AI Search
Citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
WHY NOW
Buyers now ask AI platforms as well as Google. The levers that decide visibility are the same.
Google remains the dominant query layer, but Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini now hold a meaningful share of category questions, each with different citation logic. Brands that show up only on Google miss the buyers who never click through. Brands that show up only in AI answers miss the long tail of intent that still converts on the rankings page.
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5+
Search surfaces a buyer can use to research a category.
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Half
Of category questions now begin in an AI environment.
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Days
From AI Overview launch to a measurable shift in click share.
"The brands cited in ChatGPT and Perplexity in two years' time are doing the structural work today: classic SEO, brand building and entity authority."
PEAR, ELEVATESEO LEAD, PRIMAL
CAPABILITIES
Search services at Primal
SEO, AI search and the brand and entity work both draw on, run as one practice by the same team.
Speak To The Search Team-
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SEO
Technical, on-page and content built for both humans and AI retrieval.
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Local SEO
Google Business Profile, local entity authority, "near me" answers.
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E-commerce SEO
Product schema, category architecture, PDPs in AI shopping answers.
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International and Multi-Market SEO
Hreflang, regional intent, one authority across markets.
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Content for Search
Briefs from real intent, optimisation, refresh cycles that hold the position.
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Digital PR
Press, journalist outreach and brand mentions that build off-site authority.
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Link Building
Authority backlinks via editorial outreach. No PBNs, no shortcuts.
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Conversion Rate Optimisation
Landing-page and funnel work that turns better traffic into better outcomes.
How a Primal search engagement runs.
A five-stage engagement model. The programme runs from a structured audit of rankings and AI citations, through prioritisation against buyer intent, into a build across technical, content, citations and authority, on into activation across Google and the AI platforms, and into review as the market and the engagement evolve.
Audit
Rankings and AI citations baseline. Where the brand is visible today across Google and the AI answer surfaces, and where the gaps sit against the category.
Prioritise
Where the buyer intent and the opportunity meet. Query clusters, AI surfaces and pages are sequenced against the moves with the highest return.
Build
Technical, content, citations, authority. The structural work that makes a brand findable on the rankings page and citeable in AI answers.
Activate
Across rankings and AI surfaces. The plan is translated into briefs and roadmaps that the integrated Primal team works to across content, technical and authority.
Review
As the market and the engagement evolve. INSTINCT accelerates what the team reviews across rankings, AI citations and the moves that hold the position.
+184%
AI citation share
STRIPE
From low AI visibility to top-cited across category answers.
Stripe's documentation programme became the source of truth for AI answers on payments in APAC.
+62%
Organic traffic
DECATHLON
Local SEO across multiple SEA markets.
Decathlon's local pages now rank top of category in Thai and Bahasa Malay queries for sports gear.
+340%
AI Overview impressions
SCG
Industrial brand visible in B2B AI buyer research.
SCG's technical content programme now feeds AI buyer-journey answers across Perplexity and Gemini.
RECOGNISED
You may have heard of us.
Primal's search work has been recognised across regional and global marketing awards.
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WINNER
Agency Of The Year SEO
Search Engine Land
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EXCELLENCE
High-Growth Companies
Financial Times
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WINNER
Best Use of Search
The Drum
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WINNER
Search Agency of The Year
Marketing Interactive
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EXCELLENCE
Best Use of Insight
MARKies
DEEP DIVE
More on AI Search and SEO.
Buyer research now runs across Google and the AI platforms. Google still leads, but Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini now hold a meaningful share of category questions, each with different citation logic. Brands that built for ten blue links are missing the answer layer that increasingly resolves the buyer's question before any click happens. The durable levers for being cited are classic SEO plus brand and entity building: entity authority, structured content, schema and source credibility.
A single search practice now has to run rankings and AI citations together. At Primal, the work is shaped by senior practitioners and accelerated by INSTINCT, Primal's internal AI capability built on a decade of APAC marketing work. INSTINCT is used by the team to develop sharper output faster, with live data connectivity across data, ElevateSEO and the search practice progressing in line with our infrastructure roadmap. The same model runs across our Southeast Asia engagements.
Trusted by ambitious brands.
A single search practice across Google and AI answers. Shaped by senior practitioners, accelerated by INSTINCT.
Request an AI Search Visibility Review.
A working session reviewing your current visibility across Google and the AI answer surfaces against your category. Findings returned within five business days.
FAQ
Search questions, answered.
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Is AI Search Optimisation different from SEO?
The durable levers are the same: classic SEO plus brand and entity building. Entity authority, structured content, schema and source credibility decide visibility in both. The difference is what the surface returns. SEO is built for a ranked list of pages. AI Search Optimisation is built for a cited answer, where the brand is named inside the response rather than offered as a click. A single practice now runs across both.
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Which AI platforms do you track citations on?
ElevateSEO tracks citation share across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews against a brand's category prompts. The picture is read alongside organic rankings so the search practice can be reviewed as one.
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Do we still need SEO if AI answers are taking the click?
Yes. AI Overviews and chat answers absorb a share of the query, but a meaningful share of category intent still resolves on the rankings page. The structural work that earns AI citations is the same work that holds a brand's position in organic. Treating the two as separate practices leaves visibility on the table.
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How long until we see AI citations move?
First citation movement is typically visible within the first quarter of structural work, once content depth, schema and source authority improve. Category-level share takes longer and depends on competitor citation density. The engagement is reviewed against citation share as the data builds, rather than against a fixed launch date.
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Who owns search at Primal?
A senior practitioner shapes the search plan at the planning stage, working with the content, technical and authority specialists. The plan is then delivered by an integrated Primal team across SEO, AI Search, content and digital PR, with senior practitioners brought in for material reviews.
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Strategy
A living plan that holds across Google, AI answers and the channels your brand runs on.
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Performance
Paid media that complements organic and AI visibility against the commercial outcomes that matter.
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Data
Measurement and intelligence wired through every engagement, accelerated by INSTINCT.
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Social
Owned audience development that builds the brand mentions AI answers increasingly cite.
