Solfreaks RankInAI is how we help a business get named correctly in the answers ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews give. AI search optimization, also called GEO or AEO, is mostly careful website and reputation work: clear pages, clear facts about who you are, and consistent mentions elsewhere on the web.
We can't promise citations, and neither can anyone else. These systems change often, give different answers to the same question and don't publish their rules. What we can do is remove the obstacles we know about, then measure what happens.
What's known and what's guesswork
Some things are well established. AI tools answer from pages they can crawl or from search indexes, and pages that state facts plainly are easier to quote. Google says AI Overviews draw on the same eligibility as ordinary Search, so a page has to be indexed and allowed to show snippets first. A brand mentioned consistently on trusted sites is also easier for a model to identify.
Other things are guesses. The llms.txt file is a proposed convention, and as far as we know the big AI providers haven't confirmed they read it. We add one because it costs little, but we don't count on it. Schema markup is similar: it clarifies entities and helps classic search, but nobody can prove it moves AI answers, so we won't say it does.
The work itself
- A baseline audit. A fixed list of real customer questions put to ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google, with each answer recorded, so we know how you're described today.
- Answer-first rewrites. Key pages get the direct answer in the opening lines and the detail below, which suits both a model summarising the page and a person skimming it.
- Entity clean-up. The same name, description, address, services and founder details everywhere, from your site and Google Business Profile to directories, plus Organization or LocalBusiness markup.
- Structured data and FAQ content. Added only where it fits the page, validated, and matching what visitors can see.
- Crawl checks. robots.txt rules, rendering problems, slow pages, and whether a CDN or firewall setting is blocking crawlers you'd want to let in.
- Mention building. Suggestions and outreach for trusted directories, industry sites, review platforms and communities where you're genuinely relevant. We won't write fake reviews or seed fake forum threads.
- Referral tracking. GA4 set up to show visits from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and similar, plus a monthly re-run of the question list.
How the project runs
- Baseline. The audit, the question list and a look at current AI referrals. This usually takes one to two weeks.
- Foundations. Crawl fixes, speed problems, structured data and entity clean-up. On a small site this is typically two to four weeks, longer if the CMS fights us.
- Priority pages. We write or rewrite the pages that answer the questions your customers ask, a few at a time.
- Outside mentions. Slow, steady work over months, because trusted sites don't move on our schedule.
- Monthly re-test. The same questions again. AI answers vary from run to run, so we ask each more than once and look for patterns. If nothing has changed, we'll say so.
Next to normal SEO, not instead of it
Most of this overlaps with good SEO, and it depends on it. If your site isn't indexed or loads badly, AI-specific work won't help. That's why it often sits alongside our SEO services and content marketing, and why some projects begin with fixing the site through web development. The AI-specific part is smaller than most vendors suggest: quotable structure, consistent facts and a plan for outside mentions.
Who should skip AI search work
It suits businesses whose customers ask questions before buying: clinics, schools, software firms, service companies and app publishers, where the pages already hold real expertise.
Look elsewhere if you want a guaranteed ChatGPT mention, or first place on Google within a month. It's a poor fit if your site has thin pages and nothing distinctive to say, because a model then has nothing to quote. And it involves real writing, so if there's no appetite for content, start with the basics.
Pricing, and how long changes take
The quote depends on the size of the site, how many pages are priorities, the number of markets or languages, and how much writing and outreach you want us to do. We work as a fixed-scope audit and fix project, or as a monthly retainer that adds content, mention-building and the monthly re-test. Audit and foundation fixes typically take a few weeks. Changes in AI answers, if they come, can take weeks to months. The quote follows a short discovery call.
Why Solfreaks for AI search
We're a small team in Rawalpindi, our working hours overlap with the UK and the Gulf, and the people who advise you can also fix the site, so recommendations don't sit in a PDF. Access to your analytics, Search Console, listings and content stays with you. If you'd rather have this as steady monthly work, see our growth retainer, or tell us what you need.
Open-source tools and references
A few public projects that come up a lot in this kind of work. They belong to other people and teams. We link to them because they are worth a look, not because anyone pays us to.
- GoogleChrome/lighthouseAutomated audits for performance, SEO and accessibility.
- AnswerDotAI/llms-txtThe llms.txt proposal for helping language models read a site.
- schemaorg/schemaorgThe schema.org vocabulary used for structured data.
Frequently asked questions
Can you guarantee we'll appear in ChatGPT answers?
No, and be wary of anyone who says they can. The models decide what to cite, answers differ between runs and users, and the systems change without notice. We can make your pages easier to find, quote and trust, then check how you're described each month. If the answers improve, we'll show you the evidence. If they don't, we'll say that too.
How is this different from SEO?
There's a large overlap: crawlable pages, good content, trusted mentions. The difference is emphasis. AI tools tend to quote a passage instead of listing ten links, so answer-first writing and clear facts matter more. They also lean on how a brand is described across the web, so consistency and off-site mentions get extra attention. We treat it as an extension of SEO, not a replacement.
How do you measure results when AI tools don't report anything?
We re-run a fixed set of customer questions each month and record the answers. We watch GA4 for referrals from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and similar. We also follow branded search and direct traffic. None of it is perfect, since many AI answers produce no click at all, so we treat the numbers as indicators and not as proof.
Do we need an llms.txt file?
Not strictly. It's a proposed convention for pointing language models to your key pages, and we haven't seen the major AI providers confirm that they use it. It's quick to produce, so we usually add one, but we put the effort into your actual pages and structure, which matter whether or not llms.txt is ever read.
Should we block AI crawlers on our website?
That's your decision, and it depends on your aims. If you want to be cited in AI answers, search-focused crawlers need access. Training crawlers are a separate choice, and some businesses block those for content-rights reasons. We explain which crawlers do what, check what your robots.txt and firewall currently allow, and set it up the way you decide.
Talk it through with us
Tell us what you are building and where it hurts. You get a straight answer, a plan and a price, and if we are not the right people we will say so.
