AI Platform Optimization

Why platforms differ

Each AI search system has a different architecture, data sources, and retrieval pipeline. A solid SEO/GEO foundation covers the essentials for all platforms, but understanding each platform's specificities allows you to fine-tune your strategy.

Google AI Overviews & AI Mode

Crawler: Googlebot (traditional) + Google-Extended (Gemini/AI)

Characteristics:

• Two distinct surfaces: AI Overviews (one-shot SERP summary) and AI Mode (conversational)
• Minimum prerequisite: page indexed + eligible for snippets
• Uses the Knowledge Graph for disambiguation and fact-checking
• AI Mode: query fan-out (8–12 parallel sub-queries), citations with #:~:text= fragments
• Grounding often pre-loaded in page source, even without a visible AIO block

Priority levers:

• Clean indexation + datePublished/dateModified in JSON-LD
• Structured data (Article, FAQPage, HowTo, Product…)
• Recognized entities in the Knowledge Graph (sameAs + Wikidata)
• E-E-A-T: identified authors, quality backlinks

See AI Overviews and AI Mode and Entities and Knowledge Graph.

Perplexity

Crawler: PerplexityBot

Characteristics:

• Real-time answer engine: Perplexity crawls live at query time
• Systematic citations: every claim is attributed to a source with a link
• Strong preference for recent, factual, and well-sourced content
• Reads HTML directly — not dependent on a stale index

Priority levers:

• Freshness: update content regularly, visible dateModified
• Structure: clear H2/H3 headings, short paragraphs, lists — Perplexity extracts passages
• Verifiable facts: cite sources, include quantified data
• TTFB and availability: Perplexity crawls in real time, a slow server = page skipped
• Allow PerplexityBot in robots.txt

ChatGPT Search (SearchGPT)

Crawlers: GPTBot (indexing), OAI-SearchBot (search), ChatGPT-User (user browsing)

Characteristics:

• Two modes: answers from training dataset (knowledge cutoff) or real-time search via SearchGPT
• SearchGPT cites sources with links and text fragments
• RAG architecture: retrieval → context augmentation → generation
• Particularly responsive to pages with dense content, lists, and definitions

Priority levers:

• Allow GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt (if you want to be cited)
• Clear, factual content with source citations
• Markdown available (Accept: text/markdown) to reduce token consumption
• llms.txt to guide site understanding

Bing / Microsoft Copilot

Crawler: Bingbot

Characteristics:

• Copilot is powered by the Bing index — Bing optimization = Copilot optimization
• Bing Webmaster Tools is the equivalent of Google Search Console for Bing
• Supports IndexNow (near-real-time indexing on content updates)
• Copilot citations displayed with source and link

Priority levers:

• Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools
• Enable IndexNow to notify Bing immediately on publish or update
• Same structured data as Google (Schema.org, JSON-LD)
• Allow Bingbot in robots.txt

Claude (Anthropic)

Crawler: ClaudeBot

Characteristics:

• Claude can browse the web (user-enabled browsing mode) or rely on training data
• Strictly respects robots.txt
• Reads clean HTML — prefers static or SSR content
• Particularly sensitive to clear semantic structure

Priority levers:

• Allow ClaudeBot in robots.txt
• Clean semantic HTML, no JS-only content
• Well-structured content with hierarchical headings

Gemini (Google, outside Search)

Note: Gemini used directly (gemini.google.com) is distinct from Google AI Mode in Search. It can use Google Search as a tool or rely on its training dataset.

Associated crawler: Google-Extended

For Gemini in web grounding mode, the same recommendations as for AI Mode apply.

Comparative overview

Platform	Crawlers to allow	Most important signal	Monitoring tool
Google AIO/AIM	Google-Extended	Indexation + snippets + KG	Google Search Console
Perplexity	PerplexityBot	Freshness + structure	Server logs
ChatGPT Search	GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot	Permissive robots.txt + dense content	Server logs
Bing Copilot	Bingbot	IndexNow + Bing WMT	Bing Webmaster Tools
Claude	ClaudeBot	Clean HTML + SSR	Server logs

What all platforms have in common

Despite their differences, all AI search platforms value:

1. Well-structured content — headings, lists, tables, explicit definitions
2. Verifiable facts with dates — datePublished, dateModified, cited sources
3. Fast, accessible pages — low TTFB, SSR/SSG, no JS-only content
4. Clear permissions — configured robots.txt, available llms.txt
5. Perceived authority — E-E-A-T, backlinks, recognized entities

GEO is a practice that applies to all these platforms simultaneously. A solid SEO foundation + structured data + quality content covers 80% of the needs for each platform.

See the checklist for a full audit.