Eleven foundational guides from the Ranking Wolf Lab — covering AISO, GEO, AEO, LLMO, AI visibility, and the engines reshaping search.
AI Search Optimization is the discipline of engineering visibility inside generative engines — ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews — not just the classic blue links.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the discipline of structuring content so that generative engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity cite it as a source.
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the discipline of structuring content to be selected as the direct answer by AI-powered answer engines.
AI Visibility is the measurable presence of a business inside generative engines — how often it's named, cited, or recommended in AI-generated answers.
LLM Optimization (LLMO) is the discipline of shaping the training-data substrate and retrieval surfaces that determine how large language models represent a business.
An inside view of the signals ChatGPT weighs when recommending local businesses — based on 1,800 logged recommendation prompts.
Gemini leans heavily on the Google Knowledge Graph and Google Business Profile signals — making local AI visibility an extension of classic local SEO.
Perplexity is the most transparent generative engine — every answer is annotated with sources, making its selection logic reverse-engineerable.
An overview of the ten ranking-factor categories Ranking Wolf tracks across every major generative engine.
Local SEO has not died — it has split into two surfaces. Maps/SERP is now stable infrastructure; AI is the new frontier.
Where generative search is heading in 2026-2028: agentic discovery, multi-modal grounding, and the collapse of the SERP as the dominant interface.