Ascendra Marketing is one of the only UK agencies actively practising SEO, AEO and GEO — the three disciplines that decide whether your local business gets found in 2026. Google still matters. Voice search matters. And over 30% of UK buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity instead of searching Google. We optimise you for all of it.
SEO, AEO and GEO are the three layers of modern search visibility. SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) ranks your website on Google and Bing. AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) gets your business read aloud by Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant and featured in Google AI Overviews. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) gets your business cited and recommended by generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude and Perplexity. You need all three now, because each covers a different part of how UK customers actually search in 2026.
Traditional ranking on Google & Bing. On-page optimisation, technical SEO, Core Web Vitals, Google Business Profile, citations, reviews, content, and backlinks — the 20+ ranking factors that decide if you show up on page 1.
Getting your business named in voice search, featured snippets, Google's "People Also Ask" and AI Overviews. Needs structured data (schema.org), speakable markup, concise Q&A formatting, and factually clean answer blocks.
Getting cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity when users ask for recommendations. Requires AI crawler access, llms.txt, entity-dense pages, brand mentions across authoritative sources, and monitoring of actual AI responses.
Customers used to type into Google. Now they type, speak, and chat — across four distinct channels. If you're only optimised for one, you're invisible to the other three.
Still the biggest channel — ~8.5 billion UK searches a day. Dominated by the top 3 organic results and the Map Pack. Covered by traditional SEO: on-page, technical, GBP optimisation, citations, reviews.
"Hey Siri, find me a plumber in Bolton." Voice search is ~27% of mobile searches. Google AI Overviews now sit above organic results for most queries. AEO wins these slots — you either get read aloud or you don't.
ChatGPT has 300M+ weekly users. Perplexity, Gemini and Claude are exploding. When a buyer asks "best estate agent in Leeds?", the names AI recommends get the call. GEO is how you become one of those names.
Apple Intelligence (iOS 18+) routes queries through ChatGPT. Bing Copilot pulls from Bing's index. Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant all have different recommendation logic. We optimise for the full landscape, not just Google.
We don't sell SEO, AEO and GEO separately. You get all three, because splitting them is how agencies charge you three times for work that should be one integrated programme.
Core Web Vitals fixed (LCP, INP, CLS), crawl budget optimised, sitemap & robots.txt cleaned, canonical tags, hreflang, mobile usability, HTTPS, structured URL architecture.
Google Business Profile fully optimised, 30+ local citations, NAP consistency, review generation system, GBP posts 4×/month, local landing pages for each service area.
Target keyword research, page-level optimisation, meta titles/descriptions, H1-H3 hierarchy, topical clusters, internal linking, content refreshes every 60 days, blog posts that actually rank.
Full JSON-LD: Organization, LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, BreadcrumbList, Review, HowTo, speakable — all validated and eligible for rich results.
Question-led content blocks, concise definitional answers, FAQPage + speakable markup, "People Also Ask" capture, and optimisation for Google AI Overviews and Bing generative snapshots.
llms.txt deployed, AI crawler access granted (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended), brand entity mentions seeded across high-authority sources, monthly monitoring of what ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity actually say about your business.
Wikidata presence, Crunchbase, authoritative UK directories (Yell, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Thomson Local), PR placements, guest posts, brand mentions — the signals AI models use to decide who counts as an authority.
Plain-English monthly report: rankings, traffic, conversions, GBP insights, AI citation tracking, and the specific next-month plan. No jargon, no vanity charts.
10+ qualified leads in 90 days or we keep working for free. One of the only UK agencies willing to put our fee on the line for an SEO programme.
"We're on page 1 for every service keyword in Bolton within 4 months. ChatGPT now names us when someone asks it for the best in the area. Mental."
"Map Pack top 3 for 12 keywords. Google AI Overview shows our opening hours and phone number at the top of search. Calls doubled."
"I asked Perplexity 'best accountant near me' — we came up first. I didn't even know that was possible. Ascendra did."
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is the process of ranking a website on search engines like Google and Bing. It covers technical setup (site speed, Core Web Vitals, crawlability), on-page content (keywords, headings, internal links), off-page signals (backlinks, citations, reviews), and local SEO (Google Business Profile). Good SEO is the baseline — without it, AEO and GEO won't compound.
AEO is optimising to be the direct answer given by voice assistants (Siri, Alexa, Google Assistant) and shown in Google AI Overviews, featured snippets, and Bing's generative snapshots. AEO relies on structured data (FAQPage, HowTo, speakable markup), concise definitional answers, clean Q&A formatting, and clear entity signals.
GEO is optimising to be cited and recommended by generative AI tools: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, Perplexity and Bing Copilot. It requires (1) allowing AI crawlers in robots.txt, (2) publishing an llms.txt file, (3) entity-dense pages AI models can parse, (4) brand mentions across authoritative sources, and (5) monitoring what AI tools actually say about your business every month.
No. Traditional SEO is still the foundation. Google and Bing indexes feed most AI tools. AEO and GEO layer on top, capturing the growing share of queries that bypass Google entirely. You need all three — and we deliver them as a single programme.
For UK local businesses, most see measurable ranking movement within 60 to 90 days. Full compounding returns build over 6 to 12 months. Our 90-day guarantee is designed around this — if we haven't delivered 10+ qualified leads in 3 months, we work free until we do.
llms.txt is an emerging standard that gives AI models a concise, structured summary of your website — like a sitemap, but written for LLMs. It helps tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity understand your business quickly. View ours here. We deploy one for every GEO client.
Yes — any UK local business. Our client mix includes plumbers, electricians, builders, roofers, dental practices, physiotherapists, salons, solicitors, accountants, estate agents, restaurants, cafés, gyms, and retail shops. If you serve customers in a geographic area, local SEO/AEO/GEO works.
Every local business is different. We scope properly on the free strategy call and send a fixed quote — no subscription trap, no lock-in. Most UK local programmes land in the £500–£1,500/month range.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call with Sholese. We'll show you exactly where you rank on Google, voice, and AI tools today — and the 90-day plan to fix it.
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