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Course 06: Search evolution

AI Search

Search is no longer only a list of links. Generative and answer engines read web content, summarize it, and cite the sources they trust.

Visibility now includes being crawled by AI bots, being retrieved for conversational prompts, and being cited inside AI-generated answers.

In this course, you’ll learn how AI search systems find, use, and cite content, and how to measure your presence in them.

Start with GEO What you’ll learn

6 short lessons. Intermediate. Builds on Technical SEO and JavaScript SEO.

Your learning path 6 lessons
01
GEOGenerative engine optimization
 02
AEOAnswer engine optimization
 03
AI crawlersGPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot
 04
AI citationsHow AI answers choose sources
 05
ChatGPTChatGPT search and OpenAI bots
 06
PerplexityPerplexity sources and citations
From crawl to citationFollow how content moves from AI crawlers to cited answers, then apply it to ChatGPT and Perplexity.

Lessons 01 to 06

What you’ll learn

Each lesson covers one part of AI search, from optimization concepts to crawler access, citations, and specific platforms.

01Generative

GEO

How generative engines build answers and how to earn citations in them.

  • Generative search
  • Query fan-out
  • Passage retrieval
  • Entity clarity
  • Share of voice
Open lesson
02Answers

AEO

How to write answer-first content for snippets, voice, and AI answers.

  • Question research
  • Answer-first writing
  • Question headings
  • Snippet formats
  • FAQ schema
Open lesson
03Access

AI crawlers

Which AI bots crawl your site and how to allow, block, and monitor them.

  • AI user agents
  • Training vs search crawlers
  • robots.txt rules
  • Firewall blocks
  • Crawler verification
Open lesson
04Citations

AI citations

How AI systems choose sources and how to track your citations.

  • Citation formats
  • Citable content
  • Citation tracking
  • Citation gaps
  • AI referral traffic
Open lesson
05Platform

ChatGPT

How ChatGPT search retrieves and cites websites.

  • ChatGPT search
  • OAI-SearchBot
  • GPTBot
  • Conversational prompts
  • ChatGPT referrals
Open lesson
06Platform

Perplexity

How Perplexity searches the web and chooses its numbered sources.

  • Perplexity search
  • PerplexityBot
  • Search modes
  • Freshness
  • Follow-up questions
Open lesson

Context

Why AI Search matters

More questions are answered directly by AI systems, and those answers cite a small number of sources.

Sites that are blocked, hard to render, or unclear lose visibility in AI answers even when they rank in traditional search.

In SiteAuditLint

Audit AI visibility

SiteAuditLint checks access for major AI crawlers, flags blocked user agents, and identifies content that depends on JavaScript.

It also reports missing structured data, pages without question-based headings, and optional files such as llms.txt.

Before moving on

Course checklist

Make sure you understand:

  • How GEO and AEO differ from traditional SEO
  • Which AI crawlers exist and how to control them
  • What makes content citable in AI answers
  • How ChatGPT search finds and cites sources
  • How Perplexity selects and displays sources
  • How to measure AI visibility

Summary

Key takeaway

AI search visibility depends on crawler access, clear and citable content, and consistent measurement across platforms.

The lessons examine each step in more detail, starting with GEO.

Continue to GEO
Builds on earlier courses. Review JavaScript SEO for rendering and robots.txt for crawler rules, or read the SEO, GEO, and AEO audit checklist.