Google Just Told Us How to Optimise for AI Search. Here’s What It Actually Means for Your Small Business.

This is the first article in a three-part series on what AI search means for Australian small businesses. This piece covers Google’s official guidance on AI search and why most “GEO” services are unnecessary. Part 2 covers the genuine shifts happening in user behaviour. Part 3 translates Google’s I/O 2026 announcements into a practical SMB action list.

For the last 18 months, every SMB owner I’ve spoken to has asked me some version of the same question. “What about ChatGPT? What about Google’s AI Overviews? Do I need to do something different now?”

Fair question. The marketing world has been telling them they absolutely do. There’s been a flood of agencies pitching “GEO” and “AEO” services, Generative Engine Optimisation and Answer Engine Optimisation, promising that without a brand-new strategy, their website will be invisible to AI. Some are charging serious money for it.

Last week, Google quietly published its own guidelines on optimising for generative AI features. And the message, in plain English, is this: most of what’s being sold as GEO is unnecessary, and the fundamentals you should already be doing are what actually matter.

That’s a big deal. So let me translate what Google has said, what it means for your business, and what you should actually do about it.

The headline: AI search is still search

Here’s the line that does most of the work in Google’s guide: their generative AI features on Google Search are rooted in their core Search ranking and quality systems.

In plain English, when Google’s AI generates an answer in an AI Overview or AI Mode response, it isn’t pulling from some separate, mystical AI index. It’s pulling from the same search index that powers regular Google results. The AI then summarises and presents what it finds.

Google goes further and addresses the GEO and AEO terminology head-on. From Google’s perspective, optimising for generative AI search is optimising for the search experience, and is still SEO.

If you run a Sydney plumbing business and you already rank well for “emergency plumber Sydney,” you are already in the pool of pages Google’s AI can draw from when someone asks ChatGPT-style questions through Google. You don’t need a separate strategy to “get into” AI. You need to be findable in search in the first place.

This is the part the GEO industry doesn’t love to admit. Good SEO is GEO. They are not two different things.

What Google says you can ignore

This is the section of the guide I’d print out and stick on the wall if I were an SMB owner being pitched AI optimisation services. Google explicitly lists practices that some agencies are selling, but that don’t help you in Google Search:

llms.txt files

This is a text file some are recommending you add to your site to “talk to AI.” Google says you don’t need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files, markup, or Markdown to appear in generative AI search. If an agency is charging you to set this up for Google rankings, that’s a red flag.

“Chunking” your content into tiny pieces for AI

Google says their systems can understand the nuance of multiple topics on a page and show the relevant piece to users. You don’t need to chop your service pages into bite-sized AI-snacks.

Rewriting your content “for AI”

AI systems can understand synonyms and general meanings, so you don’t have to capture every variation of how someone might seek your content. Write for humans. The AI will catch up.

Chasing inauthentic “mentions” across the web

Some GEO playbooks recommend manufacturing brand mentions in forums and blog posts to “feed the AI.” Google says seeking inauthentic mentions isn’t as helpful as it might seem, because both their core ranking systems and spam systems are designed to focus on high-quality content and block manipulation.

Overinvesting in structured data

Structured data isn’t required for generative AI search, and there’s no special schema markup you need to add. It’s still worth using for rich results in regular search, but it’s not a magic ticket into AI Overviews.

If you’ve been pitched any of these as essential to AI search visibility, you have my permission to be sceptical. Google has now said, on the record, that they’re not.

What Google says actually works

Here’s where it gets useful. Google’s guide doesn’t just debunk, it tells you what genuinely improves your visibility in AI search. And if you’ve worked with us, none of this will surprise you, because it’s the same playbook we’ve been running for Aussie SMBs for years.

Create content that isn’t a commodity

This is the single biggest factor Google calls out. Google says creating content that people find unique, compelling, and useful will likely influence your website’s presence in generative AI search in the long run more than any of the other suggestions in their guide.

The distinction Google draws is sharp. “Commodity content” is something like “7 Tips for First-Time Homebuyers”, common knowledge that could originate from anyone. “Non-commodity content” is something like “Why We Waived the Inspection and Saved Money: A Look Inside the Sewer Line”, unique, experienced takes that go beyond common knowledge.

Translate that to your business. If you’re a Brisbane electrician and your blog has a generic “10 Reasons to Hire a Licensed Electrician” post, that’s commodity content. Every electrician in Australia could have written it. AI has no reason to pick it over anyone else’s.

But “What we found when we opened up the switchboard of a 1970s Queenslander, and what it cost to make it safe”? That’s non-commodity. It’s specific. It’s lived. It’s something only you could have written. That’s what Google’s AI is looking to surface.

This is the part most SMBs underinvest in. They want generic SEO content because it feels safer and easier to produce. But generic content is now actively working against you in AI search.

Get your technical SEO right

Boring but non-negotiable. To be eligible to appear in Google’s generative AI features, a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet.

That means the same fundamentals we’ve always banged on about: a fast site, clean URL structure, no crawl errors, proper indexing, mobile-friendly, good page experience. If Google can’t crawl and index your page, the AI literally cannot see it. No amount of clever content will fix that.

For many SMB sites, especially older Wix and Squarespace builds or DIY WordPress sites, this is where the easiest wins are hiding.

Sort out your Google Business Profile and local listings

This one’s huge for SMBs, and Google explicitly calls it out. Google says generative AI responses can include product listings, product information, and information about local businesses, and that using products like Google Business Profiles can help your products and services be visible in both AI responses and other Google Search results.

If you’re a restaurant in Surry Hills, an accountant in Spring Hill, or a landscaper servicing the NSW Central Coast, your Google Business Profile is the most undervalued asset you own. When someone asks an AI “best brunch spot near Bondi Junction” or “accountant for small business in Melbourne CBD,” the AI is leaning heavily on Google Business Profile data, reviews, and local signals.

If your GBP is half-filled in or hasn’t been touched in two years, no GEO strategy in the world will save you. Fix this first.

Add proper images and video

Google’s generative AI search features can bring in relevant images and videos, which means more opportunities for your website to appear beyond web page links.

For trades, hospitality, retail and health businesses, this is real opportunity. Photos of actual work you’ve done, actual products, actual premises, properly tagged and optimised, give the AI more ways to surface your business. Stock photos do almost nothing.

What this means for Australian SMBs right now

Let me bring this back to the practical level, because I know that’s what you actually came here for.

You don’t need to panic about AI search

You don’t need to throw out your SEO strategy and start again. You don’t need to pay anyone to add llms.txt files or “rewrite your content for AI” or chase mentions on Reddit. If anyone is telling you that you do, ask them to show you where Google says so. They can’t, because Google has now said the opposite.

You do need to take content seriously

This is where most Aussie SMBs lose. The era of thin, generic, “10 tips” blog posts pumped out for SEO is dead. AI is fully capable of generating that content itself, instantly, for free. The only content that earns its place in AI responses going forward is content with a real point of view, real expertise, real local knowledge, and real specifics. If you’re a tradie, the case study of the actual job you did last week is worth more than ten generic blog posts.

You do need to nail your fundamentals

Get the technical SEO right. Get your Google Business Profile right. Get your reviews flowing. Get genuine, useful content published consistently. That’s the work. It’s not glamorous, and it’s not new, but it’s what actually compounds.

You should be cautious with anyone selling “AI optimisation” as a separate product

If an agency’s “GEO package” is meaningfully different from their SEO package, ask them exactly what’s in it that Google’s own guide doesn’t tell you to ignore. There may be a legitimate answer. But you’re entitled to a straight one.

The honest summary

I’ll be direct, because that’s what we do. Google has just confirmed what good SEO agencies have been saying all along: there’s no secret AI back door. There’s no shortcut. The same things that have always worked in search: useful content written by people who actually know their subject, a technically sound website, a well-maintained local presence, and genuine authority earned over time, are the same things that work in AI search.

That’s good news for SMBs who’ve been doing the work properly. It’s uncomfortable news for anyone who’s been sold an “AI strategy” that’s really just a repackaging of basic SEO with a higher price tag.

If you’re not sure which camp you’re in, that’s worth a conversation. We do free, no-obligation reviews for Aussie small businesses. We’ll tell you honestly where you stand in both traditional search and AI search, and what’s actually worth doing about it.

No jargon. No scare tactics. No lock-in contracts. Just a straight answer.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is GEO and AEO in SEO?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) are terms used to describe optimising for AI-powered search results, such as Google’s AI Overviews, AI Mode, and tools like ChatGPT. According to Google’s own guidance, optimising for generative AI search is still SEO; the same techniques that earn rankings in traditional search are what surface your business in AI responses.

2. Do I need a separate AI search strategy for my small business?

No. Google has confirmed that AI search uses the same search index and ranking systems as regular Google Search. If your site is well-optimised for traditional SEO, you’re already eligible to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode results. There’s no separate “AI index” to get into.

3. What “GEO” practices does Google say I can ignore?

Google explicitly states that adding llms.txt files, “chunking” content for AI, rewriting your website for LLMs, chasing inauthentic brand mentions, and overinvesting in schema markup are not required for AI search visibility. If an agency is charging you for these as a separate AI service, that’s worth questioning.

4. What actually improves my visibility in AI search results?

Unique, expertise-led content (not generic “10 tips” articles), solid technical SEO, a complete and well-maintained Google Business Profile, original images and videos of your actual work, and genuine authority earned over time. These are the same fundamentals that drive traditional SEO success.

This piece was followed up with: AI Search Is Changing How Customers Find You. Here’s What Australian SMBs Should Actually Do About It.