothing with the machine. Write for the person asking the question, and structure it clearly.
Buying reviews or mentions. Fabricated or purchased endorsements are detected, discounted, and can damage the listings you rely on.
Treating one answer as proof. A single mention in one tool on one day tells you very little. Track patterns.
Ignoring the basics. An unclaimed or inaccurate Google Business Profile undermines every advanced tactic built on top of it.
Expecting overnight results. Fixing listings and rewriting key pages can show effects relatively quickly. Building third-party credibility takes months and compounds.
Where to Start
If more than one or two of those five signs apply to your business, the starting point isn’t complicated: add structured data to your website, make sure your business information matches everywhere it appears online, and rewrite at least your most important pages to answer real customer questions directly instead of describing yourself in general marketing language. From there, building a genuine base of third-party mentions — directories, reviews, local press — is what turns an AI-optimized website into a business AI tools actually recommend. For what changed at Google I/O 2026 specifically, and why it raises the stakes for local businesses, see What Google's AI Mode Means for Local LA Businesses.
This is the same work Indigo Mars does for its own clients, structured around the same four systems covered across this site: AI visibility, paid advertising, content and social, and web and app design working together rather than as disconnected tactics.
If all of this feels like a lot to take in at once, here's a clear, sequenced starting point: The 90-Day AI Visibility Action Plan for a Los Angeles Business.
The internal linking pattern holding this whole guide together is worth understanding on its own — see Internal Linking for AI Search: Why Hub-and-Spoke Works.
For more on the agency behind this work, see About Indigo Mars.
If the broader problem is that nobody is reaching your site at all, work through this first: Why Your Website Gets No Traffic: A Diagnostic Walkthrough.
Social profiles are part of that consistency picture, and they do a second job besides: Social Media Marketing for Local Businesses: What Actually Brings in Customers.
Measuring Progress Beyond Mentions
Whether an AI tool names you is the headline measure, but it is not the only one, and it is noisy. A more complete picture combines several signals that are easier to track and harder to misread.
Accuracy of what is said about you. When a tool describes your business, are the address, services, and hours right? Every error you find and fix is progress, because it removes a contradiction that was weakening trust.
Review volume and recency. A steady flow of recent, detailed reviews is both a ranking input for local search and raw material for AI systems. Track how many arrive each month and whether they mention specific services.
Branded and local search activity. Google Search Console and your Business Profile insights show how often people find you by name and by local queries. Rising branded searches often follow rising recognition.
Real inquiries and how people say they found you. Add a simple question to your intake form or phone script: "How did you hear about us?" with AI assistants as an option. It is unscientific, and it is often the most honest data you will get.
Keep expectations realistic. Because the systems are opaque and change often, no single metric proves cause and effect. Look for several indicators moving in the right direction over a few months, and treat any single dramatic result, good or bad, with caution.
A Simple Order of Work
If you want a short version of the sequence, this is the order we would take for a typical local business.
First, the foundation. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile. Audit your listings and make the name, address, phone number, hours, and description match everywhere. Fix anything outdated.
Second, the website. Make sure the site is crawlable and loads well on a phone. Add structured data that matches what is on the page. Give each major service its own page that opens with a direct answer.
Third, credibility. Set up a steady, honest process for asking customers for reviews. Pursue listings and mentions that are respected in your field, such as local associations, supplier directories, and local press.
Fourth, measurement. Run your list of customer questions through the major tools every month. Note what changes, correct errors at the source, and keep a record of which actions preceded which improvements.
None of this requires a large team. It requires consistency and a willingness to do plain work well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AI Optimization in one sentence? It is the practice of making your business easy for AI tools to understand, trust, and recommend when someone asks for a business like yours.
Does it replace SEO? No. It builds on the same foundation and adds structured data, direct-answer content, and consistency across the wider web.
Can anyone guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend my business? No. These systems generate answers dynamically and results vary. Be cautious about guarantees.
How long does it take? Corrections to listings and rewritten pages can show effects within weeks to a few months. Building independent credibility is slower and cumulative. It varies by business and market.
Is it worth it for a small business? Often yes, because the groundwork, accurate listings, clear pages, and genuine reviews, helps with ordinary search and with customer trust as well. The cost of doing the basics is modest compared with being absent from an answer customers rely on.
Do I need to do this myself? Not necessarily, but you should understand it. A practice manager with a few focused hours a week can handle much of it. Help is useful for the technical pieces and for content structure.
Wondering whether to pay for tracking software? See what AI visibility tools cost and what they actually measure.
Want a straight answer on where your own business currently stands with AI visibility? Book a free strategy call — we’ll tell you honestly what’s working and what isn’t.
