How to Get Mentioned in AI Search Results Without Paid Ads
Look, I'm going to tell you something that's been bothering me for months now. Every week I get emails from business owners in Hitchin, Stevenage, Baldock, asking basically the same question: "We're getting zero traffic from ChatGPT and Perplexity. Do we need to start paying for ads there?"
And the answer is no. Not yet anyway. Maybe not ever, depending on what you do.
But here's the thing that drives me mad. The reason you're not showing up in AI search results has nothing to do with whether you've paid anyone. It's because the way these AI engines work is completely different from Google, and most businesses are still playing the old SEO game.
Which doesn't work anymore. Well, it works for Google. Sort of. But that's not where the traffic's going in 2026.
The bit everyone gets wrong about AI search
Right, so when someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity or Claude "who should I use for bathroom fitting in Letchworth", these systems aren't crawling through your website the way Google does. They're not counting your backlinks. They don't care about your meta descriptions.
They're looking for clear, direct, structured information that answers the actual question. And most business websites are absolutely terrible at this.
I had a client last month, plumber in Royston. Great guy, been in business 15 years, brilliant reviews. His website had all this stuff about "comprehensive plumbing solutions" and "customer-focused service delivery".
You know what it didn't have? A single page that said "I fix boilers in Royston. I charge £85 call-out, I'm Gas Safe registered, I can usually get to you same day."
ChatGPT couldn't find that information because it wasn't there. So when someone asked about emergency plumbers in Royston, he didn't come up. Another company did. A company that's been trading for 18 months and has worse reviews.
That company just happened to structure their information properly.
What AI engines actually want (and it's simpler than you think)
This is going to sound stupidly basic, but most of what gets you mentioned in AI search results is just... answering questions clearly.
Your potential customers are asking AI tools questions. Specific questions. "How much does X cost?" "Who does Y in Z area?" "What's the difference between A and B?" "Is it worth doing C or should I just replace the whole thing?"
If your website answers those questions in a straightforward way, you show up. If it doesn't, you don't.
The technical term for this is AEO. Answer Engine Optimisation. It's what we've been focusing on for the last three years, because frankly traditional SEO is becoming less useful every quarter.
Here's what actually works:
- FAQ sections that answer real questions people ask. Not the corporate "What makes us different?" rubbish. Actual questions like "Do you work weekends?" and "How long does a kitchen renovation take?"
- Service pages that state clearly what you do, where you do it, how much it costs (even rough ranges), and what the process looks like
- Case studies or examples that show you've done the work before. AI engines love specific examples.
- Clear location information. Not just "serving Hertfordshire" but actual town names in actual sentences.
That plumber I mentioned? We rewrote four pages on his site. Added an FAQ. Took about a week. Within a month he was getting mentioned in ChatGPT responses for local plumbing queries. No ads. Just better information architecture.
The schema thing (yeah, this matters)
OK so there's one technical bit you can't really avoid, and it's schema markup. Sorry.
Schema is basically a way of labelling information on your site so that AI engines (and search engines generally) can understand what they're looking at. You're telling them "this is a price" or "this is a service area" or "this is a customer review".
Most business websites don't have this. Or they have it wrong. Or they have it for some things but not others.
I looked at a site last week for an electrician in Stevenage. They had schema for their logo. Their logo. But not for their services, their location, their contact details, or their opening hours.
Which is like putting a name tag on your coat but not bothering to introduce yourself.
You need schema for: - Your business type and services (LocalBusiness schema) - Your service areas (areaServed) - Reviews and ratings (Review schema) - FAQs (FAQPage schema) - Pricing information where relevant (Offer schema)
This isn't optional anymore. AI search engines rely heavily on structured data because it's unambiguous. They don't have to guess what you mean.
Stop hiding information behind contact forms
Here's a pattern I see all the bloody time. Business website. Services page. Looks professional. And then... "Contact us for a quote."
No pricing. No timeframes. No process. Just a form.
And look, I get it. You don't want to scare people off with prices. Every job is different. You want to qualify leads first. I understand all of that.
But AI engines can't fill in contact forms. They need information to work with.
You don't have to publish your exact pricing for every possible scenario. But you can say "Most bathroom renovations cost between £4,000 and £12,000 depending on size and specification" or "Standard call-out fee is £75, then £45 per hour for labour."
That's enough. That gets you into the conversation.
I had this argument with a client in Baldock a few months back. Kitchen fitter. Absolutely refused to put any pricing on his site because he said every kitchen was custom. Fair enough, they are.
So we didn't put exact prices. We put a page that explained what affects kitchen costs. Size, units, worktops, appliances, installation complexity. With rough brackets for each. "Budget kitchens from £3,000, mid-range £6,000-£12,000, premium £15,000+."
Started showing up in AI search results within weeks. Because now when someone asks "how much does a new kitchen cost", there's actual information to reference.
The review and citation thing
AI engines treat mentions of your business across the web as evidence you're legitimate and relevant. Reviews obviously. Directory listings. Local news mentions. Industry sites.
This is different from old-school link building. It's not about the link juice or domain authority or whatever. It's about the AI having multiple sources that confirm you exist and do what you say you do.
So if you're in the Hitchin Business Improvement District newsletter, that helps. If you've got reviews on Trustpilot or Google or Checkatrade, that helps. If you're listed properly on Yelp and Yell and Thomson Local (yes, people still use those), that helps.
Consistency matters too. If your business name is "ABC Plumbing Ltd" on your website but "ABC Plumbing Limited" on Google and "ABC Plumbers" on Trustpilot, you're making the AI's job harder. It might not connect all those references to the same business.
Pick one name. One address format. One phone number. Use them everywhere.
What about the future of AI ads though
Right, so you asked about paid ads. Fair question.
Google's already testing ads in their AI Overview results. OpenAI will probably do something similar with ChatGPT at some point. Perplexity already has sponsored results in the US.
But here's what I think. And I could be wrong, but I've been watching this closely.
AI search ads are going to work differently from Google Ads. Because AI engines are trying to give one good answer, not ten blue links. There's less room for ads. Which means they'll be more expensive, more selective, and honestly... probably less effective than just showing up in the organic answer.
If an AI engine recommends you naturally because you've got the best information, that's going to carry more weight than if you've paid to be mentioned. Users will figure that out fast.
So yeah, AI ads might become a thing. Might already be a thing depending on the platform. But getting your organic presence sorted first is still the move. Because even if you do end up running ads later, you'll need the same foundational stuff. Clear information. Good structure. Proper schema. Actual answers.
This isn't complicated, it's just different
The shift to AI search feels massive and technical and overwhelming. I get that. Every week I talk to business owners who think they need to learn Python or hire a data scientist or something.
You don't.
You need to make your website answer questions clearly. You need to structure that information properly. You need to be consistent across the web. That's it.
Most of what we do with AEO is just... making information clearer and more accessible. We're not doing anything magical. We're not gaming the system. We're just making it easier for AI engines to understand what you do and recommend you when it's relevant.
And honestly? It makes your website better for humans too. Clearer information. Better structure. Actual answers instead of marketing fluff.
Funny how that works.
If you want to talk about getting your business showing up in AI search results, book a call and we can walk through what that looks like for your specific situation. Or if you're in North Hertfordshire and want to see what proper AEO looks like, we've got case studies from businesses around Hitchin and Stevenage that might be useful.
But either way, stop waiting for the paid ad option. Start with the free one. Answer questions. Structure information. Be clear about what you do.
That's the game now.