Short answer: AI search is search where an AI searches the web for you and writes a summary answer with links to its sources, for example Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Gemini. The sites it uses must be open to its search crawler, indexed by Google, and state the same facts everywhere. Daaistudio handles this together with SEO in a monthly plan, and tests it with real customer questions every month.
Customers of Thai businesses are starting to type long questions into AI instead of short keywords. We checked Google Thailand autocomplete on 19 Oct 2026: "ai search คือ" (what is AI search) suggests "ai search engine คือ", "ai google search คือ" and "ai search optimization คือ". In English, "what is ai search" suggests "what is ai search mode" and "what is ai search visibility". Google Keyword Planner (Thailand, all languages, checked 8 Oct 2026) puts "ai search คือ" at 10 to 100 searches a month. This article explains where each AI search tool gets its sources, based on each provider's own documentation, and what a business website needs. For AI Overviews specifically, read Google AI Overviews and SEO.
What AI search is, and how it differs from classic Google
Classic Google shows a list of links and leaves you to open them one by one. AI search does that step for you. Google explains that AI Overviews and AI Mode use a technique called query fan-out: one question is split into several related searches, run at the same time, then combined into one answer with links to the pages used. The result is that a customer may see your business name in an answer before clicking on any website at all.
| AI search | Where it gets sources | What your site needs |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | The Google Search index, several sub-searches at once | Pages indexed and eligible to show with a snippet; no extra requirements |
| ChatGPT search | OpenAI's OAI-SearchBot crawler | Allow OAI-SearchBot in robots.txt |
| Perplexity | Real-time web search, numbered citations in every answer, PerplexityBot crawler | Allow PerplexityBot in robots.txt |
| Gemini | Grounding with content from the Google Search index | The same basics as Google Search |
The table comes from Google's, OpenAI's and Perplexity's own documentation (see Sources). The notable point: Google states plainly that appearing in AI Overviews and AI Mode needs no special optimisation. The usual SEO basics apply.
robots.txt: a small file that can remove you from AI entirely
AI companies run several bots that do different jobs. Block the wrong one and your site can drop out of AI answers without you noticing.
- OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI): surfaces sites in ChatGPT search. OpenAI's documentation says sites that opt out of it are not shown in ChatGPT search answers.
- GPTBot (OpenAI): collects content for model training. It is separate from OAI-SearchBot, so blocking it does not affect ChatGPT search.
- PerplexityBot: surfaces and links sites in Perplexity's results, and Perplexity says it is not used for training.
- Google-Extended: controls use of your content for Gemini models. Google says it does not affect inclusion in Google Search and is not a ranking signal.
Before editing robots.txt or switching on a plugin that "blocks AI", check which bot it blocks. Opting out of model training and disappearing from search are two different things.
Real work: one question, two AI tools, the same restaurant
Brasserie 9 is a French restaurant in Soi Sathorn 6 where we run monthly SEO and GEO. We asked a real customer-style question about an authentic French Sunday brunch in Bangkok in two AI search tools that use different crawlers and sources. Both picked Brasserie 9 first. That is not luck: the restaurant's days, times, prices and location are written the same way on its website, its Google Business Profile and the other sites AI reads.
ChatGPT picks Brasserie 9 first for a French Sunday brunch question in Bangkok (screenshot from the client report, September 2026)
Perplexity recommends Brasserie 9 first, with links to its sources (screenshot from the client report, October 2026)
What a business website needs to be used by AI search
- Let search crawlers in: do not block Googlebot, OAI-SearchBot or PerplexityBot in robots.txt.
- Get fully indexed by Google: a correct sitemap, and key pages in Google's index, which you can check in Search Console.
- Answer first, then expand: the first paragraph of each page answers the main question in 2 to 3 sentences that AI can quote directly.
- The same facts everywhere: name, address, phone, opening hours and prices match on your site, Google Business Profile, and review or booking sites.
- Schema (structured data): tells Google who the business is, what it does and where it is.
- Real text, not pictures of text: prices and service details should not live only inside images.
All of this is the same foundation as good SEO, which is why we do SEO and GEO together. More on the basics: What is GEO.
Lessons from our client work
- AI repeats your own website: we once saw AI say a client's brunch ran on Saturday and Sunday, when it is Sunday only. The cause was old text left on the site. So our first job is always to correct the facts across the whole site.
- If Google has not indexed a page, AI usually does not see it either: we have fixed a client's sitemap for new articles first, and only then measured AI results.
- Test with customer questions, not the brand name: AI knowing your name when asked does not bring new customers. What matters are questions like "where is a good French brunch?" from people who do not know you yet.
How to measure AI search
Google says clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in Search Console's Performance report under the Web search type, counted together with normal results, with no separate filter. ChatGPT and Perplexity offer no such report for site owners. So we measure in two layers: real Search Console data, and the same questions asked of each AI every month, with screenshots kept as evidence in the report.
We are rated 5.0 on both Google and Fastwork, with 18 Fastwork jobs and 8 repeat clients, and the restaurants Al Saray and Brasserie 9 renewed for 6 months after their first 3. You work directly with the founder, and the studio team builds under the founder's direction.
Want to know what AI search says about your business today?
Send us your business name and website. We check your robots.txt, test the questions your customers are likely to ask AI, and show you what to fix first, free.
Summary
AI search is search where AI reads websites for the customer and summarises an answer. The sites it picks are the ones its crawler can read, that are indexed, that answer questions directly, and whose facts match everywhere. Our website care plan with SEO GEO is ฿8,500 a month, with the first month at ฿4,900. See the details in our monthly plans.
No one can guarantee Google rankings or AI answers. We show only real, measurable results.
Sources
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- Google Search Central: Google's common crawlers (Google-Extended)
- OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers (OAI-SearchBot)
- Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers (PerplexityBot)
- Perplexity Help Center: How does Perplexity work?
- Google Search Central: Introduction to structured data
- Google autocomplete, Thailand (checked 19 Oct 2026) and Google Keyword Planner, Thailand, all languages (checked 8 Oct 2026)