Generative Engine Optimisation, brand strategy, web that converts — written for owner-operated UK small businesses by someone who's actually run one.
TL;DR. AI search (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) is replacing 25–40% of the clicks small businesses used to get from Google organic. This hub explains what's changing, what to do about it, and how to get cited by the engines that now answer your customers' questions before they ever reach a search results page.
Where to start, depending on what you're after.
AI search
When someone asks ChatGPT for a recommendation, it doesn't rank pages — it assembles a picture of each candidate business from Bing's index, location databases, review platforms, shopping feeds and its training data, then recommends the businesses it can verify. Incomplete or inconsistent businesses don't get named. Here's where the data actually comes from, and the five things a UK small business should do about it.
SEO
Google's May 2026 core update ran from 21 May to 2 June. The data so far says it reinforces the March 2026 pattern: visibility is moving away from directories, aggregators and comparison sites, and toward the businesses that actually do the work. If you're an owner-operated business with your own site, this is the most favourable ranking environment in years — but only if your site reads as genuinely first-party.
Web
UK small business websites typically cost £600–£10,000 in 2026. £9–£50/mo for DIY (Wix, Squarespace). £500–£3,000 for a freelancer. £600–£1,500 for a sole-operator agency. £3,000–£10,000 for a regional agency. £10,000–£30,000+ for a London agency. £30,000+ for enterprise builds. Hidden ongoing costs add another £100–£1,500/month for hosting, maintenance and SEO/GEO.
AI search
UK GEO agency pricing splits into four bands. £99–£500/mo for monitoring or audit-led productised offers. £500–£1,500/mo for done-for-you SME work (the most underserved band, where Sort The Clicks sits). £1,500–£3,500/mo for premium productised retainers. £4,000–£10,000+/mo for enterprise custom-quote work. Most UK GEO agencies don't publish prices; this guide names the ones who do, and uses sourced industry comparables for the ones who don't.
AI search
GEO is where SEO was around 2008 — most UK small businesses haven't started, and the ones that do over the next twelve months will have a structural advantage that's hard to displace. Here's what GEO actually is, why now, and what the work concretely looks like.
AI search
Yes, AI search generates leads. The volume is smaller than peak SEO. The conversion rate is meaningfully higher. The leads arrive warmer because they've already read about you. Here's the data, the caveats, and a calibration guide for what to expect over the first six months.
AI search
AI engines cite source material that's clear, structured, definitive and answer-shaped. Most small business sites are none of those things. Here are the seven specific reasons your business isn't being cited yet — each with the concrete fix and how long it takes.
AI search
SEO and GEO share roughly 70% of their tactics. The remaining 30% is where small businesses are about to lose — or win — a meaningful chunk of their traffic. Here's a query-by-query breakdown of where each one wins, and how to invest if you only have time for one.
GEO is the practice of structuring your website and brand so that AI engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews cite your business when users ask questions. It overlaps roughly 70% with traditional SEO (fast site, clear content, schema, authority signals) but adds AI-specific tactics: llms.txt, FAQ schema, definitive language, and structured Q&A blocks. See our full GEO explainer.
Short answer: yes, but volume is still smaller than Google organic — and the leads are warmer. Users who arrive from ChatGPT or Perplexity have already read a recommendation and made a shortlist. Conversion rates we see across UK small business clients sit in the 10–25% range, vs 1–3% for cold Google traffic. Read our honest breakdown.
SEO optimises for ranking on a list. GEO optimises for being the answer. SEO still wins for transactional and navigational queries; GEO is taking over informational and recommendation queries (the 'best X for Y' patterns). For most UK small businesses the right ratio is 70% shared work, 20% SEO-specific, 10% GEO-specific. See SEO vs GEO.
Usually one of seven reasons: no llms.txt, missing or broken schema, content that doesn't answer questions definitively, no external mentions or directory listings, JavaScript-rendered content AI crawlers can't read, weak topical authority, or simply being too new to be in the training data. Full list and fixes here.
New articles publish roughly every 2–4 weeks. Older articles are reviewed and updated whenever the underlying landscape shifts — which, in AI search, is often. Each article shows its publish date and last-updated date at the top. If something here is out of date, tell us.
Let's have a proper conversation about your business. No obligation, no hard sell — just an honest chat about what would actually help.
Or email: hello@sorttheclicks.com
