How to appear in AI search results

At its simplest, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) helps charities find a larger audience by appearing high on a search engine results page. SEO has long been a vital tool for charities, enabling them to appear at the crucial time when a person is searching for something related to their cause. 

However, charities have historically struggled to make the most of SEO, with more than half saying so in the 2025 Charity Digital Skills report. A fifth said they did not use SEO, despite its clear advantages in boosting visibility and fundraising efforts alike.  

And now SEO itself is changing. The introduction of AI summaries on search engines has limited SEO’s capability to drive people directly to a website. Instead, web content is condensed or cited in AI summaries that conveniently give users the information they need at a glance (although sometimes with mistakes). And with more people increasingly using Large Language Models (LLMs) to search, instead of search engines, it is vital that charities have a presence there. 

This is where Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimisation  (GEO) come in.  

What are AEO and GEO? 

AEO, according to HubSpot, helps “website content appear in direct answers in search results”. It extracts direct answers to questions, which can be found in the People Also Ask sections or AI short answers.  

GEO focuses on earning citations in AI summaries. These are valuable because they ensure charities remain part of the conversation on topics they care about and are authorities on.  

While SEO remains incredibly important to consolidating charities’ visibility and voice, organisations need to consider how they will approach AEO and GEO to maintain their presence as search engines evolve.  

“Right now, traffic from these platforms is modest compared to traditional search engines like Google," explains digital agency Giant Digital. “But that’s changing fast – some forecasts expect AI-driven search to overtake traditional search within the next few years.” 

Giant Digital, a B-Corp certified agency specialising in web design, development, AI and digital strategy, works with charities, including Mental Health UK, to help them navigate the search shift and be found in the age of AI. With Giant’s support and technical guidance, Mental Health UK was able to significantly improve their presence on AI overviews and Large Language Models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT. 

To find out more about Giant Digital’s AEO and GEO services, click the button below.  

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How can my charity improve its visibility in AI search? 

Get technical 

“AI tools need to read and understand your site before they can recommend it,” advises Giant Digital. Slow sites or those that are difficult to crawl will impact a search engine or LLMs’ ability to extract answers and refer to your content.  

Structuring your website to make it easier for search engines to crawl through is already a key principle of SEO. Your site should be easy to navigate – answers should be easy to find for everyone, not buried in endless articles or in a lesser-visited part of the site.  

Use clean URLs (fewer numbers and reflects content) and link between content. Always link back to your most important resources, like your About or Services pages. These elements help search engines and site visitors alike to understand you and what you’re about – and what value you can provide to the topic at hand. 

Focus on clarity 
 

To appear in AI search results, answers need to be easily extracted to respond to common questions. Clarity becomes more important than ever. 

“Clear structure, well-organised information, and content that answers real questions all help AI decide whether to feature you,” explains Giant Digital. 

Use the “inverted pyramid” writing structure in articles – the most important point comes first. Imagine readers only have a short time to read your article (they do) and make sure they leave with only the most important takeaways. Search engines and LLMs are skim-reading too; make it as easy as possible for them to understand your point. 

You should use titles to signpost answers (e.g. What is AEO?) to boost AEO and GEO visibility. Using simple sentences that are clear and direct can also help. 
 

Build authority 

Authority matters for SEO but it also matters for AEO and GEO too. Search engines and LLMs recommend your website based on its reputation, including reviews, citations, and your overall presence across the internet. As  Giant notes, “Backlinks still matter, but it’s the bigger picture that counts.”  

HubSpot points to the use of quotable insights: “short authoritative statements or data points that AI engines can lift directly into summaries”. Quotable insights might include statistics, expert commentary, definitions, or strong recommendations.  

“Generative engines prefer clean, self-contained passages that can be cited without restructuring,” advises HubSpot. “Give them a “ready-made” quote; it may increase the chances of appearing in AI Overviews or ChatGPT responses. It also improves AEO because those same passages often get pulled into answer boxes.” 

Conduct a GEO audit 

GEO and AEO, much like their SEO counterpart, seem complex from the outset, particularly as AI search continues to develop. It is especially difficult for charities, operating with limited time and budgets, to keep pace with website best practice, given how quickly online behaviour can change.  

A GEO audit helps charities identify the right place to start with AEO and GEO. It offers clarity, showing areas that work and those that might need some improvement. Crucially, it helps organisations prioritise so they can choose actions that will make the most difference to their work.  

In its GEO audit, Giant Digital takes a deep dive into a charity’s website and provides a practical report with clear recommendations to get them started. Whether you’re looking to know more about how AI search is affecting your visibility or exploring the opportunities with GEO, Giant Digital’s audit can help. 

To find out more about Giant Digital’s GEO services, and further AI support they offer, click the button below.  

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