What is AISO?
AISO, AI search optimization, is the work of getting your website found, trusted, quoted and recommended by AI search.
AI search is ChatGPT, Gemini, Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity and, since January 2026, Yahoo Scout. Instead of handing a seller ten blue links, it reads the websites for them and writes one answer, quoting the few websites it trusts.
The industry also calls it GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization). I call it what it is: AI search optimization. AISO. Because it is still search. The seller still has a problem, still asks a question, and still needs the right answer. The only thing that changed is who reads the results.
If you came here looking for a list of AI hacks, I have bad news and good news. The bad news: there are no AI hacks. The good news: you will not need them.
How Does AI Search Work? (In Plain English)
Forget the buzzwords for a second. Here is what happens when a motivated seller asks an AI assistant for help:
- The seller asks a question.Not “we buy houses Hartford.” A real question, with their real situation in it: “I inherited my mom’s house and can’t afford the repairs. Who buys houses as-is near me?”
- The AI searches the web for them.Usually more than once. Google calls it “query fan-out”: one question becomes several searches across subtopics. ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity all go out and read live websites before they answer.
- It reads the websites that come up.Where does it find them? In a search index. Google’s for Gemini and AI Overviews. Bing’s for Copilot and Yahoo Scout. Their own crawlers for ChatGPT and Perplexity. If your website doesn’t show up in search, the AI never even reads it.
- It decides who to trust.Which website answers the question clearly? Which one is a real local business, with real reviews, real photos and a real person behind it? Which one sounds like a scam?
- It writes one answer and names its sources.A few websites get quoted and linked. Everybody else is invisible.
Now read that list again and tell me what is new. A search engine that has to find the website its users will find the most valuable and put it in front of them. That is not new. That is Google’s one job, and it has been since day one.
SEO vs AISO: Two Games or One?
Here is the duality. Two kinds of search. One rule.
Every “AI SEO expert” who popped up last year wants you to believe AISO is a brand-new game with brand-new rules (that only they know, for a monthly fee, of course). Here is the truth: ultimately, you do not need to do anything fundamentally different to rank in AI. The same principle foundation is valid for all of them.
Why? Because all search engines need to return the results their users will find valuable, because if not, people will stop using the search engine.
Imagine ChatGPT kept recommending scammy, useless “we buy houses” websites. What do you think happens? People stop asking ChatGPT. They go to Gemini. Or back to Google. Same story as Google versus Yahoo. An AI that recommends garbage is an AI nobody uses, and an AI nobody uses goes broke.
So AI search is dead serious about the exact same thing Google is dead serious about: recommending the website people are happiest with. And how does anybody know which website that is? The same way Google does: strangers pick it, over and over again.
What Google, Bing, Yahoo and OpenAI Actually Say About AI Search
Don’t take my word for it. Here is what the search engines say themselves, straight from their own pages:
“There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary.”
Google’s advice for AI search is its regular advice: unique, useful content for people, a good page experience, and a website Google can crawl. It even says you don’t need special “AI text files” or new markup. Google Search Central
GEO doesn’t guarantee you a citation, just like SEO doesn’t guarantee you a ranking.
Bing added GEO to its official guidelines in February 2026: state facts plainly, one topic per page, the important stuff near the top. And it calls keyword-stuffed, “engineered” language aimed at AI what it is: abuse. Search Engine Journal
Each section is judged on clarity, structure and how directly it answers what the person wants.
Clear, descriptive headings, short sections with one idea each, plain factual language, schema, alt text, current information. Search Engine World
Yahoo’s results come from Bing, and its AI answer engine, Yahoo Scout, is grounded with Bing too.
Win on Bing, and you are in the running on Yahoo, Copilot and DuckDuckGo at the same time. Yahoo
“Any public website can appear in ChatGPT search.”
Just don’t block OpenAI’s search crawler. There is no placement trick, and ChatGPT tags its visitors with utm_source=chatgpt.com so you can see them. OpenAI
Live web search, its own crawler, and a ranking formula it does not publish.
Same story: let its crawler in, and be the website worth quoting.
Read that again. Google, the biggest search engine on the planet, says it out loud: no special optimizations necessary. Anybody selling you secret AI rankings is selling you something Google says does not exist.
Google Just Described What I Have Been Teaching Since 2020
Now look back at everything I have taught: the SEO and credibility courses, the webinars, the workgroups, the 2020 Ultimate SEO Guide, this website. Then look at what Google, Bing and Microsoft now say gets you into AI search.
It is the same list. Not “kind of similar.” The same list.
- Google saysCreate unique, useful content for people, not for search engines.What I have been teaching
NOTHING we do is for Google, which includes manipulating the rankings. EVERYTHING we do is to provide value to traffic.
The Ultimate Guide, 2020 - Google saysAI search understands the question behind the words, and runs several searches to answer it.What I have been teaching
It is NOT about keywords, it is about search intent!
The Ultimate Guide, 2020 - Google saysProvide a great page experience.What I have been teaching
A good and reliably fast host will improve loading speed of your website thereby providing a better user experience to your traffic.
The Ultimate Guide, 2020 - Google saysShow people why they can trust you: who made it, how, and why.What I have been teaching
Competence. Personality. Credibility. And: having a crappy amateurish website does damage to your credibility.
The 3 Pillars of Conversion · The Ultimate Guide, 2020 - Google saysUse images and video, not just text.What I have been teaching
NO ONE wants to read text. People love visuals. Use media for the sake of conversion.
The Ultimate Guide, 2020The video course: how to make videos that convert (REILink University) - Google saysMeasure the full value of a visit, not just the click.What I have been teaching
Ranking #1 means NOTHING if you don’t get your forms filled! The more leads you get, the higher you will rank.
The Ultimate Guide, 2020 - Google saysMake sure your pages can be crawled and are linked together.What I have been teaching
Pages linked together in a logical hierarchy that Google can crawl easily: points that don’t even need traffic.
How Google & AI rank investor websites - Bing saysNo keyword stuffing, no “artificially engineered language” aimed at AI.What I have been teaching
For Crying Out Loud! STOP IT With The “Keywords” Already!!
The Ultimate Guide, 2020 - Bing · Microsoft saysPut the important information near the top. Use clear, descriptive headings.What I have been teaching
Put intention indicating keywords early, so your traffic picks them up without having to read pages upon pages before they realize what services you offer. And: make your headings count.
The Ultimate Guide, 2020 - Bing saysUse clear, consistent names for your business everywhere.What I have been teaching
Be sure the information in the citation is consistent everywhere: same address spelled the same way, phone number, company name.
The Ultimate Guide, 2020
I didn’t predict AI search. I didn’t have to. When you build for people instead of for the algorithm, every new algorithm ends up agreeing with you.
And don’t take my word for it. I asked ChatGPT itself to do a deep search on my SEO teachings and evaluate whether they are right for AI rankings. Here is what it came back with:
“The conclusion: Jerryll Noorden’s long-standing SEO methodology is remarkably well aligned with what Google now officially recommends for visibility in AI-powered search.”
“Noorden was publicly advocating these principles years before ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode became mainstream.”
ChatGPT, independent SEO assessment
That is the whole point of this page. You don’t need a new “AI guru.” You need the foundation. And it has been sitting right here, for free, since 2020.
The 4 Stages Still Apply. AI Just Does the First Two for You
Remember the 4 stages every seller goes through before they become your lead? They need to see you, notice you, be interested in your message, and pick you.
AI search squeezes the first two together. When ChatGPT names you, the seller saw you and noticed you in one shot. But stages 3 and 4 didn’t go anywhere. The seller still clicks through to your website, still reads your message, and still decides whether you look like somebody they can trust.
And here is the kicker: the AI is making the same decision first. Before it names you, it reads your website and asks itself the seller’s questions. Are these people competent? Do they have a personality, or is this a template? Are they credible? Those are the 3 Pillars of Conversion, and they work on AI for the same reason they work on people: they are universal.
AISO Myths: What the “AI SEO Experts” Will Sell You
Every new kind of search brings a new crop of snake-oil salesmen. Here is what they are selling, and what is actually true:
- You need an llms.txt file (or some special “AI file”) to show up in AI search.Google says you don’t need special AI text files or new markup. We keep one on this website for the AI tools that read it, but it is not a ranking factor.
- There is special “AI schema” that gets you cited.Google: there is no special schema.org structured data you need to add. Regular schema that matches your visible page is fine. That’s it.
- Write “for the AI”: stuff in phrases and questions the AI will pick up.Bing now classifies “artificially engineered language” and keyword stuffing aimed at AI as abuse. Write for the seller. Same as always.
- We can guarantee you’ll be recommended by ChatGPT.Nobody can. Bing says GEO doesn’t guarantee citations, just like SEO doesn’t guarantee rankings. Anyone who guarantees it is lying to you.
- SEO is dead. AI killed it.AI search reads websites it finds in search indexes. No search visibility, no AI visibility. SEO is the foundation AISO stands on.
- Pump out hundreds of AI-written pages and the AI will love you.Bing says large-scale content generated without oversight often lacks usefulness and may be excluded from indexing. A hundred garbage pages are a hundred reasons not to trust you.
The AISO Checklist for Real Estate Investor Websites
Remember: none of this is for the AI. All of it is for the seller. The AI just happens to reward it.
- Let the robots in.Your robots.txt must not block Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT) or PerplexityBot. You would be shocked how many investor websites block the very crawlers that would recommend them.
- Rank on Google and Bing first.AI reads what search finds. Gemini and AI Overviews lean on Google. Copilot, Yahoo Scout and DuckDuckGo lean on Bing. Submit your sitemap to both. Here is how Google really ranks investor websites.
- One page, one seller situation.Inherited house. Foreclosure. Tired landlord. Divorce. Each situation and each city gets its own page that answers that one problem better than anybody else.
- Answer the question near the top.If a seller asks “How fast can you close?”, the answer is in the first lines, not buried under three paragraphs about your “mission.”
- Make your headings count.A heading should tell the seller exactly what they get. “House Sold And Cash In Your Hand In 7 Days Flat” beats “We Provide Solutions To Your Real Estate Problems.” Not for the keywords: for the seller, and the AI reading on the seller’s behalf.
- State facts plainly.Who you are. Where you buy. How long it takes. What it costs the seller. No vague, fluffy marketing language, no “we are the leading, most trusted home buyers in the state.”
- Be the same business everywhere.Same name, address and phone number on your website, Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Facebook and every directory. AI cross-checks you.
- Show you are real.Real reviews, real photos, a real person, real deals. Credibility is what makes a seller pick you, and it is what makes an AI comfortable naming you.
- Keep it current.Old prices, old phone numbers, a 2019 copyright in the footer: all reasons for a seller, and an AI, to move on.
- Get your forms filled.The website that generates the most leads is the website that will rank #1. The website people pick is the website search engines trust, AI or not.
How Do You Know If AI Is Sending You Sellers?
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Here is how to see AI search at work:
- Look for ChatGPT in your analytics.ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to the links it sends, so those visitors show up under that source in Google Analytics.
- Check Google Search Console.Clicks and impressions from AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted inside the regular “Web” performance report.
- Check Bing Webmaster Tools.Bing now shows how your website performs in its AI answers, not just its regular results.
- Ask every lead how they found you.“I asked ChatGPT” is a real answer now. Write it down.
- Ask the AI yourself.Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity what a seller in your market would ask: “Who buys houses as-is in [your city]?” Do it every month. Are you in the answer? Who is, and why?
The Bottom Line on AISO
AI search changed who reads the results. It did not change what wins.
Be the website sellers find the most valuable, and every search engine, AI or not, has a reason to put you in front of them.
That is SEO. That is AISO. Same foundation. Start with how Google and AI rank real estate investor websites, then make sure sellers pick you with the 3 Pillars of Conversion. And if you would rather have the website, the pages and the lead forms handled for you, that is exactly what I built Apex Vivus for.
Ohh, and if you would rather watch me flip houses, and hopefully make some money doing it…
Leads, Rankings, and Closed Deals
Every post below was published by the person named, on their own account. Most came from organic leads. A few came from ads, because my students apply the same 3 Pillars to paid traffic too, and they say so in their own words.
I started the SEO program 2 years ago. At the time, I had a few rentals but had never bought a house off market and didn’t even know what a purchase contract looked like. I worked the program and got my first lead about 4 months in. I found a local mentor to teach me how to take down the leads I had coming in and kept working the SEO program. I hated most of the web design stuff and felt like quitting on multiple occasions. But I put my head down and pushed through. More leads started coming in. I focused mostly on BRRRR’s and wholesales. I had to learn how to manage rehabs and contractors. It’s been overwhelming to say the least. Last year I did 14 deals. This year I’m already at 15 deals closed or under contract. Last week I closed on my first ever flip. This is the check I got at closing. Net profit is around $165,000….that’s more money than I’ve ever made in a year, much less in one deal. In 3 days I will close on another $45,000 profit flip and I have two more flips being rehabbed that should net around $225,000 combined. My family’s life is changed. We are being generous with our profits and giving more than we ever have to organizations doing great work with people experiencing homelessness and human trafficking victims. I’m taking more time off to spend with my wife and kids and we joined a boat club. Lol that may seem silly but that was a goal my wife and I set 3 years ago for our real estate pursuits. We just wanted to make enough money to join a boat club. And we are having a blast!
When this flip profit got over 6 figures, I felt weird about sharing my success. I don’t want to be the rich a-hole gloating about my success. I’m literally tearing up about how grateful I am as I write this. So this post is not to brag but to say thank you to Jerryll and the other students I grouped up with who have helped me along the way. I also hope it encourages others grinding through the modules. It really does work but you have to stick with it. If it was easy, everybody would be doing SEO. Most importantly you need to know your “Why”. That’s what will help you push through the dark days and the struggles. I guess I can officially call myself a house flipper now… 😂
And I got a check!
Win-win-win!
No adspend at all on this deal! Just Jerryll Noorden’s techniques
I guess I’m now considered an OG student of Jerryll Noorden’s. I signed up for his program about 1.5 years ago and did the full SEO program. I literally spent 90% of my savings to pay for it. I was reselling items on eBay that I bought at garage sales and thrift stores in order to pay my bills while I worked full time on the SEO program. I know… sounds crazy. Luckily I have an awesome, supportive wife and she was working as a nurse at the time to provide some kind of stable income.
I made my money back that I invested in the program all within the first year plus some. Not necessarily as money in the bank but definitely through equity because I kept some properties as rentals. I definitely made some mistakes. Not only was I learning how to generate leads but I was also learning how to take down deals off market and negotiate with sellers. (I had never bought an off market deal before this program)
In 2021 I did ok. I acquired a few more rentals, had a few small wholesales, and JV’ed a few more for 14 total deals last year.
Now that my website is much more solidified in its rankings, 2022 has started off with a bang. In the first two months of the year, I have 10 deals already closed or under contract. I just closed on my biggest wholesale deal ever just 2 weeks ago. A lady contacted me through my website and said she had an inherited house that needed a ton of work and she wanted $35k for it. (The picture below is of the house) I wholesaled it for $76k almost immediately and made a $41k profit!!
Here’s the cool part. She told me that she really wanted to sell to me because of stuff I wrote about on my website. See, my wife and I decided when we started the business that we were going to donate 5% of all our wholesale and flip profits to support organizations helping people struggling with homelessness. (There’s some backstory on that on our “About Us” page on our website if you’re curious to know more) www.newhorizonhomebuyers.com
I am also about to close on a flip in a week that the guy literally started tearing up in his kitchen as he told me how he wanted to sell his house to us because of how we supported those causes.
I didn’t realize when I made my website how much talking about those sort of things would impact my business. I didn’t make the decision to tell that part of our story to try to “convince” people to sell me their house. It’s something my wife and I are truly passionate about and we wanted to share it. And I think that genuine kindness and care for other people shows through even in business. It has helped my business grow and make money. And now we can give more of it away!
The business we are all in can be intense and cut throat at times, but we don’t have to conform to that norm. It is possible to be kind, generous, and profitable!
I’m not necessarily sure what my main point here is, but that’s just our story so far. 😊 Take from it what you will. Hope that encourages some of y’all. See you on the flip side!
I highly recommend if you have not teamed up with a couple other people to work on your stuff and do Google Meets throughout the week to critique and ask questions, you need to do so! Marcel, Vishal, and I teamed up a couple weeks back and it was like pouring gasoline on a fire for us three getting our pages done and looking good.
Also, 3 in a group seems to be the perfect number so that each Google Meet we can go over each person’s page in about an hour total and have our list of improvements to make and what to get done before the next meet.
If you’re looking for a couple partners, post in the comments and then start making groups. Don’t be shy! You already paid thousands of dollars for this course. Make sure you get the most out of it!
Oh yeah, one more thing. If you haven’t grouped up with 2-3 other people in this group to do the modules together and keep each other accountable, you’re missing out on a huge part of how to be really successful with this program. Seriously, DO IT!
And **cough cough** Michael Mayo is one of the most positive supportive human beings that I have ever had the pleasure of working with. Give that man a raise! But this screenshot of my inbox is no lie.
Jerryll’s system converts motivated leads. It’s a lot of work, but a little over a year later, we are consistently getting leads and I couldn’t be more proud of the work I put in and how grateful I am I took a chance on a guy with a beanie on that didn’t live in Cali. 😉
Proof is in the pudding ladies and gents. Do the program, take it seriously, don’t expect handouts, and do it in the order you are supposed to. The biggest mistake I have seen is trying to compare yourself when writing your content block and taking from other websites. ORIGINALITY will be your success. Be yourself and try not to be the victim of comparison.
I wanted to share a screenshot of my SEO webform leads for the month of July so far… 38 in total and it is only the 20th of July! And they are all real leads. NO SPAM. We have seen an uptick in webforms in the past 2-3 months, and I would not even be close to this number if I hadn’t taken the time to do Jerryll Noordens credibility and SEO program CORRECTLY.
The best advice that I have to offer for this sunny Wednesday morning is to not go into your modules “half-assed”. (sorry to be so blunt.) BUT, the results you get are a direct reflection of what you put into them. I started his program back in March of 2020 and it was the best investment my company and I have ever made! Thank you Supreme Overlord! Cheers to kicking some serious ass for the rest of 2022!!
Have faith in Jerryll Noorden’s system, put in the work, follow his guidance, and you will surely see results!
How we flipped this house.
Watch Jerryll flip houses… and hopefully not go broke doing it.
Windsor, CT · 12 parts · Bought $71K, sold $255K
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Questions About AISO (AI Search Optimization)
What is AISO?
AISO (AI search optimization) is the work of getting a website found, trusted, quoted and recommended by AI search: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity and Yahoo Scout. The term was coined by Jerryll Noorden. It is also called GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization).
What is the difference between SEO and AISO?
SEO gets your website to the top of the regular search results on Google, Bing, Yahoo and DuckDuckGo. AISO gets your website quoted and recommended in AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Google’s AI Overviews, Copilot and Perplexity. The foundation is the same: every search engine, AI or not, has to return the results its users find valuable, or people stop using it.
Is AISO the same as GEO or AEO?
Yes. GEO (generative engine optimization) and AEO (answer engine optimization) are other names for the same work. AISO, AI search optimization, is the name Jerryll Noorden uses, because it is still search: a person with a problem asking for the right answer.
Do I need to do anything different to rank in ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews?
Nothing fundamentally different. Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Be the website your audience finds the most valuable, make sure search engines and AI crawlers can read it, and answer questions clearly.
How do I get my investor website recommended by ChatGPT?
Rank on Google and Bing, don’t block OpenAI’s search crawler (OAI-SearchBot), answer sellers’ real questions clearly near the top of each page, keep your business information consistent everywhere, and show real reviews and real photos. Any public website can appear in ChatGPT search, but nobody can guarantee a citation.
Do I need an llms.txt file for AI search?
No. Google says you don’t need special AI text files or new markup to appear in its AI features. An llms.txt file doesn’t hurt, and some AI tools read it, but it is not a ranking factor.
Is SEO dead because of AI search?
No. AI search reads websites it finds through search indexes: Google’s for Gemini and AI Overviews, Bing’s for Copilot and Yahoo Scout. Without search visibility there is no AI visibility. SEO is the foundation AISO stands on.
How do I know if AI search is sending me leads?
Look for utm_source=chatgpt.com in your analytics, check the Web performance report in Google Search Console (AI Overviews and AI Mode are counted there), check Bing Webmaster Tools, ask every lead how they found you, and ask the AI assistants yourself what a seller in your market would ask.
