Blog
Guides and original research on how AI assistants choose which brands to name, written for South African marketing teams.
- State of Google AI Overviews in South Africa: 96 searches, October 2026
AI Overviews appeared on 92 of 96 South African Google searches on 11 October 2026. Sector figures, what they cite, and how often top sites are cited.
- Generative engine optimisation (GEO): a guide for South African brands
What GEO is, how ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews choose which brands to name, and how South African brands can measure and improve it.
- The GEO checklist for South African marketing teams: 33 checks, with the reason for each
A 33-point GEO checklist for South African marketing teams: measurement, technical, content, sources and brand, each with the reason it matters.
- SEO vs GEO: what changes when your buyers ask AI
SEO earns a click from a list of links; GEO earns a mention inside an AI answer. A side-by-side comparison for South African marketing teams.
- What is AI share of voice, and how is it measured?
AI share of voice is your share of all brand mentions in AI answers. How to calculate it, a worked example, and the pitfalls that make the number lie.
- Which sites Google's AI cites most in South Africa
We counted every source in 86 South African AI Overviews. Facebook, YouTube and hippo.co.za led; brands' own sites and comparison sites followed.
- AEO vs GEO vs SEO: the terms explained, and where they overlap
AEO vs GEO vs SEO: what each term means, a side-by-side table, where the work overlaps, and which one a South African marketing team should plan around.
- AI Overviews for car, telecoms and retail searches in South Africa
23 of 24 South African car, telecoms and retail searches showed an AI Overview. The sites it cited, how often social media appeared, and what ranking did.
- AI Overviews in South African banking, insurance and medical aid searches
Google showed an AI Overview on all 24 SA banking, insurance and medical aid searches we ran. Who it cited: providers, comparison sites, rarely social.
- AI Overviews in South African property and solar searches
All 16 South African property and solar searches we ran showed an AI Overview, despite tiny search volumes. The sites Google's AI cited, and what it means.
- Branded vs unbranded questions: where AI visibility is won
Unbranded search is where AI visibility is won. Why branded questions flatter your numbers, and how to split a GEO question set, with SA search data.
- How to build the question set your GEO measurement runs on
Build a GEO question set from search data, People also ask and sales calls: how many prompts, the branded and unbranded mix, and a worked example.
- Digital PR for AI visibility in South Africa: earning mentions where AI answers look
Digital PR for AI visibility: find the SA publishers and comparison sites AI answers already cite, earn accurate mentions there, and measure the effect.
- Does ranking first get you cited in AI Overviews? South African data
The #1 Google result was cited in 45 of 86 South African AI Overviews. How citation rates change by rank, and what that means for your SEO.
- How to find the sources AI cites in your category
Find the AI citation sources in your category: record what AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude cite, then tally by domain, with real SA examples.
- GEO for B2B companies: how to be the vendor AI puts on the shortlist
B2B GEO explained: what Google's AI cited for 8 South African business-software and agency searches, and the pages, reviews and listings that matter.
- GEO for local businesses in South Africa: how to be named when customers ask AI
Local business AI search in South Africa: what Google's AI cited in 96 SA searches, and the Business Profile, review and listing work that helps.
- GEO metrics for your marketing dashboard: what to report every month
The GEO metrics worth reporting: presence, first position, share of voice, citation share and description accuracy, with a sample monthly report.
- Google AI Overviews explained for South African marketers
What Google AI Overviews are, how they choose sources, what you can control, and how often they appeared in 96 South African searches in October 2026.
- How ChatGPT decides which brands to recommend
How ChatGPT recommends brands: what its model learned in training, what it finds by searching, and what OpenAI's own documentation says about its crawlers.
- How to measure GEO without fooling yourself
How to measure GEO reliably: a fixed question set, several engines, repeat runs, and why no percentage should rest on fewer than 30 answers.
- Is your website readable by ChatGPT? A JavaScript check for South African sites
Can ChatGPT read your website? Crawlers that skip JavaScript may see an empty page. Test what GPTBot sees with curl in five minutes, and how to fix it.
- robots.txt for AI crawlers: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended
A robots.txt guide to AI crawlers: what GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended do, and what blocking each one costs you.
- How to stop AI confusing your brand with another one
How to fix your brand entity for AI search: the signals that separate you from a similarly named company, sameAs markup, and a real case from our own name.
- Structured data for AI search: what schema markup helps, and what it cannot do
Does schema markup help AI search? What Organization, BlogPosting, FAQPage and sameAs do, what Google says about AI features, and what schema cannot do.
- What is llms.txt, and does it help your brand appear in AI answers?
llms.txt is a proposed Markdown file that guides AI agents through a website. The format, who reads it, and what Google says it does for AI search.
- Why Google's AI cites Facebook, YouTube and Reddit in South African answers
AI Overviews and social media sources in South Africa: how often Google's AI cited Facebook, YouTube, Reddit, TikTok and Instagram in 96 SA searches.
- How to write content AI assistants quote: answer first, then the evidence
How to write content for AI search: answer first, then add dated statistics, quotations and sources. Based on GEO research, with before-and-after examples.
