Quick definition
An AI search agency gets your business mentioned by name when someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude for a recommendation in your trade and area. It is not the same thing as SEO, though both run alongside each other.
Q. Is this actually a real thing, or is it 2026 buzzword bingo?
Real thing. ChatGPT now handles roughly 800 million weekly conversations. Google AI Overviews appear on close to half of UK searches. A meaningful share of "find me a plumber" questions are now being answered by AI before the user ever sees a Google result.
If you are not mentioned in those answers, you are invisible. That is the problem the discipline exists to solve.
Q. How is it different from regular SEO?
SEO gets you ranking in Google's blue links. The user still has to scan results, click yours, and convert.
AI search, or GEO (generative engine optimisation), gets you named in the answer itself. There is no list of ten results. There is one paragraph and two or three businesses. You are in it, or you are not.
The conversion rate from AI mentions is roughly 4.4x higher than from organic search. People treat an AI recommendation as a personal referral, not a search result.
Q. What does an AI search agency actually do day to day?
Three things, mostly.
First, we publish content structured the way LLMs read websites. Clear question-and-answer formats. Defined entity references. Specific local hooks the model can latch onto. LLM citation building is the proper name for this.
Second, we get your business mentioned on the third-party sources LLMs trust. Reddit threads about your town. Local press. Industry publications. Directory listings with full descriptions, not just NAP.
Third, we monitor. We literally ask ChatGPT and Gemini common prospect questions in your area and check who they mention. If it is not you, we know exactly what to fix.
Q. Does it work for tradespeople specifically?
Better than for most industries, actually. Local trade queries have a small set of distinct answers, so when an AI model picks two or three businesses to mention, the slot value is enormous.
A plumber being one of two recommended in Wolverhampton is worth more leads than a national e-commerce brand mentioned in a 12-item list.
Q. What does it cost, honestly?
As a standalone service, GEO starts at £200/month as an add-on to any of our SEO plans. Our National Plan at £1,600/month includes it fully integrated.
Anyone quoting you £50/month for AI search is either lying about what they do or not actually doing it.
Q. Should I worry about this or is it too early?
Depends on your time horizon. If you are retiring next year, do not worry. If you intend to still be trading in 2028, this is already overdue.
The businesses establishing themselves as the AI-recommended option in their town right now are doing it cheaply because the competition has not woken up. In two years the cost of entry will be substantially higher and the slots will already be claimed.
Q. How do I know if it is working?
Open ChatGPT. Ask it: "Who are the best [your trade] in [your town]?" If you are not in the answer, you are not yet visible. We send our clients this exact check each month with a screenshot, so they can see the progression.
Free check, free report.
Tell us your trade and your town. We will run the AI visibility check and send you a one-page report on who is currently being recommended and why. No obligation.
📞 01902 961078 · kp@pottergold.digital