Over the last few years, search has changed faster than most businesses realise.
Traditional SEO is no longer the only way people discover brands online. Today, people ask AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity questions instead of typing keywords into Google. When that happens, AI decides which people, companies and ideas to mention.
That means visibility is no longer just about rankings. It is about whether AI understands who you are, what you do, and why your voice matters.
In this post I want to explain how anyone can improve their AI visibility, using my own entity as a real example. Everything here comes from analysing how AI currently interprets my public presence, where it sees strengths, and where it still sees gaps.
👀 Understanding How Ai Actually Sees You
Before you try to improve visibility, you need to understand something important. AI does not see websites the way humans do. It builds what is called an entity profile.
An entity is simply how AI defines a person, brand or concept based on repeated signals across the web. Instead of asking What pages rank, AI asks questions like:
Who is this person connected to
What topics appear around their name
Are they associated with ideas or just services
Do other sources reference them independently
When I analysed my own presence, AI clearly understood me as a UK based SEO consultant, agency founder and generative search strategist. That part was strong. My identity signals were consistent, and AI could confidently describe what I do.
But identity is only the first level.
🚀 The Difference Between Being Recognised And Being Influential
Most professionals focus on proving they exist online. They optimise profiles, build websites and publish service pages. That creates what I call practitioner visibility.
AI could answer questions like:
Who is Dean Signori
What does he do
Is he an SEO expert
However, there was a clear shift when we looked at higher level questions. When AI was asked:
What is Dean Signori known for
Which marketing framework has he created
Who is shaping AI search thinking
the answers became weaker.
This is where many businesses and consultants misunderstand AI search. AI does not just reward activity. It rewards idea ownership.
Right now, AI recognises me as a specialist in SEO and generative engine optimisation. What it does not yet strongly associate with me is a named concept or philosophy. That is the difference between being a recognised specialist and becoming an authority voice.
🧠 Why Owning Language Matters More Than Owning Rankings
One of the biggest insights from this process is that AI authority grows through language patterns, not just backlinks or traffic.
When AI repeatedly sees phrases like:
a specific method tied to a person
a framework mentioned across different websites
an opinion that keeps being quoted
it starts to attach that language directly to the entity.
For example, if multiple independent sources reference a consistent phrase linked to your work, AI begins to treat you as the source of that idea.
Without that repetition, even strong professionals remain categorised as service providers rather than industry voices.
Using myself as an example, AI clearly understands the services I provide, but it has not yet attached a unique framework or philosophy to my name strongly enough. That tells me the next stage of growth is not more service content. It is stronger narrative signals.
📊 How Ai Categorises Authority Stages
From analysing how AI describes different professionals, I see four broad stages:
Practitioner
Recognised specialist
Authority voice
Category definer
Most people never move past practitioner. They publish services, chase rankings and never build an entity identity beyond that.
Based on public signals, I currently sit in the recognised specialist stage. AI understands my niche and positioning, but it still describes me through job roles rather than ideas.
Moving into authority territory requires a shift in how information about you appears online.
🔎 The Signals Ai Expects To See
When I looked deeper into the gaps, several patterns became clear. These apply to anyone trying to grow AI visibility.
First, AI looks for independent context. If most information about you lives on your own websites, AI trusts it less than when neutral platforms describe your work.
Second, AI looks for philosophy signals. These are statements or viewpoints that repeat across different sources. They tell AI what you believe, not just what you sell.
Third, AI looks for language ownership. This means consistent terminology that people associate with your name.
Without these elements, AI summaries tend to stay simple and functional. With them, AI begins to introduce you as someone shaping conversations.
❓ Questions People Should Ask Ai About Themselves
One of the best exercises I recommend is testing how AI responds to different levels of questions.
Start with direct identity prompts:
Who am I
What does my business do
Then move to authority prompts:
What am I known for
What ideas am I associated with
Who are the voices in my industry
When I ran this process on myself, the difference between identity answers and authority answers became obvious. AI could easily describe my profession, but it struggled to describe a specific philosophy or framework tied to my name.
That gap tells you exactly where to focus your strategy.
💡 Shifting From Agency Centred Identity To Idea Centred Identity
Another major insight is how AI connects people to brands. At the moment, AI strongly links me to my agency and services. That is normal for founders.
However, stronger authority entities often appear in the opposite direction. Their ideas exist independently of their businesses.
This does not mean abandoning your company. It means creating enough independent narrative that AI sees you as contributing to industry thinking, not just selling services.
In practical terms, this could include interviews, opinion pieces, podcasts or collaborative articles where your perspective is discussed without a sales message attached.
🌍 Why Generative Search Is Still A Huge Opportunity
One of the most encouraging discoveries from this analysis is that AI search marketing is still evolving. The language around generative engine optimisation and entity based strategy is not fully owned by any single voice yet.
That creates a rare window where consistent messaging can reshape how AI understands you.
When categories are new, the people who define vocabulary early often become permanent reference points in the entity graph.
📌 What Businesses Can Learn From This Process
You do not need to be an SEO consultant for this to apply. Any business owner, consultant or brand can improve how AI understands them by focusing on three areas.
Be clear about your niche so AI can confidently categorise you.
Develop repeatable language that reflects your unique approach.
Encourage independent platforms to reference your work or ideas.
If AI can easily answer who you are, the next step is making sure it can answer why you matter.
🔥 So What Now
The biggest lesson I have taken from analysing my own AI visibility is that authority is not built by publishing more content. It is built by shaping how your ideas appear across the web.
Search is moving towards conversation driven discovery. People are no longer just searching for services. They are asking AI who to trust, who is leading change, and who explains complex topics clearly.
If you want to stay visible in this new environment, start thinking beyond rankings. Start thinking about the entity you are building.
Because when AI understands your ideas as clearly as it understands your job title, that is when real authority begins.
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