Google's AI Overview now sits above every commercial query, and ChatGPT alone handles more than a billion queries a week. If AI answer engines don't cite you, you're invisible - even when you rank #1 on classic SERPs.
The three levers that move AI citations
- Entity clarity: consistent name, sameAs links, and a structured knowledge graph
- Answer-first content: the first 40 words must answer the question outright
- Schema density: FAQPage, HowTo, Article, and Organization JSON-LD on every page
How to measure it
Track your citation share weekly across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. Growth here trails classic SERP wins by only 4-6 weeks - much faster feedback than traditional SEO.