SEO & Digital Marketing Company in East London
SEO & Digital Marketing Company in East London
SEO & Digital Marketing Company in East London
AI Search Optimisation Services · South AfricaGet found when South Africans ask AI
Your customers are asking Google AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity who to hire. The answer names three or four businesses. New Perspective Design provides AI search optimisation services that get your business into that answer, described the way you want to be found.
We test the questions your customers actually ask, show you who gets recommended instead of you, find the sources the AI is reading, and fix what is keeping you out. Start with a free AI visibility audit.
Google AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity
Google AI Overviews
Gemini
ChatGPT
Claude
Perplexity
How Do I Optimise My Website for Google AI Overviews?
To optimise your website for Google AI Overviews, make sure Google can index each page and show it with a snippet, let search and AI crawlers through your hosting and security settings, rank for the question and the follow-up questions around it, answer that question in plain words near the top of the page, and keep your business facts identical across your website, Google Business Profile and directory listings. Then track the real questions your customers ask, because AI answers change from week to week.
There is no special file, tag or plugin that puts a business into an AI Overview. Google says so itself: the requirements are the same as for normal search. What changes is how the answer gets built. Google breaks one question into several related searches, reads the pages that come back, and writes a summary with links to its sources. Your page has to be one of the pages it reads, and the clearest one on the point it needs.
Here are the steps in the order we work through them.
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Check that Google has indexed the page and can show a snippet
AI Overviews and AI Mode only cite pages that are in Google's index and eligible to appear with a snippet. A page with a noindex tag, a nosnippet tag or a tight max-snippet setting cannot be quoted, however good it is. Run each key page through the URL Inspection tool in Google Search Console. If it says "URL is not on Google", nothing else on this list matters yet.
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Let the crawlers in
Your robots.txt file, your CDN and your security plugin can all block bots without you knowing. Cloudflare now blocks AI crawlers by default on new sites, and hosting firewalls often treat unfamiliar bots as attacks. Check that Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search), Claude-SearchBot and PerplexityBot are allowed. Blocking Google-Extended does not affect AI Overviews. That token only covers Google's other AI products.
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Rank for the question, and for the questions around it
Organic ranking still feeds the answer. In our own tracking, roughly a quarter of AI citations come from pages already in the organic top 20, and the rest come from pages that rank for the related searches Google runs behind the scenes. A page about "website design Pretoria" also needs to answer what it costs, how long it takes and what is included, because those are the follow-up searches the AI runs. This is why AI search optimisation sits on top of SEO and never replaces it.
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Answer the question in plain words near the top
Put a direct, complete answer in the first third of the page, under a heading that matches the way people phrase the question. Use real numbers: prices, timeframes, areas served. "From R5,990 per month" can be quoted. "Affordable packages" cannot. Tables and lists help when the content is a comparison or a set of steps.
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Say the same thing everywhere
AI systems compare your website with your Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Facebook, directory listings and reviews. If your site says you are an SEO company and your listings say you are a WordPress designer, the AI is less sure what you are and names someone else. Name, address and phone number are the easy part. The service description has to match too.
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Get talked about on other websites
Most of what AI says about a brand comes from sources the brand does not own: directories, review platforms, industry lists, news articles, YouTube videos and forum threads. Mentions count even without a link. Find out which sources the AI cites for your industry, then get your business onto them with accurate, matching information.
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Track prompts, not just keywords
Pick the 10 to 50 questions your customers would actually type, run them across the platforms on a schedule, and record who gets named, which sources are cited and whether your details are correct. One test proves nothing, because answers vary by day, location and wording. Repeated tests show the trend.
Want the long version written for business owners? Read our guide on how to get your website to show up in AI.
How Google AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity Choose Their Sources
Each AI platform searches the web through a different index. That is why a business can appear in Google's AI Overview and be missing from ChatGPT on the same day. The work underneath is the same. The checks are not.
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode
Built on Google Search. Sources come from Google's own index, chosen by the same ranking systems as normal results.
- Where it looks
- Google's index, plus several related searches per question
- What keeps you out
- Not indexed, noindex or nosnippet, Googlebot blocked, weak rankings for the related searches
- What to check
- Search Console URL Inspection, Performance report, Google Business Profile
Gemini
When Gemini answers with current information from the web, it grounds that answer in Google Search. If Google has not indexed your page, Gemini has nothing of yours to cite.
- Where it looks
- Google Search results and Google's own data, such as Maps and Business Profiles
- What keeps you out
- The same gaps that keep you out of Google
- What to check
- Your Google index coverage and your Google Business Profile
ChatGPT
ChatGPT search uses outside search providers, Bing being the best known, alongside OpenAI's own crawler, OAI-SearchBot. A site that ranks well on Google can still be missing here if Bing has barely indexed it.
- Where it looks
- Bing's index, OAI-SearchBot's crawl, and what the model learnt in training
- What keeps you out
- OAI-SearchBot blocked in robots.txt or by a firewall, poor Bing coverage
- What to check
- Bing Webmaster Tools, IndexNow, your robots.txt
Claude
Claude searches the web when a question needs current information, and cites the pages it uses. Anthropic runs separate bots for training (ClaudeBot) and for search (Claude-SearchBot), so you can block one without the other.
- Where it looks
- Live web search, plus what the model learnt in training
- What keeps you out
- Claude-SearchBot blocked, thin or unclear service pages
- What to check
- Your robots.txt and CDN bot settings
Perplexity
Perplexity runs its own crawler, PerplexityBot, and shows its sources with every answer. It leans heavily on forums, review platforms and comparison sites, so third-party mentions carry more weight here than anywhere else.
- Where it looks
- Its own crawl and live search, with a strong lean towards forums and review sites
- What keeps you out
- PerplexityBot blocked, no presence on the sites it trusts for your industry
- What to check
- Which sources it cites for your competitors
Microsoft Copilot
Copilot is built on Bing. Fix your Bing coverage for ChatGPT and you fix most of Copilot at the same time.
- Where it looks
- Bing's index
- What keeps you out
- Bingbot blocked, pages missing from Bing
- What to check
- Bing Webmaster Tools

What Is AI Search Optimisation, and How Is It Different From SEO?
AI search optimisation is the work of making a business easy for AI systems to find, understand and recommend when people ask them questions. You will also see it called answer engine optimisation (AEO), generative engine optimisation (GEO), LLM optimisation (LLMO) or AI SEO. They describe the same goal.
It shares most of its work with traditional SEO: crawlable pages, good rankings, clear content and trusted links. What it adds is prompt research, answer tracking, citation analysis, competitor comparison and consistent business facts across the web, measured as citations and mentions rather than clicks.
The shift is already happening. Customers ask an AI tool to compare providers, read a summary, and contact one of the three or four businesses it names. A link in that answer sends traffic. A mention without a link sends people to Google to search your name, and they arrive already convinced.
AI search optimisation does not replace SEO. SEO is the foundation it sits on, which is why we sell the two together.
See What AI Says About Your Business
Before you spend anything, find out where you stand. Our AI visibility audit is free (R4,990 value) and answers four questions:
- Does your business appear when customers ask AI for what you sell?
- Which competitors get recommended instead of you?
- Which websites and sources is the AI reading for your industry?
- Are your business details, services and prices described correctly?
What the audit includes
- Commercial prompts tested across Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity
- Up to three competitors compared on the same prompts
- The sources cited in each answer, and whether you are listed on them
- Indexing and crawler access check for Google, Bing and the AI search bots
- Consistency check across your website, Google Business Profile and main listings
- A prioritised action plan you can use with us or on your own
AI Citation Tracking Data: What We Measure Across 50 South African Prompts
We track 50 prompts across Google AI Mode, ChatGPT and Perplexity using SE Ranking. These are prompts, not search phrases, because that is how people now ask. Here is what our own tracking returned for the South African market in May 2026.
| Figure | What it measures |
|---|---|
| 98% | of tracked prompts return a Google AI Overview |
| 27% | of those AI Overviews link to our site |
| 4% | carry a brand mention |
| 25% | overlap between the organic top 20 and AI citations |
That last number is the one that matters, and it cuts both ways.
Only about a quarter of AI citations come from the organic top 20. The figure moves between 25 and 30% depending on the week. So AEO is not just SEO under a new name: three quarters of AI citations come from somewhere your main rankings do not reach. And SEO is not dead either, because that quarter is real and it is the most reliable quarter you have.
Brand Mentions vs Links in AI Overviews, and Why Both Drive Enquiries
A link in an AI Overview sends traffic. A mention without a link does something different. People read the answer, then search your brand name on Google. We see it in branded search volume, and clients tell us directly that people arrive saying ChatGPT recommended them.
AI answers carry a low click-through rate. But the person reading that answer still needs the service and still has to buy it somewhere. The demand does not disappear because the click did. It arrives through a different door.
Google AI Overview Results: South African Businesses We Have Placed in AI Search
Live AI Overview results for clients across seven unrelated industries. Different sectors, different competition levels, same method. More detail sits in our case studies.
EHAD Fuel Equipment, George
"where can I buy a fuel dispenser in south africa"
Organic result one, named in the AI Overview opening sentence, and listed again under key suppliers. All three layers at once.
Octodive, Cape Town
"i need ship hull cleaning services south africa"
Listed first among providers, ahead of four competitors, with a source card in the panel.
Star Tents, Cape Town
"where i buy stretch tents in south africa"
Named in the manufacturer list with a link, then again in a separate source card further down the page.
Catercom, Pretoria
"who is the best catering company in pretoria"
Named under corporate and business catering, in a category where the AI splits providers by event type.
MoBioplus, Limpopo
"moringa biostimulant for farming south africa"
Named alongside citations from PubMed Central and the University of Johannesburg. A commercial brand holding position in an answer built on academic sources.
VS Debt Counselling, East London
"debt counsellors east london"
Named with full address and DCASA accreditation, plus a dedicated source card. Regulated industry, accurate details pulled straight through.
How We Build AI Search Visibility: The New Perspective Design AEO Process
Measure first, fix what matters, then retest with the same prompts. Every client goes through the same six stages.
1. Prompt Research and Baseline Tracking
We build the list of questions your customers actually ask AI, by service and by location, and run them across the platforms. Every answer is recorded: who is named, in what order, which sources are cited, and whether your details are right. This baseline is what every later report is measured against.
2. Technical Access and Indexing
We check Google and Bing index coverage, robots.txt, CDN and firewall bot settings, sitemaps, snippet controls and rendering. A blocked crawler or an unindexed page stops everything else from working, so this is fixed first.
3. Semantic Entity Mapping and Brand Consensus Auditing
We check what the web says about you, not just what your website says. If your site says you are the best SEO company and most of your listings say you are WordPress designers, an AI system working on consensus and probability hesitates. Hesitation costs you the citation. We find the contradictions and remove them.
4. Entity Classification and Topical Authority
"Best WordPress designers in South Africa" and "best web designers in South Africa" are different questions with different answers. No business wins every category. We work out which specific category you can realistically own, then build toward it before widening out.
5. AI Citation Source Investigation
We look at every source the AI cites for your prompts and check whether your competitors are listed there and you are not. Asking the AI where it got an answer gives a lead, not proof, because it can make sources up. We go to the page and check it ourselves.
6. Content, Listings and Structured Data
We rewrite key service pages so the answer sits near the top, with real prices, areas and timeframes. We place you on the directories and profiles that carry weight in your industry, with matching messaging. We add structured data where it describes the page accurately. This is easier on a properly structured website.
AI Search Optimisation Pricing in South Africa
AI search optimisation at New Perspective Design costs from R5,990 to R19,990 per month, depending on how many prompts we track and how competitive your market is. The AI visibility audit is free. Packages run alongside SEO, because SEO is the foundation the work is built on.
Tracked prompt volume sets the price, not an hour count. A single-service business in a small market needs far less work than a multi-service firm in a contested city.
| Package | Price | Prompts tracked | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI Visibility Audit | Free | Baseline test | Any business that wants to know where it stands |
| AI Visibility Foundation | From R5,990 per month | 10 | Single-location businesses with one core service |
| AI Authority Build | From R9,990 per month | 25 | Multi-service or multi-location businesses in contested markets |
| Entity Dominance | From R19,990 per month | 50 | National brands where AI referral is a main channel |
The AI visibility audit is free. Monthly packages run alongside SEO.
Single-service businesses
AI Visibility Foundation
For single-location service businesses with one core service in a low competition market.
From
R5,990
Per month, alongside SEO
Starts with the free AI visibility audit. 10 prompts tracked every month across the AI platforms.
What you get
Your site unblocked and indexed for every AI platform, your business facts matching everywhere, and a monthly report showing where AI names you.
Includes
- 10 tracked promptsThe questions your customers actually ask AI
- AI crawler access and indexing fixesGoogle, Bing and the AI search bots let through
- Entity and consensus auditWebsite, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube and listings
- Category decision agreed with youSettled before anything ships
- Messaging alignmentThe same service description on every profile
- Up to 5 directory placementsChosen for your industry
- Semantic HTML and schemaOn your core service pages
- Monthly citation and mention reportWho is named, and which sources are cited
Does not include: backlink gap work, link building, new content production, ongoing directory expansion.
Most common
AI Authority Build
For multi-service or multi-location businesses in contested categories.
From
R9,990
Per month, alongside SEO
Everything in Foundation, with 25 prompts tracked every month and active work on the sources AI cites.
What you get
Everything in Foundation, plus the sources your competitors are cited from, a link plan against the gaps, and content built from what only your business can say.
Includes
- 25 tracked promptsBy service and by location
- Competitor citation auditWho is cited, from where, and where they are listed that you are not
- Backlink gap analysis and link planBuilt against the gaps, then worked monthly
- Content interviews with your teamTurned into pages that say something competitors do not
- Around 15 directory and profile placementsWith matching messaging
- Media built for citationTables, images and structured data on key pages
- Monthly report with organic to AI overlapTracked alongside citations
National brands
Entity Dominance
For national brands in competitive categories where AI referral is a primary channel.
From
R19,990
Per month, alongside SEO
Everything in Authority Build, with 50 prompts tracked every month and a quarterly strategy review.
What you get
Everything in Authority Build, plus an ongoing content programme, video and PDF assets made for citation, and branded search lift from AI mentions attributed in GA4.
Includes
- 50 tracked promptsAcross Google AI Mode, Perplexity and ChatGPT
- Continuous source investigationCited sources checked and verified every cycle
- Ongoing content programmeNot a fixed build
- Awards and industry placementsSubmissions handled for you
- Video and PDF assetsProduced for citation
- GA4 and Search Console attributionBranded search lift from AI mentions measured
- Quarterly strategy reviewOn top of monthly reporting
AI SEO Tactics That Will Not Get You Into AI Answers on Their Own
AI search is new enough that a lot of advice is repeated rather than tested. These are the four we get asked about most.
An llms.txt File
Some agencies sell llms.txt and llms.json files as the core of generative engine optimisation, on the basis that they tell AI models how to describe your brand. No major AI platform has confirmed it uses them, and large studies across hundreds of thousands of sites found no effect on citations. AI crawlers read your rendered pages like every other crawler. The files cost almost nothing to add, so we will add one if you want it. We will not charge for it as a strategy.
Schema Markup on Its Own
Structured data helps machines read your organisation details, services and prices without guessing, and we add it where it matches the page. Google states that no special schema is needed for AI Overviews, and adding schema to a page that does not already answer the question does not get it cited.
Shaving Milliseconds Off Page Speed
A page that takes ten seconds to load loses visitors, and that hurts. The gap between a two second and a three second load is not why you are missing from AI answers. We fix speed problems. We will not pretend they are the reason you are not cited.
Guaranteed AI Placements
AI platforms control their own answers and change them often. Nobody can guarantee that ChatGPT or Google will recommend your business. What can be done is to make your business easier to find, easier to verify and more consistently described, then measure whether that changes the answers.
How We Read E-E-A-T: Information Gain Over Author Bios
When Google started talking about E-E-A-T, much of the industry focused on the surface: author bios, founder quotes, credential boxes. Google was asking for content that says something useful the other pages do not. So we start by asking you about your service in your own words. You are the expert, and you do not write for SEO, which makes your answer worth more than anything a content mill produces. Not one of the client results above carries an author bio or a founder quote.
How to Choose an AI Search Optimisation Agency in South Africa
Ask any agency, including us, these questions before you sign:
- Which prompts will you track, and can I see the raw answers?
- Which AI platforms do you test, and how often?
- Will you fix the website, or only report on it?
- How do you check crawler access and Bing coverage?
- How will you keep my business details consistent across listings?
- What do you report each month, and against which baseline?
- Are you guaranteeing placements? If yes, walk away.
Tracking software can show that you are missing from an AI answer. It cannot fix a weak service page, unblock a crawler or correct your listings. Because we build and host websites as well as run SEO, the same team that finds the gap fixes it.
Built for Businesses That Depend on Being Found and Trusted
Local service businesses
Plumbers, caterers, debt counsellors, guest houses and practices targeting customers in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban, East London and smaller towns.
Professional services
Law firms, accountants, consultants and medical practices, where people ask AI who to trust before they phone anyone.
Suppliers, manufacturers and B2B
Businesses with longer buying cycles, where procurement teams use AI to build a shortlist.
Ecommerce brands
Stores that want their products and categories named accurately when shoppers ask AI to compare options.
How Long AI Search Visibility Takes in South Africa
Generative AI picks up new signals faster than classic SEO ever did. On an established domain we typically see movement inside a month. On a new domain, two to three months.
- Nothing is guaranteed. AI platforms decide their own answers.
- If your competitors are actively working on this, it takes longer.
- Platform updates can reshuffle results without warning.
- AI search is still moving. When something we relied on stops working, we tell you.
We use Google Analytics 4 and Search Console alongside SE Ranking. None of these is 100% accurate on its own, which is why we read them together. The same discipline runs through the rest of our digital marketing work. To check your site's SEO health first, use our free SEO audit tool.
AI Search Optimisation in South Africa: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get my business to show up in ChatGPT?
Make sure Bing has indexed your site and that OAI-SearchBot is not blocked in your robots.txt or by your firewall, because ChatGPT search draws on both. Then give it a clear service page with real prices and areas, and get your business listed accurately on the directories and review sites ChatGPT cites for your industry.
Why does my business show in Google but not in ChatGPT?
Because they search different indexes. Google AI Overviews use Google's index. ChatGPT search relies on outside providers such as Bing plus OpenAI's own crawler. A site that ranks on Google can be thin in Bing, or blocked from OAI-SearchBot by a hosting or CDN setting.
What is AEO and why does it matter for South African businesses?
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) makes your business easy for AI systems to find, understand and recommend. AI tools cross-check what the web says about your brand across your site, profiles, listings and reviews. AEO makes that picture consistent, so you are named correctly when customers ask.
Is AEO different from SEO?
Most of the work overlaps. Traditional SEO is page and query driven. AI search leans harder on consistency, third-party mentions and whether your business can be verified across trusted sources. We treat them as one foundation, not two services.
Can you do AEO without SEO?
No. SEO is the foundation AEO is built on, and we sell the monthly packages alongside SEO. Roughly a quarter of AI citations in our tracking come from the organic top 20, so weak organic performance limits your AI visibility before we start. The audit is free and has no SEO requirement.
Can you guarantee that ChatGPT or Google will recommend my business?
No. AI platforms control their own answers and update them often. We improve the signals they use and measure whether your mentions, citations and accuracy change over time.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
No. No major AI platform has confirmed it uses llms.txt. Crawler access, indexing, clear content, accurate business information and trusted third-party sources matter far more. We will add the file if you want it, at no charge.
How long before we see results?
Around a month on an established domain, two to three months on a new one. Faster than traditional SEO, but still dependent on your competition and your starting position.
Which AI platforms do you track?
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. We track prompts rather than search phrases, because that is how people now ask.
How much does AI search optimisation cost in South Africa?
Our AI visibility audit is free. Monthly packages cost from R5,990 to R19,990 per month, depending on tracked prompt volume and competition, and always run alongside SEO.
Do we need to publish AI-written content to rank?
No. Generic AI-written posts get ignored. What works is practical proof, clear service definitions, specific facts and consistent positioning across your site and external profiles.
Can you do this for an existing WordPress site?
Yes. Most of the gains come from fixing crawler access, tightening page structure and purpose, improving internal linking and aligning external profiles. It works as an upgrade, not only as a rebuild.
What Our Clients Say
Talk to a South African AI Search Optimisation Agency
We will run your business through our tracking, show you which prompts you already appear in, who is named instead of you, and whether this is worth doing for your business.
- Certified Google Ads Partner
- 450+ websites delivered
- 4.9 stars across 100+ Google reviews
- East London and Centurion, working nationally

