How to Get Found in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews
When a local buyer asks ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews which tradie, electrician, or service business to contact, the sites that get recommended are the ones that are easiest to read, summarise, and trust. This isn't a technical puzzle. It's a clarity and structure problem.
More and more people in Newcastle, Lake Macquarie, and the Central Coast are starting their search in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews rather than clicking through traditional search results. When they do, the results they get back look very different to a page of blue links.
The businesses that appear in those AI-generated answers aren't necessarily the ones with the biggest websites or the most backlinks. They're the ones whose websites are specific enough, clear enough, and structured well enough for an AI system to confidently read, summarise, and recommend them.
AI systems pass over vague or unclear sites
When Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity is asked about a local service like 'best electrician in Lake Macquarie' or 'plumber near Charlestown available today', it looks for websites that can answer the question clearly and specifically. If your site is vague about what you do, where you do it, or why someone should trust you, the system moves on.
This isn't a technical problem. It's a content and clarity problem. The site may be perfectly functional, but if an AI system can't quickly extract a confident answer about your services and location, it won't surface you in the response.
- Generic service descriptions that could apply to any business in the country
- Location signals that mention 'NSW' but not specific suburbs or towns
- No FAQ content to answer the specific questions buyers ask
- Thin pages with no depth for the system to draw a meaningful summary from
- No schema markup to confirm your business type, location, and services
Specific answers and clear structure get you found
The most useful thing you can do is write your service pages as if you're answering the question a local buyer would ask an AI. 'What does Lux Coastal Electrical do in Erina?' should have a clear, specific answer on your electrician page, not a vague paragraph about quality electrical work.
FAQs are particularly powerful here because AI systems are specifically looking for question-and-answer content when composing a response. Questions like 'Do you cover Warners Bay?', 'What's included in a switchboard upgrade?', or 'How quickly can you come out for emergency work?' answer exactly the kind of query a buyer types into ChatGPT. That content is far more likely to be surfaced than a generic services blurb.
- Specific service descriptions written clearly enough to be quoted directly
- FAQ sections on key service and location pages: real questions, real answers
- Named suburbs, towns, and service areas you actually work in
- Genuine proof: testimonials with names, job photos, case study references
- Clear internal links so the site's structure makes logical sense as a whole
Schema markup confirms what your site is saying
Schema markup is code behind the scenes that tells search engines and AI systems exactly what type of business you run, where you're based, what services you offer, and how to get in touch. It doesn't replace good content, but it reinforces it.
If your site has a clear LocalBusiness schema with the right address and service area, a Service schema for your main offerings, and FAQ schema on the pages that answer buyer questions, you're giving AI systems more to work with, and more confidence to include your business in a relevant answer.
AEO and local SEO: the same work, done better
You don't need to choose between traditional local SEO and being found in AI search. The changes that help you rank in Google for 'plumber Newcastle' or 'electrician Central Coast' are exactly the same ones that help you appear in AI-generated answers: clearer service pages, useful FAQ content, strong local signals, good internal linking.
The difference is that AI-assisted search rewards specificity even more directly. If your content is written for real local buyers and answers the questions they actually ask, the structure tends to follow. That's not a technical trick. It's just a clearer, more useful website.
Pages worth acting on
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AEO Services
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How AEO Works
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AEO Central Coast
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Web Design Lake Macquarie
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If AI keeps skipping your site, fix the structure first
Clearer service pages, FAQ content, and stronger local signals are what get a local service business into AI-generated answers. A free review shows where the gaps are.