Local SEO & AI Visibility: The most important steps for your GEO strategy

The search world is changing rapidly. AI and LLMs like ChatGPT or Google AI Mode influence how businesses are found. To remain visible locally, companies must adapt their strategies and understand vital measures for local GEO and SEO. These measures are crucial for local businesses to effectively connect local SEO and GEO in a comprehensive strategy.

Key Points at a Glance

• The combination of local SEO and GEO content is crucial today for maximum visibility.

• Business profiles, reviews, off-page actions, and a solid technical foundation are the basis for local discoverability.

• AI and LLMs are transforming the search landscape: content must be machine-readable, semantically structured, and aligned with the customer journey.

• Targeted link building and AI-optimized content are the most important actions.

• With prompt monitoring and new KPIs, sustainable success becomes measurable.

Build a Prompt Database – Our Matrix

A central success factor for local SEO and AI visibility is aligning content with the customer journey. Why is this relevant? Users are in different phases of decision-making and have varying content requirements. Aligning your content strategy ensures your brand is mentioned in AI-generated responses or that your website is used as a source for these answers.

We have developed a matrix for creating this prompt database. Aligning content with this matrix targets users at each phase of the customer journey, sustainably increasing visibility.

1. The process begins with the Discovery & Awareness Phase. Here, users seek general knowledge, want to understand a problem, or learn about a solution. Companies should showcase their authority, provide step-by-step guides, and present their solutions at this stage.

2. In the Consideration Phase, users compare different offers and weigh the benefits. Here, it's important to build trust, highlight the strengths of your own offerings, and positively portray products in comparison.

3. The Decision Phase is characterized by a clear intent to purchase. Content should contain a direct call-to-action, guiding users to the desired transaction.

4. Finally, there are AI-specific Intents. Users give specific commands or want to initiate automated processes. It is important to position your brand within the context of such automated processes and provide solutions for specific tasks in this phase.

SEO keywords can be a strong foundation for creating prompts. This ensures that the SEO and GEO strategy work hand in hand. The created prompt database should then be integrated into a monitoring tool to provide an overview of current visibility in AI and search engines. This will lead to measures to revise existing content and identify potential for new content.

Local GEO and SEO: What Really Matters Today

SEO and AI visibility are particularly important for local businesses today. Companies that implement the right measures for local GEO and SEO remain consistently visible to potential customers and AI systems.

Structuring Content for Machine Readability

A clean and structured technical implementation is indispensable for the digital visibility of local businesses. For search engines and AI models to optimally capture and display content, the website should be built with clean HTML and semantic tags like <article> and <section>. Additionally, it is advisable to use special markups like FAQ or HowTo structures to make information even more accessible for search engines and AI.

The following GEO Formula has proven effective: Relevant user questions are formulated as headings (H2). Directly below, a precise and clear answer follows. Subsequently, further information is offered to delve into the topic or explore additional aspects. This clear structure helps not only users but also ensures that search engines and AI systems better interpret and display the content.

Creating Locally Relevant Content

City-specific case studies, customer reports, local events, and the integration of landmarks and neighborhoods are especially effective. Such content not only creates closeness to the target audience but also highlights the company's local expertise and presence.

Another crucial aspect is the regular use of local keywords (service + city) in website texts. This establishes a clear link between location and services offered, enhancing SEO and LLM visibility.

The content should cover various user intents along the customer journey (see Prompt Matrix). In this way, potential customers are specifically targeted and accompanied in each phase. It is important to integrate real user questions into the content. By directly answering frequently asked questions, the relevance of the website for search engines and AI models increases.

Heed "Old" Foundations for Local SEO Also for Local GEO

A complete business profile on Google and Bing is the foundation for a strong local presence. The more information provided, the better search engines and AI models can classify and display the business. It's equally important to actively seek customer feedback and collect reviews. Positive feedback strengthens credibility and directly impacts local visibility in AI, LLMs, and search engines.

Furthermore, registering the business in relevant industry directories increases discoverability and reach. Additionally, targeted branded traffic from social media creates a healthy signal to search engines and AI systems. Active communication and interaction on social platforms create additional credibility and sustainably support local visibility.

Link Building in Times of AI

Language models generally do not search and compare individual services or products on their own. Instead, they often refer to comparison sites, user reports, and similar sources for recommendations. This presents a valuable opportunity for businesses: strategically building backlinks on such platforms increases the likelihood of being considered in AI-generated answers and recommendations. This boosts AI visibility in LLMs and simultaneously increases the website's relevance for search engines through quality backlinks.

Platforms can be identified and prioritized through the selected tool with prompt monitoring. The rule of thumb is quality over quantity: posts that are frequently cited by LLMs are more valuable than those rarely used by AI.

Optimize Existing Content for Real User Questions

If your domain is already visible in organic search results, it is worthwhile optimizing content specifically for real user questions. Such questions can be identified, for example, using Google Search Console by filtering search queries containing typical question words. We use the following regex filter:

^(how|what|why|when|where|which|who|why|for what reason|how much|whereby|wherewith|by whose)\b

Figure 1: Regex filter in Google Search Console

Figure 2: Search queries with the regex filter in Google Search Console

It is essential to clearly and helpfully answer these questions directly under an H2 heading. This makes the content more attractive to users and also easier for search engines and AI models to understand.

If you already have a chatbot on the website, questions asked there can also be a good indicator that they are frequently asked to ChatGPT & Co. Thus, it is also worth answering these questions in the content to be used as a source by LLMs and expand visibility in AI.

Establish New GEO KPIs

Although traditional SEO metrics like increasing clicks or traffic were long central, they are no longer the sole focus. Many companies are experiencing declines in search engine traffic as AI models and LLMs increasingly provide direct answers, and users click through to websites less frequently. The traffic from LLMs can seldom fully compensate for these losses. However, the quality of this traffic often turns out to be significantly higher, increasing the conversion rate.

To specifically measure the visibility of local businesses and the success of your actions, it is advisable to combine proven SEO KPIs with specific GEO KPIs. These include, for example, the Brand Mention Rate, which indicates how often your brand is mentioned in important prompts (e.g., over 40%), the AI Platform Coverage, indicating presence on several relevant LLMs (e.g., more than five), and the Brand Search Uplift, denoting the rise in brand search queries after comprehensive GEO measures (e.g., over 25%). This creates a holistic picture representing both the reach and quality of visibility in traditional search engines and AI-based systems.

Conclusion: Local Visibility in LLMs and Search Engines

The local visibility of businesses in LLMs and traditional search engines is now significantly determined by the intelligent combination of SEO and GEO strategies. Implementing the key measures ensures presence in both search engines and AI-based systems. The rapid development of AI and LLMs changes the demands on businesses: optimizing only for Google is no longer sufficient. It is crucial to make your brand and offerings visible in AI-generated answers and recommendations. Acting now and aligning your strategy holistically ensures a sustainable competitive advantage in local search.

Here you find the appropriate checklist on the topic

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions

How can I find out if my local business is already visible in AI-generated responses?

To check visibility in AI responses, it is recommended to establish prompt monitoring with specialized tools. These tools show if and how often your brand or website is mentioned in responses from LLMs like ChatGPT or Google AI Mode or used as a source.

What role do structured data play in AI visibility?

Structured data help AI models better understand and display content. They are crucial to be considered as a source for AI responses and should therefore be used consistently.

Are AI-optimized contents also relevant for traditional search engines?

Yes, content optimized for AI models—through semantic structure, FAQ markup, and answering real user questions—are also better understood and displayed by traditional search engines. We recommend optimizing prompts based on significant SEO keywords. This ensures optimal combination of local SEO and GEO.

How often should I update my content to remain relevant to search engines and LLMs?

The search and AI landscape evolves rapidly. It is advisable to review the prompt database and key content at least quarterly and update as necessary to address new trends and user queries early. However, the timeframe can vary and depends on how dynamically the industry continues to develop.

Which mistakes should I avoid in local search engine and AI optimization?

Common mistakes include incomplete business profiles, missing local keywords, technical structures based on JavaScript and rendered client-side, lack of user question integration, and neglect of monitoring and KPIs.