What is AI search? A guide for Australian businesses

How AI search is different from Google search

Traditional search gives people ten blue links and lets them decide. AI search reads those sources for them and writes one answer, usually naming only a handful of businesses. People ask longer, more specific questions ("best mortgage broker in Byron Bay for self-employed buyers"), ask follow-ups in the same conversation, and often act on the first answer they read.

• One answer, not a list: being fourth on a page of results still got clicks. Being left out of an AI answer gets nothing.
• Conversational: questions are longer and full of context, so the answer is tailored to the person asking.
• Recommendation-led: AI tools name businesses and explain why, which makes the answer feel like advice rather than an ad.

The AI search engines Australians use

• ChatGPT: the most widely used AI assistant. Uses live web search for many local and commercial questions. See how to get recommended by ChatGPT.
• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode: AI answers built into Google Search itself. See how to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode.
• Gemini: Google's assistant, drawing on Google's index and Maps data. Compare ChatGPT vs Gemini.
• Perplexity: an answer engine that shows its sources for every answer.
• Microsoft Copilot: built on Bing, and built into Windows and Edge.
• Claude: Anthropic's assistant, increasingly used for research. Compare ChatGPT vs Claude vs Perplexity.

How AI search chooses which businesses to name

Each engine works differently, but the pattern is consistent. They retrieve sources they can find and trust, check that those sources agree about who a business is and what it does, then name the businesses that best fit the question. More detail in how AI chooses its sources.

• Clear entity: a consistent name, address, category and description across your website, Google Business Profile and directories. See entity SEO for AI.
• Answer-ready content: pages that answer real customer questions directly, in paragraphs an AI can quote.
• Corroboration: reviews, articles, directories and other sites that mention you in the same terms.
• Technical access: pages that search engines and AI crawlers can reach, read and index, with accurate structured data.

What people call optimising for AI search

The work has several names, and they mostly describe the same thing: AI SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), AIO and LLM SEO. We break down the differences in AEO vs GEO vs AIO vs AI SEO. The outcome all of them aim for is AI visibility: how often and how accurately AI names you.

How to tell whether AI search recommends you

One test in one chat window tells you very little. Answers vary by engine, location, account and wording. Reliable measurement means asking a fixed set of real customer questions across several engines, repeatedly, and tracking how often you are named (your share of answer). Our method is in how to measure AI visibility, and you can start with the free AI visibility checker.

AI search by industry and location

How customers search depends on what they're buying. See our guides for mortgage brokers, builders, dentists and health and buyer's agents, or find your city on our locations page.

Frequently asked questions

What is AI search?

AI search is when someone asks an AI tool such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot or Claude a question and receives a written answer instead of a list of links. The answer often names a small number of businesses.

Is AI search replacing Google?

Not replacing it, but changing it. Google now shows AI-generated answers inside its own results through AI Overviews and AI Mode, while many people also ask ChatGPT and other assistants directly. Businesses need to be visible in both.

How do I get my business to show up in AI search?

Make your business easy to identify and trust: consistent entity details and structured data, pages that directly answer customer questions, a complete Google Business Profile, and mentions on other credible sites. Then measure how often AI names you across a fixed set of real customer questions.