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How to Actually Get Found in AI Search (Without Gaming the System)

A real talk about visibility in the age of ChatGPT, AI Overviews, and what actually works for local businesses

Author

Eric Thomas
October 16, 2025

Hey there,

Let’s be honest—SEO advice has gotten... exhausting. Keyword stuffing, backlink hunting, meta this, H1 that—it all starts to feel like a giant game of digital Twister. But what happens when the rules change? When AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews are now answering questions before anyone even lands on your website?

That’s the world we’re living in now. And if your business isn’t showing up in those answers, you’re invisible.

I just put together a brand new AI Visibility Checklist—and it’s not your typical SEO guide. It’s real-world, no-fluff guidance for business owners who want to stay relevant in an AI-first search world. Not with gimmicks or “hacks,” but by making your business undeniably helpful, trustworthy, and visible to both humans and machines.

Here are a few quick takeaways from the guide:

  • AI doesn’t rank websites. It summarizes them. If your content isn’t clear, quotable, and trustworthy, it won’t get picked up.

  • Depth is more important than keywords. AI tools love content that thoroughly answers questions—especially local ones.

  • Reviews, citations, and media mentions matter more than ever. Think of them as your digital street cred.

  • Local context is critical. AI is learning who’s most relevant for your city, your climate, your customers.

  • Old SEO tactics? Still useful—but only if done with clarity and intent. Schema, internal links, and structured content still help machines understand your business.

And maybe most importantly: AI isn’t the enemy. It’s just picky. It only pulls from content it trusts. So the goal isn’t to trick the system—it’s to make your business so legit, so helpful, and so present that these tools can’t ignore you.

This guide will show you how to do exactly that.

Ready to see how visible you actually are—and what to fix if you’re not?

If you’re serious about getting your business seen in 2025 (and beyond), this is a must-read.

Talk soon,

-ET