AI Search Optimization · AEO · GEO · Houston, Texas
AI search optimization
for B2B companies in Houston and Texas.
AI search optimization (answer engine optimization, or AEO; generative engine optimization, or GEO) is the work that gets your company named when a buyer asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google AI Mode for a recommendation. The answer names one to three companies. This is how you become one of them.
Why it matters now
B2B buyers finish about 70% of their research before they contact anyone, and 92% of those who use AI at work say it shaped their vendor shortlist. When a plant engineer asks Copilot for electropolishing vendors in Texas, or a patient asks ChatGPT for a shoulder surgeon near The Woodlands, the assistant answers with a short list and a reason. You're either on it or you don't exist for that buyer. Search didn't go away; it grew a second front, and most companies haven't shown up for it yet.
What the work involves
How Break Away runs it
It starts with the AI Visibility Audit: we run your buyers' real questions, screenshot who gets named, and score how quotable your site is. From there it's either a project (the AI-search install on your existing site, or an AI-cited rebuild) or part of concierge marketing, where it runs alongside search, content, LinkedIn and follow-up every month. Industry playbooks for medical practices, industrial companies, contractors and service companies and law firms are already built. How engagements work →
Straight answers
What is AI search optimization?
AI search optimization is the work that gets your company named when someone asks an AI assistant (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Mode) for a recommendation. It's also called answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization (GEO). The methods overlap with SEO but the target is different: being quoted in the answer, not ranked in a list.
What's the difference between AEO, GEO and SEO?
SEO gets your pages ranked in a list of links. AEO (answer engine optimization) gets your content quoted as the answer in AI assistants and Google's AI features. GEO (generative engine optimization) is the same goal with a different name, favored by the people who study it. In practice the three are one program: you can't be cited if you can't be found.
How do AI assistants decide which companies to name?
They look for pages that answer the question directly and specifically, clear and consistent facts about who the company is (name, location, services, credentials) everywhere online, third-party confirmation (reviews, directories, press, citations), and structured data (schema) that tells the model what a page is about. Vague brochure copy gets skipped.
How long does AI search optimization take to work?
The foundation (answer-first pages, schema, consistent listings) ships in the first four to six weeks. Movement in AI mentions typically shows in the 60- to 120-day window as the models re-crawl and the citations accumulate. We track it monthly across the major assistants so you see the trend, not a promise.
Do I need a new website for this?
Usually not. If the site is structurally sound we install the AI-search work on what you have. If it's the weak link, an AI-cited rebuild is a project we scope separately, and you own everything.
See who the AI names in your market today. Then see where you aren't.
The free AI Visibility Audit runs the questions your buyers actually ask Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity about your category and market, screenshots who gets named, and scores how quotable your website is. Two pages, plain English, in your inbox within three business days.
Get My Free AI Visibility AuditRather talk it through? Book a 30-minute strategy call →