AI search optimisation (GEO) in Switzerland
AI Search Optimisation: How Swiss SMEs Get Mentioned by ChatGPT and Google’s AI Answers
More of your customers ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google’s AI instead of clicking through ten results. Nobody can guarantee you a mention there. What you can do is make your business easy for these systems to find, understand and cite. Here’s what works, what’s hype, and how to check.
- No ranking guarantees
- Included in every website
- English and German
Generative engine optimisation (GEO) means preparing your website and business data so AI answers can use and cite them: clear answers near the top of each page, prices and contact details as text, structured data, a named author, consistent details on Google Business Profile and Swiss directories, and access for the crawlers that feed AI search.
At Clear Design Experts this is built into every website, and ongoing work is part of our SEO service from CHF 500 a month. No one can promise that ChatGPT will recommend you. Anyone who does is guessing.
Why many good businesses never appear in AI answers
Prices and address in images
AI systems read text. Facts locked in images, PDFs or sliders can’t be quoted.
A robots.txt that says no
Some sites block the crawlers ChatGPT and Perplexity use for search, often without knowing it.
No direct answer anywhere
If a page never says plainly what you do, where and for how much, there’s nothing an AI answer can cite.
Nobody can guarantee you a mention in ChatGPT or Google’s AI answers. What we can do is make your business easy to find, understand and cite, and check every month whether it’s working.
What’s different from normal SEO, and what isn’t
Most of GEO is good SEO done carefully. AI search systems still start from an index of web pages, and Google’s AI answers come from the same crawling as normal search. The difference is what gets rewarded at the end. A search result sends a visitor to your page. An AI answer lifts a sentence or a fact from it, and maybe names you as the source. So pages that state things plainly and specifically do better than pages that circle a topic.
| Classic SEO | AI search (GEO) | |
|---|---|---|
| The goal | A click on your result | Being named or cited in the answer |
| What wins | Relevance, links, a good page | Clear, quotable statements and consistent facts |
| Local businesses | Map results and service pages | The same, plus reviews and directory data the AI can cross-check |
| Measuring | Rankings and clicks in Search Console | Manual prompt tests and referral traffic from AI tools |
What we change on a page
You’re reading an example. This page follows the same rules we apply to client sites:
| Change | Why AI answers use it |
|---|---|
| A short, direct answer at the top | It can be quoted without rewriting. |
| Prices, address, hours and services as text | Facts inside images or PDFs are often missed. |
| Tables for comparisons | Clear rows are easy to extract correctly. |
| Structured data (Organization, LocalBusiness, FAQ, Service) | Machine-readable facts about who you are and what you offer. |
| A named author with real experience | Shows who stands behind the statements. |
| Sources and an “updated” date | Recent, sourced pages are safer to cite. |
| The same company details everywhere | The AI can confirm you’re one business, not three. |
Let the right crawlers in
Some websites block AI crawlers in robots.txt to keep their content out of model training, and accidentally block AI search too. The search crawlers and the training crawlers are often separate, so you can decide each one on its own:
| Crawler | What it’s for | Our recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| Googlebot | Google Search, including AI Overviews | Allow |
| Google-Extended | Use of content for Gemini. Doesn’t affect Google Search. | Your choice |
| OAI-SearchBot | Showing your site in ChatGPT search | Allow |
| GPTBot | OpenAI model training | Your choice |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity’s search index | Allow |
| Bingbot | Bing, which also feeds Microsoft Copilot | Allow |
Based on the crawler documentation of Google, OpenAI, Perplexity and Microsoft, October 2026.
What we don’t sell you
Guaranteed AI mentions. AI answers vary from one question to the next and from one day to the next. A provider promising “ChatGPT will recommend you” can’t control that.
llms.txt as a fix. It’s a proposed file that lists your important pages for AI tools. It costs little to add, but none of the big AI search providers has confirmed using it. It won’t change much on its own.
AI-written mass content. Fifty generic articles don’t make you citable. They make you look like everyone else. One page with your own prices, your own process and a real person behind it beats them.
How to check whether it’s working
There’s no AI equivalent of a ranking report yet. Google counts clicks from AI Overviews inside the normal web search numbers in Search Console, with no separate filter. So we keep it simple and repeatable:
| Method | How |
|---|---|
| Prompt test | Ten questions your customers would ask, such as “English-speaking fiduciary in Zug”, asked in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google once a month. Note whether you’re named and which source is cited. |
| Referral traffic | Visits from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and copilot.microsoft.com in your analytics. |
| Enquiry form | “How did you find us?” with “ChatGPT or another AI tool” as an option. Often the most honest signal. |
Is your website ready for AI search? A 60-second check
Tick what’s already true for your site.
What AI search optimisation costs with us
For new websites it costs nothing extra: every site we build in the subscription (from CHF 49 a month) is built with direct answers, text-based facts and structured data. Ongoing work, such as new content, prompt tests and directory clean-up, is part of our SEO service from CHF 500 a month. More on structured data in our guide to schema markup for SEO.
How we work on AI visibility
Included in every website
Every site we build in the subscription has direct answers, text-based facts and structured data from day one.
A monthly prompt test
Ten questions your customers would ask, in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, noting whether you're named and which source is cited.
No guaranteed mentions
AI answers change from question to question. Ongoing work is part of our SEO service from CHF 500 a month.
Asel Mamytova
Founder of Clear Design Experts. She builds client sites in English and German so that AI answers can quote them correctly, and wrote this page by the same rules.
Updated October 2026. Crawler details from the published documentation of Google, OpenAI, Perplexity and Microsoft. No affiliation with any AI provider.
AI search optimisation FAQ
What is GEO?
Generative engine optimisation: preparing your website and business data so AI answers in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot or Google can use and cite them.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend my business?
No. AI answers change from question to question and day to day. We make your business easy to find, understand and cite, and check the result with prompt tests.
Is GEO different from SEO?
Mostly it's careful SEO. The difference is the focus on quotable statements, consistent facts across the web and access for AI search crawlers.
What does it cost?
It's built into every website in our subscription from CHF 49 a month. Ongoing work is part of our SEO service from CHF 500 a month.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
It doesn't hurt, but none of the big AI search providers has confirmed using it. Clear content and open access for search crawlers matter far more.
What does ChatGPT say about your business today?
In a free 30-minute call we ask AI tools a few real customer questions about your business and look at the answers together. Or call: +41 79 570 52 37
