AI SEO services
AI SEO: the search foundation that AI answers are built on.
AI SEO is the work of making a website easy for search engines and AI tools to reach, read and quote. Google says its AI Overviews and AI Mode have no extra requirements beyond the SEO basics, so the foundation is the same: pages that can be crawled and indexed, clear answers, and structured data that matches what a visitor sees. Hudson South builds the content side of that foundation and, when the site itself is the obstacle, the website.
We'll start with the part most AI SEO pitches skip: the platforms ask for less than you'd think, and most of it is ordinary SEO done properly. Below is what they actually require, a checklist you can run on your own site this week, where classic SEO and AI search part ways, and what we take on.
What is actually required
Less mystery than the pitches suggest.
The requirements published by the platforms are short, and most of them are things a well-built site already does.
Google's documentation on AI features says a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet to appear as a supporting link, and that there are no additional technical requirements. It also says no special schema.org markup is needed. Google's structured data policies add two rules worth knowing: markup must be a true representation of the page content, and using it makes a feature possible without guaranteeing it.
Outside Google, the gate is crawler access. OpenAI uses OAI-SearchBot to surface websites in ChatGPT's search features and says sites opted out of it will not appear in ChatGPT search answers. Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot for sites that want to appear in its results. Neither company's crawler documentation describes how sources are chosen for an answer, and we do not pretend to know. The documented part is access; everything after that comes down to whether your pages say something worth using.
A checklist you can run yourself
Six checks before you pay anyone for AI SEO.
Most of these take minutes with access to your site and Google Search Console. A useful first test of your setup: who on our team could tell me today what our robots.txt file allows? If the answer is nobody, row two is where to start.
| Check | How to check it | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Your important pages are indexed | Search Console's URL Inspection tool, which reports Google's indexed version of a page | Google requires a page to be indexed and snippet-eligible to appear as a supporting link in its AI features |
| AI search crawlers are allowed | Read your robots.txt for rules covering OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot, including broad rules that block every bot | OpenAI says sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers |
| Snippet controls are deliberate | Look for nosnippet, data-nosnippet and max-snippet on key pages | Google lists these as controls on what Search shows from a page, AI features included |
| Structured data matches the page | Compare your markup with the text a visitor sees | Google's policy says markup must be a true representation of the page content |
| Each service has its own page | List your services and find the page that answers the first question about each one | A tool cannot quote an answer your site never states |
| Your business details agree everywhere | Compare services, service area and hours on your site and your Google Business Profile | Conflicting details can give AI tools conflicting material to summarize |
A fictional example: an HVAC company in Fayetteville copies its robots.txt from an old template that allows Googlebot and blocks every other bot. Its pages rank in Google, so nobody notices that ChatGPT's and Perplexity's search crawlers have been turned away for years. The fix takes a few lines in one file. It is also the kind of problem no amount of new content solves, which is why the foundation comes first. Heating and cooling companies are one of the trades our work for HVAC businesses covers in detail.
Nobody runs plays on a field that hasn't been lined.
Where they part
Classic SEO and AI search share a foundation, then ask for different things.
Both depend on pages that can be crawled, indexed and understood, which is why Google says its SEO best practices still apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode. Where they diverge is the goal of the page. Classic SEO often measured success by the visit, and pages were built to earn the click with the full answer further down. Those habits were earned honestly; for years, the visit was the whole game. Traffic is not the same as being chosen, though, and an AI answer may settle the buyer's question before any visit happens.
That shifts what a page has to carry: the direct answer near the top, the conditions and evidence beside it, and specifics only your business could supply. The side-by-side detail is in how AEO content differs from SEO content. For businesses deciding whom to hire, choosing between an AEO and an SEO agency walks through what each kind of provider usually covers. Pages that bury the answer were built for a visit that may never come.
What Hudson South takes on
Content on the foundation, and the foundation when it needs rebuilding.
Answer-first content
Our main service researches what your buyers ask, writes the answers in your voice and publishes them on your site. It runs on four steps: Authority Asset, Hudson Twenty-One, Market Intelligence and AEO Creation. The first step exists because nobody outside your business should be guessing at what it knows; we record it from your team before anything is written. Details are on our answer engine optimization page.
Accurate descriptions
When AI tools mention your business but describe it wrongly, the work shifts to making your facts specific and consistent across your pages and profile. That is generative engine optimization, and it runs inside the same engagements.
A site you own
If the site itself is the obstacle, we build Hudson Deed websites that you own outright, starting at $5,000, with the pages, structure and structured data set up for search and AI tools from the start. See our website builds.
Engagements. Content work runs as a 30 to 60 day project starting at $9,500, or a monthly plan starting at $1,500 a month, month to month, with no setup fees. Both are described on the AI search content service page.
Market exclusivity comes with most monthly plans: one business per trade per market, with the market defined around where you actually serve. Your proposal names the trade and the area.
Measuring it
Search Console first, then the AI answers themselves.
Google counts sites appearing in its AI features as part of overall Search traffic, reported in the Search Console Performance report under the Web search type. That makes Search Console the first place to watch impressions and clicks on the pages we publish, with AI feature traffic included in the overall Search traffic it reports.
For tools outside Google, monthly plans include a visibility report on a defined question set run across AI platforms, with competitor comparison on larger plans. If you want a quick read on your own site before talking to anyone, the free AI visibility check takes eight questions and about two minutes.
Questions
Questions about AI SEO
Is AI SEO different from regular SEO?
The foundation is the same; Google says its SEO best practices still apply to its AI features. What changes is what a page needs to carry once an AI answer may settle the question before a visit: the direct answer near the top and specifics only your business can supply.
Do we need special schema markup for AI Overviews?
No. Google says no special schema.org markup is needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Structured data still helps machines understand a page, as long as it matches the visible content.
Should our robots.txt allow AI crawlers?
If you want to appear in ChatGPT or Perplexity search, the search crawlers need access: OpenAI says sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, and Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot. Training crawlers are a separate decision, explained on our generative engine optimization page.
Do we have to replace our current SEO provider?
Not necessarily. Some businesses keep a provider for technical SEO and add answer-first content on top. The free analysis call is where we look at what you already have and what is missing.
Free competitor analysis
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