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How to Improve Your Website’s Visibility on AI Chatbots in New Zealand (and Beyond)

  • Writer: Elaine Angel
    Elaine Angel
  • Oct 11
  • 3 min read

Person using a laptop surrounded by AI and search icons, symbolising how businesses in New Zealand, Australia, and the United States can optimise their websites for visibility on ChatGPT, Google AI, and other AI-driven search tools.

If you haven’t already read our article on "how Google AI and ChatGPT are changing search behaviour in 2025", it’s a great place to start, it explains why this shift is happening and how it affects every NZ business.


  1. Combine Traditional SEO with AI-Focused Optimisation

To appear in AI chatbot answers, continue applying strong SEO foundations but extend them with AI-specific strategies:

  • Create localised content that reflects New Zealand audiences and culture, including te reo Māori where relevant.

  • Ensure your business listings are accurate across local directories.

  • Implement local schema markup (structured data) to help AI systems understand your services and location.

  • Write content that clearly answers user questions, especially “how”, “what”, and “where” queries.

  • Stay current with AI search trends such as Google’s AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, and emerging platforms like Perplexity.


If you want a deeper dive into how to align SEO with new AI models, check out our post on Google AI Mode in New Zealand, it shows exactly how AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) work together to improve your online visibility.


  1. Don’t Neglect the SEO Essentials

AI chatbots still rely heavily on data from search engines. Maintaining good visibility in Google and Bing directly improves your AI presence.

Focus on:

  • Clean on-page SEO (titles, headings, meta descriptions).

  • Building high-quality backlinks from credible NZ websites.

  • Strong technical performance - page speed, mobile usability, and accessibility.


As we discussed in Will GEO Replace SEO or Just Become Part of It?, traditional SEO foundations remain vital. AI visibility builds on those same signals, it doesn’t replace them.


  1. Extend Visibility to Australia and the USA

If your audience also includes Australia or the United States, apply the same principles with regional precision:

  • Add "areaServed": "Australia" and "areaServed": "United States" to your schema markup.

  • List your business on Hotfrog AU, Yelp, and the Better Business Bureau (US).

  • Reference cities or regions naturally in your copy - for example, “offshore support services available across Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.”

  • Publish localised FAQs or landing pages for each region so AI systems understand your geographic relevance.


  1. Work with Specialists in AI Search Visibility

Specialists like AI Optimisation NZ help businesses in New Zealand, Australia, and the USA bridge the gap between human and AI search.Through Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), structured data, and content entity mapping, we ensure your website can be read, understood, and cited by AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and Google’s AI Overviews - keeping your business visible as search continues to evolve.


1. What is Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)?Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) helps your business appear in results generated by AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and Google’s AI Overviews. It focuses on structuring your content so that AI systems can read, understand, and quote your information accurately.

2. How is AI search different from traditional SEO?Traditional SEO focuses on ranking web pages in Google, while AI search pulls information directly from multiple sources to generate conversational answers. AI search visibility depends on structured content, schema, and clear question-based sections.

3. How can New Zealand businesses appear in AI chatbot answers?By combining local SEO best practices with AEO. That means adding schema markup, using clear question-answer formatting, optimising Google Business Profiles, and publishing authoritative content with regional keywords (like “NZ”, “Auckland”, or “Australia”).


Key Takeaway

The future of search isn’t just about ranking, it’s about being referenced by AI.Start by reviewing your SEO and AI readiness. An AI Search Audit identifies what’s working, what’s missing, and how to make your business stand out in human and AI results alike.

 
 
 

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