David Kořínek: SEO, GEO and AI. How to get into artificial intelligence responses
Are you first on Google, but ChatGPT doesn't know you? David Kořínek explains how SEO and GEO work, where AI sources its information, what a company must do to be recommended, and why smaller players surprisingly have good cards in this game.
Why AI Doesn't Recognize You Even Though You're First on Google
Artificial intelligence can learn about a company in two ways. It knows big brands that are frequently mentioned online from the data it was trained on. Smaller companies are usually not included. Therefore, when someone asks about a dental clinic in Bratislava, AI responds "I don't know." It breaks the question into smaller phrases, searches them through Google, Bing, or Brave, and compiles the answer from the top results.
"Your result must appear prominently in organic search results," says Kořínek. If a company ranks high on Google but AI still doesn't recognize it, the problem lies elsewhere—most often it's a technical issue.
SEO Isn't Over. It's Expanding to GEO
This leads to an important conclusion: quality SEO is a ticket to AI responses, not an outdated discipline. Kořínek talks about "optimization for search everywhere." In practice, the term GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is also used, meaning optimization for generative search in tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Perplexity.
The good news is that you don't need to optimize for each tool separately. The principle is the same; only the search engines from which individual AIs draw differ. Therefore, it's worth using Bing Webmaster Tools alongside Google Search Console and manually adding the website to the Brave search engine. This is what modern SEO and GEO at ui42 looks like: classic search engine optimization expanded to visibility in AI responses.
Technical Minimum: So AI Can See You at All
The first test is free: ask ChatGPT directly about your website. If it doesn't find it, check:
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Cloudflare and similar protections. By default, they can block AI bots as well. Kořínek describes a client who didn't appear in AI results due to one unfortunate setting.
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Content only on social networks. A large part of Facebook is closed to bots. Therefore, daily menus or news should also be on the web and in the Google Business profile, which Gemini draws from.
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Registrations in search engines. Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and Brave.
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Structured data. They help, but as Kořínek says, "structured data alone won't save it."
If the website doesn't meet these basics, it's worth technically adjusting or rebuilding it to be readable for both people and bots.
Content for the Customer, Not the Robot
The website doesn't need to be written specifically for AI. However, it should be written in detail. Kořínek illustrates this with a dental clinic example: instead of one "services" page, he advises creating separate pages for implants, orthodontics, or teeth whitening, and answering questions that customers frequently ask on each. These can be directly extracted from customer support.
Trustworthiness: Photos, Authors, and Reviews
AI verifies a company similarly to a cautious customer. Real photos work best. AI and Google further search for article authors, for example, on LinkedIn. If they find nothing about the author, the text isn't trustworthy for them.
Reviews are equally important. If patients repeatedly write that implants don't hurt, AI will preferentially offer the clinic to someone looking for painless treatment. Purchased reviews and fictional authors, on the other hand, are harmful.
What the Ipsos Survey for ui42 Showed
According to the Ipsos survey for ui42 (SR n = 824, CR n = 835), 57% of Slovaks and 52% of Czechs have already used AI when choosing or purchasing a product. 44.5% of Slovaks use it regularly. Among 18- to 26-year-olds, it's up to 74%, among 54- to 65-year-olds 42%.
AI mainly serves for pre-selection: for product comparison (41.7%) and advice on selection (39.6%). However, only 29.8% of Slovaks trust it, while 67.6% trust reviews and 75.9% trust family. Approximately 3% of respondents completed an order directly through AI. AI thus decides whether you make it to the shortlist. The purchase is then completed on your website and relies on reviews.
How to Measure Traffic from AI
In Google Analytics, traffic from AI is usually in single-digit percentages. However, this doesn't mean AI has no impact. When orders are checked to see where customers learned about the company, up to 15 to 17% of Kořínek's clients respond that they first learned about it from AI.
"Don't be alarmed that the number in Google Analytics is relatively small. It's still the top part of the sales funnel where people gather information," says Kořínek.
A similar picture is shown by an analysis of traffic from AI assistants for 80 e-shops: the share of visits is still small, but people with a high purchase intent are coming. Smaller specialized e-shops also achieved a significantly higher share of visits from AI than large retailers.
To monitor visibility in AI, Kořínek mentions a new Google Search Console feature for AI Overviews and AI Mode, as well as tools like Marketing Miner and Ranketta. Those who don't want to manually track dozens of reports can use AI agents. FLUIDUM AI from ui42 continuously monitors SEO, analytics, campaigns, and e-shop and alerts when something changes.
Where Small Businesses Beat Big Ones
"Small e-shops have the greatest advantage because they know their product perfectly," says Kořínek. With a general question like "which coffee machine to buy," it's hard to beat a big player. But with a question like "which lever coffee machine under 500 euros," that's precisely your space.
The recipe is specific: extract the most common questions from customer support, process them into content, and add detailed parameters to product feeds. These were long neglected, but today Gemini and AI Overviews draw from them.
Will AI Replace the SEO Expert?
"An average or below-average one, yes. An experienced consultant who guides you through the entire project, still no," answers Kořínek. ChatGPT will give you a list of ten steps, but experience decides which ones make sense and which are dead ends.
5 Steps You Can Take This Week
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Ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity about your company and 10 typical customer questions.
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Check if Cloudflare or other protection is blocking AI bots.
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Register the website in Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and Brave.
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Divide general pages into separate pages for individual services or categories and answer customer questions on them.
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Add the question "How did you hear about us?" with the option "AI assistant" to the order.
Listen to the full interview with David Kořínek in the Biznislab podcast. Want to know how artificial intelligence sees your brand? Contact us. We'll look at your SEO and GEO and suggest specific steps.
The Biznislab podcast is prepared by ui42 in collaboration with the SME daily. Hosted by Martin Krupa.
