AI Optimisation (Generative Engine Optimisation – GEO)
As we boldly declare on our Search Engine Optimisation page, SEO is what we do at Digital Hothouse. SEO, however, is undergoing the greatest change in 15 years.
As AI search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini gather more and more traction and the way people search for information online changes, so must we. That’s why we’re ensuring that our focus includes, maybe even prioritises, AI Optimisation, whilst retaining all the great stuff that made us one of New Zealand’s leading SEO agencies.
With over 30 years of combined SEO experience across our team, we’ve seen it all. Panda, Penguin, Mobilegeddon, BERT, and Core Updates, to mention just a few. But nothing has disrupted the search landscape so dramatically as the rise of generative AI, and it’s here to stay.
Now, zero-click results are the norm. Answers are being surfaced directly in tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and even on platforms like TikTok and Reddit. If your business isn’t showing up in these new discovery platforms, you’re missing out on attention, traffic, and ultimately, sales.
At Digital Hothouse, we are investing in and prioritising AI Optimisation and have created a whitepaper to help you – it’s free to download. Download our Whitepaper on “The Future of Search: Beyond Rankings and Traffic”
AI Optimisation is about ensuring your brand is visible wherever your customers are searching, even if they’re not on Google.
We help optimise your content and digital presence to show up in:
- Google AI Overviews and Search Generative Experience (SGE) results
- AI search platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini
- Social and content platforms like YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, and LinkedIn
- Voice assistants and smart devices
- E-commerce search engines like Amazon and Etsy (where relevant)
According to recent industry data:
- 65% of searches now end without a click (SparkToro)
- Google’s AI Overviews have reduced clicks by 30% (Ahrefs)
- AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity are now a primary discovery source for millions of users
Search has moved from being page-based to answer-based. That means it’s no longer about ranking #1. Instead, it’s about being present where people are asking questions, and optimised for how AI chooses and presents information.
What We Deliver Through AI Optimisation
Entity-Based Content Strategies
AI engines rely on entities, not just keywords. We help you build topical authority by optimising for:
- Semantic relevance
- Contextual depth
- Clear entity linking
Structured Data and Schema
We ensure your content is machine-readable using advanced schema and structured data, the explicit language AI understands. We have been doing this for years for traditional SEO, however, there are additional layers that can make discovery more likely in AI platforms.
AI Prompt Optimisation
Want your brand mentioned in ChatGPT or Perplexity answers? We work to make your content visible to LLMs (Large Language Models) and help optimise how your content is likely to be used in response to prompts.
Third-Party Platform Presence
AI tools often pull data from trusted third-party sites. We help you:
- Optimise and claim profiles on Reddit, Quora, TikTok, LinkedIn and others
- Build content strategies that position you as a source across multiple platforms
- Increase your brand’s citation footprint, even outside your own website
Measurement and Visibility Dashboards
Forget solely tracking keyword rankings. We build custom Looker Studio dashboards to help you measure:
- Brand mentions across platforms
- AI-generated answers that include your brand
- Visibility across SERPs and non-traditional search surfaces
- Engagement and conversion beyond last-click attribution
This is a rapidly changing environment and flexibility and agility are the key. We are constantly looking for new and better ways to both optimise content but also to report on the metrics that matter the most to our clients.
We’re not throwing out everything that works. In fact, many of the best practices from traditional SEO are more important than ever:
- Strong content still wins.
- Great user experience still matters.
- Backlinks (and brand mentions/citations) still build authority.
- Technical SEO is still critical for discoverability, especially page speed and schema.
But now, we layer that with strategies specific to the new AI-powered world of search. Coined by Rand Fishkin, it’s what we like to call Search Everywhere Optimisation, and it means ensuring your brand is visible wherever users are asking questions, not just in Google.
Short-Term Wins
- Optimise for brand and entity recognition
- Build out structured data across key pages
- Get active and visible on Reddit, TikTok, Quora, and other AI-feeding platforms
- Add an LLMs.txt file to help LLMs find your best content (yes, that’s a real thing)
Mid-to-Long Term Strategy
- Invest in visual, voice-friendly, and short-form content
- Build comprehensive topical clusters around core service areas
- Use AI-assisted content creation workflows that start and end with a human
- Shift your KPIs from rankings and traffic to visibility, mentions, and conversion
Why Work With Digital Hothouse?
Whilst we would love to say we are ahead of the game when it comes to AI Optimisation, we are not bold enough to claim to have all the answers just yet. This is a rapidly evolving space and the truth is that no-one has this thing mastered just yet. We are, however, fully committed to being one of New Zealand’s driving forces when it comes to understanding and optimising for AI platforms and we have already invested heavily to ensure our clients maximise their visibility.
At Digital Hothouse:
- We attend the world’s top search events like SMX Masterclass in the US and BrightonSEO in the UK
- We experiment with real data to learn what actually works
- We combine technical expertise, strategic thinking, and human creativity
- We work across SEO, paid media, analytics, content marketing, and website development
- We have boots on the ground in both NZ and the UK
Whether you’re a small local business or a fast-growing eCommerce brand, we can help you stay visible, relevant, and competitive in the age of AI.
65%
of searches now end without a click
30%
reduction in clicks thanks to Google's AI Overviews
780 Million
Monthly searches on Perplexity
180.5 Million
Monthly ChatGPT users
Is SEO still relevant in 2025?
Yes, perhaps more than ever. But it’s evolving. AI Optimisation is the natural next step in your SEO journey.
How do I get my brand into AI search results like ChatGPT?
We use entity-based strategies, structured data, content syndication, and prompt-optimised content to increase your chances of being referenced or cited.
How do I measure success if rankings are less important?
We help you track brand mentions, third-party citations, visibility in AI answers, engagement, and assisted conversions. This is an evolving space, but we have already taken strides to gain a better understanding of how we can accurately measure the things that are most important to our clients.
Can’t I just use AI to create all my content?
AI is a great assistant, but human oversight, strategy, and storytelling are irreplaceable. At best, AI needs to be in the sandwich. Our approach is Human – AI – Human.
My board has always used traffic as a metric. Should we continue to do this?
Because of the changes in search behaviour, traffic is going to look significantly different from what it did before (i.e., lower). However, we are seeing conversion rates go up as the transactional traffic is still going to our clients’ websites, it’s the research intent traffic that is currently being answered by AI systems
