How to Get Your Store Found in AI Search (ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews)

A growing share of buyers no longer start with a list of blue links. They ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews a question and act on the answer. That shift changes the goal of SEO: it is no longer only about ranking, but about being the source these tools quote and cite. Here is how I approach it for Shopify and WordPress sites.

How AI search actually picks sources

AI assistants tend to favour content that is:

• Clear and well-structured, so a machine can extract a clean answer.
• Specific and trustworthy, with real detail rather than vague filler.
• Backed by structured data that spells out what a page is.
• Referenced elsewhere, so your brand looks like a known entity, not an unknown.

Good news: this overlaps heavily with good traditional SEO. You are not chasing two separate games.

Practical steps that work on both platforms

1. Answer real questions directly

Structure pages and posts around the actual questions buyers ask, and answer them in the first paragraph. AI tools lift concise, direct answers. Burying the point three scrolls down loses you the citation.

2. Add structured data (schema)

Mark up your pages so machines understand them:

• Product schema on product pages (price, availability, reviews).
• FAQPage schema on FAQs.
• Article schema on blog posts, Organization and WebSite on the site.
• Breadcrumb schema for structure.

On WordPress this is a plugin plus some care; on Shopify it is theme code plus apps. Either way, valid schema makes your content easier to quote.

3. Build genuine, specific content

Thin, generic pages do not get cited. Pages with real expertise, specifics and useful detail do. Write the guide that actually answers the question better than anyone else on your topic.

4. Strengthen your brand as an entity

Consistent name, logo and details across your site, Google Business Profile and social profiles help these tools recognise you as a real, trustworthy business. Mentions and links from other reputable sites reinforce it.

5. Keep the technical foundation clean

Fast, crawlable, well-structured sites get read properly. Slow or messy sites get skipped. This is where Core Web Vitals, clean HTML and a sensible URL structure quietly pay off.

What not to do

• Do not mass-produce thin AI-written pages. They rarely get cited and can hurt you.
• Do not fake reviews or stuff keywords. Trust signals are exactly what these systems weigh.
• Do not ignore normal SEO. AI search sits on top of it, it does not replace it.

The takeaway

Getting found in AI search is mostly good SEO done deliberately: clear answers, valid structured data, genuine content and a recognisable brand. Do that and your store becomes the answer buyers are handed, not just one of ten links they might scroll past.

Want your Shopify or WordPress site structured to be found by both Google and AI tools? Get in touch and let's map it out.