A buyer in Dubai now has several ways to find you. They can scroll the usual results, read an AI Overview at the top of the page, ask a follow-up in Google’s AI Mode, or put the same question to ChatGPT or Copilot. That raises a practical question: does search engine optimisation in Dubai now need three separate budgets, one each for SEO, AEO and GEO?
In most cases, no. Below is how the three relate, seven strategies that work across all of them, and what you can skip.
SEO, AEO and GEO: one foundation, three outcomes
The three terms describe different results, not different disciplines.
| What it aims for | Where you see it | |
| SEO | Pages that are crawled, indexed and ranked | Standard Google results |
| AEO (answer engine optimisation) | Content clear enough to be used as a direct answer | Featured snippets, AI Overviews |
| GEO (generative engine optimisation) | Your brand or page cited in an AI-written response | AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity |
Google’s position is direct: its guidance says optimising for generative AI search is still SEO. Its AI features are rooted in the same ranking and quality systems and draw on the same index. Other AI platforms disclose less about how they choose sources, but the foundations below are a reasonable starting point there too.
In the UAE, Google held about 95% of search engine market share in October 2026, according to Statcounter’s estimates, and AI Mode is available in both English and Arabic.
7 strategies to improve visibility across Google and AI search
- Confirm your pages are eligible
To appear as a link in AI Overviews or AI Mode, Google says a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, and the site must be included in its generative AI features. Check that:
- Robots.txt, your CDN and security settings aren’t blocking Googlebot.
- Key pages aren’t set to noindex or nosnippet.
- The Search generative AI setting in Google Search Console includes your site. Inclusion is the default, and the setting reached all sites by 31 August 2026, but confirm nobody has changed it.
- Make sure the site itself is readable
Information placed inside images, content fetched only after a visitor clicks or scrolls, and JavaScript that fails to render can all keep pages from being fully processed. Google recommends keeping important content in text, using clear headings, providing a good page experience and reducing duplicate URLs.
If a redesign is planned, put these requirements in the brief for your developer or website design agency in Dubai before work begins. Retrofitting crawlability after launch is usually harder than building it in.
- Publish what only your business can say
Google warns against “commodity content” built on common knowledge. It says unique, compelling and useful content, such as first-hand experience, will likely influence AI search visibility over time more than anything else in its guide.
A developer can publish handover timelines for its own projects; a clinic can explain how its appointment process works. Name the author, show their experience, and keep dates current.
- Answer the question first, then go deeper
This is the practical core of AEO. Under each heading, give a direct one- or two-sentence answer, then the detail, conditions and exceptions.
Google’s AI features can also use “query fan-out,” running several related searches to build one response. Covering a topic thoroughly helps: costs, timelines, eligibility, comparisons. Publishing near-identical pages for every query variation doesn’t. When that’s done primarily to manipulate rankings or AI responses, Google treats it as scaled content abuse.
- Support claims with evidence
The research paper that introduced the term GEO (Aggarwal et al., presented at KDD 2024) found that adding citations, relevant quotations and statistics improved visibility in AI-generated responses on its benchmark, while keyword stuffing did not.
Treat this as direction, not a guarantee: it was a controlled study, and AI platforms have changed since. Still, replace “competitive pricing” with real figures and attribute numbers to their source.
- Keep business details accurate where AI looks for them
Google states that AI responses can include local business and product information, and that up-to-date Google Business Profile and Merchant Center data can help you appear there. For a clinic, school or showroom in Dubai, that means correct categories, services, hours, location and contact details that match your website. This is standard local SEO work, and it now supports AI visibility too.
If you serve Arabic and English speakers, publish localised versions of key pages linked with hreflang tags.
- Measure visibility against leads, not impressions alone
Native reporting now exists, with clear limits:
| Report | What it shows | What it doesn’t show |
| Search Console: Generative AI performance | Impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode, by page, country and device | Clicks |
| Bing Webmaster Tools: AI Performance | How often Copilot and Bing’s AI summaries cite your pages | Clicks |
| GA4 referrals plus manual checks | Visits from ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity where referrer data is passed, and how they answer customer questions | Citation counts (no comparable publisher report yet) |
Then connect visibility to outcomes. Compare trends in AI impressions with enquiries, qualified leads and cost per acquisition on the same landing pages. This shows direction, not exact attribution, but reveals whether visibility is producing pipeline.
What you can safely ignore
Google’s guidance says the following aren’t needed to appear in its search results, including AI features:
- llms.txt files or other AI-specific markup
- “Chunking” content into small fragments
- Rewriting pages in a special style for AI
- Chasing inauthentic mentions across the web
- Treating structured data as a shortcut (it isn’t required for AI features, though it still supports rich results)
Frequently asked questions
Is SEO still worth investing in now that Google shows AI Overviews?
Yes. Google’s AI features draw on its search index, so a page that isn’t indexed can’t appear as a supporting link in them.
Do I need a separate GEO or AEO agency?
Usually not. Ask any provider what they would change on your site and how they will connect AI visibility to enquiries. Be cautious if the plan relies mainly on llms.txt files, special markup or bulk content.
Can anyone guarantee my business will appear in AI Overviews or ChatGPT?
No. Google says even pages that meet every requirement aren’t guaranteed to be shown, and other AI platforms don’t fully disclose how they select sources.
Can I stop Google from using my site in AI Overviews?
Yes. The Search generative AI setting in Search Console lets you exclude your site from AI Overviews and AI Mode, though you also lose any impressions and traffic from those features.
