Key Takeaways
A structured AEO and GEO programme made a B2B SaaS client appear in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity results for 23 target queries within 6 months. Methodology: entity definition pages, schema-first content architecture, original research publication, Wikipedia entity creation, and targeted placement in AI-indexed publications including G2, Capterra, and Reddit. Organic traffic from AI referral sources grew 340% in the period. The programme cost £4,200/month including content production and outreach. Key insight: Perplexity citations are driven primarily by Reddit and forum authority; ChatGPT by Wikipedia and high-authority blogs; Gemini by structured schema and Google's own index.
The Experiment: 23 Target Queries, 3 AI Platforms, 6 Months
We selected 23 queries our client's ideal customer asks when evaluating SaaS project management tools. We tracked citation rates across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity at the start of the engagement and measured monthly. Baseline: 0 of 23 queries cited our client. Month 6: cited in 23 of 23 queries on Perplexity, 18 of 23 on Gemini, and 14 of 23 on ChatGPT. Each platform responds differently — the strategies diverged significantly.
What Drives Perplexity Citations
Perplexity draws heavily from Reddit, Quora, G2, Capterra, and recent web content. Our programme for Perplexity: (1) Seeded 40 authentic Reddit posts and comments in relevant subreddits (r/projectmanagement, r/SaaS, r/productivity) where our client was mentioned as a solution — written by real people, never fake accounts. (2) Built out G2 and Capterra profiles with 30+ verified reviews. (3) Published original benchmark data that other sites quoted. Within 90 days, our client appeared in 19 of 23 Perplexity queries. Perplexity is the fastest AI platform to crack for B2B because it values recency and community signals over domain authority.
What Drives Gemini Citations
Gemini is Google's model and references Google's index deeply. The factors that drove Gemini citation: (1) Structured schema on every page — especially FAQ and HowTo markup. (2) Appearing in Google's AI Overviews, which then fed into Gemini's knowledge. (3) Featured snippet ownership for our target queries. (4) Google Business Profile optimisation with rich category and service data. The Gemini programme was essentially advanced Google SEO with an AI citation lens — the fundamentals were the same, but we structured content specifically for AI extraction rather than human reading.
What Drives ChatGPT Citations
ChatGPT's training data has a knowledge cutoff, and its browsing feature uses Bing's index. The ChatGPT programme had two tracks: (1) Long-term — get cited in Wikipedia and high-authority domains that appear in training data cutoffs. We created a Wikipedia page for our client's methodology (not the company — that gets deleted) and got cited in three industry publications. (2) Short-term (browsing) — optimise for Bing, which ChatGPT's browsing feature draws from. Bing SEO differs from Google: it weights domain age, author authority, and social signals more heavily.
The ROI: What AI Citation Actually Drives
Traffic from AI referral sources (tracked via UTM from shared links in AI responses) grew 340% in 6 months. More importantly: the buyer who finds you via an AI citation is already educated. They've been told by a trusted AI system that your product is a credible solution. Conversion rates from AI-referred visitors were 2.7× higher than from organic search. The programme cost £4,200/month. It produced a qualified pipeline increase of £180,000 in the 6-month period. The channel is early. The brands that establish citation authority now will be extremely difficult to displace in 18 months.
Ready to implement this in your business?
Book a free AI Audit. 90 minutes. We'll map your highest-value opportunities and hand you a prioritised implementation plan.
Book My AI Audit