AI Search Optimisation For B2B Companies
Your buyers have changed how they search. Have you changed how you show up?
More and more of your potential customers are skipping Google entirely and asking ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini to recommend suppliers, compare solutions or explain complex services. Others are still using Google but never scroll past the AI Overview at the top of the page. Either way, the old rules of SEO aren't enough on their own anymore.
We help B2B companies get cited and recommended in AI-generated answers, not just ranked in traditional search results.
What Is AI Search Optimisation? (And what are GEO and AEO?)
You might have seen two acronyms floating around: GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation). The marketing industry, in its infinite wisdom, hasn't settled on which term to use, and to be honest, neither has anyone else. So let's cut through the noise.
GEO is about getting your brand cited by AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini when someone asks them a question your business can answer. Think of it as making sure the AI knows you exist, trusts your content and mentions you by name.
AEO is a slightly broader idea. It covers those AI tools but also includes Google's AI Overviews (the AI-generated summaries that now sit above the traditional search results), Bing's Copilot answers and voice assistants like Siri and Alexa.
In practice, the two overlap so much that the distinction is mostly academic. What matters is the principle behind both: your content needs to be well-structured and clear enough that AI systems choose to surface it when someone asks a relevant question.
That's what we do. We call it AI search optimisation because, frankly, that's what it is.
Why B2B Companies Can't Afford To Ignore This
Here's the thing. If you sell consumer products, people might still browse, compare and click through a dozen websites. But in B2B? Your buyers are time-poor, dealing with complex purchasing decisions and increasingly turning to AI tools to do the legwork for them.
According to Forrester, 89% of B2B buyers now use generative AI as part of their research process. That's not a future prediction, that's what's happening right now. When a procurement manager asks ChatGPT "who are the best web design agencies in Scotland" or an engineer asks Perplexity "which companies provide subsea inspection services in the North Sea," your name either comes up or it doesn't.
And here's the uncomfortable truth: traditional SEO, on its own, won't get you there. You can rank on page one of Google and still be completely invisible to AI search tools. That's because these tools don't just scrape Google's results — they build their answers from a much wider pool of sources, and they have their own criteria for what they consider trustworthy enough to cite.
If you're a B2B company that relies on inbound leads, this is a channel you need to be thinking about now, not in two years.
How Is This Different From Traditional SEO?
We should be upfront: AI search optimisation isn't a replacement for SEO. It builds on it. A lot of what makes your content attractive to AI systems is the same stuff that makes it attractive to Google — quality writing, genuine expertise, clear structure and a decent technical foundation.
But there are some important differences in emphasis.
AI tools care more about how you say things. They're looking for content that directly answers questions in a clear, authoritative way. Long-winded introductions and keyword-stuffed paragraphs don't help. If anything, they hurt, because AI models are quite good at recognising waffle and skipping over it.
Reputation and citations matter more. AI models weigh up how often your brand is mentioned across the web — in industry publications, directories, news sites, forums and so on. They're essentially looking for consensus: "Do other credible sources confirm that this company knows what it's talking about?" If you've got thin coverage, you'll struggle to get cited.
Structured data becomes even more important. Schema markup, FAQ sections, clear heading hierarchies and well-organised content all help AI systems extract and cite your information accurately. It's the digital equivalent of making your content easy to quote.
The content format changes. AI tools love content that's written in a question-and-answer format, that includes specific data points, and that states things definitively rather than hedging. "We think X" is fine — AI actually responds well to stated opinions backed by experience. "X might potentially be considered by some to be..." is not.
>What We Do, In Plain English
We won't pretend there's a magic formula here. AI search is a new and fast-moving space, and anyone who tells you they've got it completely figured out is either lying or selling something. What we can tell you is what works based on what we've seen, what the research tells us and what we're doing for clients right now.
AI search audit. We start by finding out where you currently stand. Are AI tools mentioning your brand? Which ones? For which queries? Where are the gaps? This gives us a baseline and tells us where to focus.
Content optimisation for AI citation. We review your existing content and restructure it so AI systems can extract answers from it more easily. That means clearer question-and-answer formatting, better heading structures, stronger opening statements and the kind of specific, factual content that AI tools prefer to cite.
Authority and mention building. We work on getting your brand mentioned in the places that AI models draw from — industry publications, relevant directories, partnership pages and credible third-party sources. This isn't link building in the old-school SEO sense (though links help too). It's about building the kind of digital reputation that makes AI systems trust you.
Schema and technical optimisation. We make sure your site's technical foundation gives AI systems what they need to understand and cite your content accurately. That includes schema markup, proper heading hierarchies, FAQ structures and clean, crawlable page architecture.
Ongoing monitoring. AI search is changing fast. We track your visibility across the major AI platforms on an ongoing basis and adjust the strategy as things change. What works today might need tweaking in six months, and we'd rather stay ahead of that than play catch-up.
An Honest Word About Where Things Stand
We wouldn't be Red Evolution if we didn't give you the straight talk, so here it is.
AI search optimisation is important, and it's going to become more important. But it's also a young discipline. There's no equivalent of Google Search Console giving you neat, reliable data on how often AI tools cite you. The measurement tools are improving rapidly, but they're not perfect yet.
What we do know is this: the companies that start building their AI search presence now will have a significant advantage over those that wait. It's a bit like the early days of SEO — the businesses that took it seriously before their competitors did are the ones that still dominate the search results twenty years later.
We also know that good AI search optimisation and good SEO are not in conflict. In fact, most of the work we do to improve your AI visibility also improves your traditional search performance. It's not an either/or decision.
And we know that for B2B companies specifically, where the buying cycle is longer and buyers do more research before ever picking up the phone, being present in AI-generated answers gives you an edge that's only going to grow.
How It Works If You Want To Talk
We always start with a conversation. No pitch deck, no pressure. We'll have a look at where your brand currently shows up (and doesn't) in AI search results, give you an honest assessment of the opportunity and talk about what would make sense for your business.
If it turns out traditional SEO is actually your bigger priority right now, we'll tell you that. We're not going to push a shiny new service on you if the foundations aren't there yet.
B2B SEO Agency FAQ
We monitor your brand's visibility across the major AI platforms on an ongoing basis, tracking which queries mention you, how often and in what context. The measurement tools are newer and less mature than something like Google Search Console, but they're improving fast. We'll give you regular, honest reporting on what's working and what isn't.
It depends on where you're starting from. If you've already got strong content and a decent online reputation, you might see improvements within a few weeks. If we're building from scratch, it's more like three to six months before the changes really take hold. We'll give you a realistic timeline once we've done the initial audit.
If your buyers research suppliers online before getting in touch (and in B2B, they almost certainly do), then yes. We work with companies in engineering, energy, technology and professional services, and we're seeing AI search adoption across all of them. The specifics vary by sector, but the principle is the same: your buyers are asking AI tools for recommendations, and you want your name to come up.
It depends on the scope. AI search optimisation can be a standalone service or part of a broader SEO and content strategy. We'll talk through the options and give you a clear idea of costs before anything starts. No surprises.
Ready To Discuss Your AI Search Requirements?
You'll find our plain English approach refreshing, so please use this form to tell us about your project, and we'll contact you to arrange a convenient time to discuss it.
If you'd prefer to book a meeting right now, at a time that suits you, you can do that here.
We won't share your information or use it for any purpose other than to contact you to discuss your requirements.