How to Get Cited by AI
Try something with me. It takes two minutes.
Open ChatGPT or Google. Type the question your best clients ask before they hire someone like you.
Then read the answer.
Is your name in it? Your website? Your ideas?
For most founders and leaders I talk to, the answer is no.
Not because they lack expertise.
Because AI can only quote what has been published, clearly, where it can find it.
This article shows you how to get cited by AI, in plain language, with steps you can start this week.
Straight talk: you don't need a new website. You need your expertise said clearly, and said where AI is reading.
What Is AEO, and Why Should a Founder Care?
AEO stands for answer engine optimization. It means making your expertise easy for AI tools to find, trust, and quote.
Here's what changed. People used to search and get ten blue links.
Now many get a written answer first.
Google shows an AI Overview at the top of the page.
ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity write a short answer and list a few sources underneath. Those few sources are the new page one.
When someone asks about your field, AI picks a handful of voices to quote. Either yours is one of them, or a competitor's is.
SEO still matters. AI tools pull from pages that already rank and load well.
AEO builds on that foundation. SEO helps people find your page.
AEO helps AI understand it well enough to repeat it.
For founders and leaders, this is bigger than traffic. It's reputation.
The board member, the conference planner, the prospect who heard your name from a colleague: they ask AI before they ever call you.
What AI says about your field, and whether it says your name, is now part of your first impression.
Why Doesn't AI Quote Experts Who Know More?
AI doesn't quote the smartest person in the field. It quotes the clearest one it can find.
That's hard news for brilliant leaders. Most founders I work with have two problems. They can't say what they do in a way that lands, because they know too much and can't decide what to keep.
And when they can say it, it never gets written and published. There's no time to think, let alone write.
AI can't quote what lives in your head, your client calls, or a keynote you gave in 2023.
Here's where it gets interesting for founders and leaders.
A 2026 Semrush study looked at 89,000 LinkedIn pages cited by ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity. What they found:LinkedIn is the second most cited website in AI answers, ahead of Wikipedia and YouTube.
Long-form LinkedIn articles make up 50% to 66% of what gets cited. Short feed posts make up 15% to 28%.
Articles of 500 to 2,000 words get cited most.
ChatGPT Search and Google AI Mode cite individual people, not company pages, for 59% of their LinkedIn citations.
Read that last one again.
AI is quoting people. Founders and leaders, by name, who wrote down what they know.
So learning how to get cited by AI isn't only a website project. It's a publishing habit.
Your website holds your clear answers. Your articles show your point of view.
Together, they give AI something worth repeating.
How Do You Get Cited by AI? Six Changes That Work
Start with your message, then make it easy to find.
None of this needs a developer. All of it needs clarity.
Know what you stand for first. AI quotes a clear point of view. If you can't say yours in two sentences, no tool can say it for you. This is the step most people skip, and it's the one everything else depends on.
Lead every page with the answer. Put your clearest sentence at the top. "We've served clients since 2005" tells AI nothing. "Most organizations need six to eight weeks to rebuild their message" answers a real question.
Write headings as questions people actually ask. "Our Approach" is navigation. "How long does a brand refresh take?" is a search. AI often lifts a question heading and the paragraph under it as a pair.
Add an FAQ to every key page. Three to five real questions, each with a short, direct answer. Pull them from your inbox, your sales calls, and your discovery forms. You've been answering them for years. Now write them down.
Put your name on your ideas. A named author with a real title beats "the team." Add a short bio to every article. AI weighs who said it, not just what was said.
Publish long-form, in your own voice, on a schedule. One 800 to 1,500 word article a month, on your blog and on LinkedIn, gives AI fresh, original thinking to cite. Say what only you can say: what you've seen, what your field gets wrong, what your clients taught you.
Notice what's missing from that list.
Tricks. Shortcuts. Keyword stuffing.
AI rewards the same things a careful reader does: clarity, a real point of view, and proof you know what you're talking about.
In a feed full of AI, the real voice wins. That's true in AI answers too.
What Does It Look Like When It Works?
It looks like a client getting quoted by AI, again and again.
Rainstorm is a client I provide services for every month. They handle stormwater, drainage, and pond maintenance for homeowners, builders, and 150+ HOA communities across the Coastal Carolinas.
We didn't rebuild their site from scratch. We made two changes:
A clear, well-organized site, so every page answers one main question.
FAQs on key pages, written from the questions their customers actually ask.
Then I asked three AI tools the same question: “Who does stormwater pond maintenance for HOAs in Wilmington NC?”
Google’s AI Overview listed Rainstorm too.
Perplexity didn’t mention them at all.
It pulled from directories like Superpages instead.
Same question. Three tools. Three different answers.
That’s the lesson. AI looks in more than one place, and the answers shift every time a competitor publishes. Getting cited isn’t a one-time fix. It’s showing up, consistently, everywhere AI looks.
That's the whole idea. Clear words, in the right places, consistently. Your expertise shows up everywhere AI looks.
Where Should You Start This Week?
Start with one question and one page.
Run the two-minute test. Ask Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity the question your best clients ask before they hire you. Note who gets quoted.
Pick your most important page. Rewrite its first paragraph so it answers that question in plain words.
Add three FAQs to that page. Use the exact words clients use with you.
Write one article from your point of view. Publish it on your blog, then on LinkedIn as an article. Put your name and title on it.
Check again in a month. AI tools need time to re-read your pages, often a few days to a few weeks.
When the website itself is the problem, fix the message first.
That's how Kathy Magnusson of Wildewood Learning went from a site that described who she used to be, to 2,800+ page views in the first 30 days after launch.
Her advice:
"Don't piecemeal things together. Take the time and effort to make it cohesive." - Kathy Magnusson
Frequently Asked Questions About Getting Cited by AI
What is the difference between SEO and AEO?
SEO helps your pages rank in search results. AEO helps AI tools understand your pages well enough to quote them in a written answer. You need both, because AI pulls from pages that already rank.
How do I know if AI is citing my website?
Ask your clients' top questions in Google, ChatGPT, and Perplexity, and see who gets quoted. In Google Analytics, check your referral traffic for visitors from ChatGPT or Perplexity.
How long does it take to show up in AI answers?
There's no set timeline. AI tools need to re-read your updated pages first, which can take a few days to a few weeks. Make your changes, then run the same test again in a month.
Does LinkedIn help me get cited by AI?
Yes. A 2026 Semrush study found LinkedIn is the second most cited website in AI answers, and long-form articles of 500 to 2,000 words are cited most often.
Do I need a new website to show up in AI search?
Usually not. Most sites need clearer first paragraphs, question headings, and FAQs. If your website no longer describes the work you do now, start with your message, then rebuild.
Be Known As The Go-To Expert In Your Field
You've spent years building expertise worth quoting. Don't let AI skip past it.
If you can't say what you do in a way that lands, or you can say it but never find time to publish it, that's exactly what I solve. I find the precise words for your expertise. Then I publish them every week, in your voice. You share your ideas. I write them. You approve. It goes out.
Has your work outgrown your website? See how the Signature Website rebuilds it from your message out.
Lee Aldridge is a brand strategist and thought leadership writer, and the founder of Soul Story Creative in Wilmington, North Carolina. She helps founders and leaders become known for the go-to expert in their industry. She has built over 75 Communication Libraries for business leaders. Straight talk. Said so people get it.
Related reading: Confessions of a Shamanic Geek: Spiritual Marketing with AI
Sources
We Analyzed 89K LinkedIn URLs Cited in AI Search, Semrush, March 10, 2026.
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