Even if your Google rankings look fine, patients, potential customers, and clients searching on ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews for businesses like yours in Spokane get answers that pull from somewhere. If your site is not structured to be cited by those AI engines, your competitors are filling that space. 20 Miles North optimizes Spokane business websites for AI search visibility so your business shows up in the answers, not just the links.
20 Miles North provides AI search optimization, also known as generative engine optimization (GEO), for businesses in Spokane, Washington. We structure your content, technical foundation, and local signals so that ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and other AI search platforms cite your business when your customers ask questions in your category.
AI Search and Traditional Search Are Two Different Channels
Google ranks pages. AI search engines cite sources. A business can hold a strong position on page one of Google and receive zero citations from ChatGPT on the same topic. Research found the overlap between top Google results and AI-cited sources had dropped below 20%. The gap continues to widen as AI platforms develop their own criteria for which sources to trust and reference.
For Spokane businesses, this creates a specific problem. A prospective customer asks ChatGPT “who is a good restaurant in Spokane” or “best legal practice in Spokane Valley” and gets a synthesized answer. If your site has not been optimized for AI citation, your name does not appear, even if you rank well in traditional search for those same terms.
We fix that traditional search/AI gap by teaching AI what your business is about.
Services We Provide
AI Visibility Audit
Before any optimization work starts, we test your current AI visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews for the search terms your customers use in Spokane. You see exactly where your business appears, where it does not, and what is preventing citation. This audit forms the foundation of everything that follows.
Content Structure Optimization
Schema Markup and Technical Foundation
AI crawlers read structured data the same way they read content. We audit and implement the schema markup that signals your business category, location, services, and authority to AI systems: LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, and BreadcrumbList schemas across your key pages. We also check that your site is not accidentally blocking AI crawlers, a common issue with certain hosting and security configurations that most site owners do not know exists.
Local AI Citation Signals
For Spokane businesses, local AI citation depends on consistent and credible signals across the web: your Google Business Profile, local directory listings, review volume and recency, and mentions across local sources. We audit and strengthen these signals so that when an AI engine evaluates sources for a Spokane-specific query, your business clears the credibility threshold. This work overlaps directly with local SEO, which is why we handle both together.
Ongoing Monitoring and Refresh
AI citation is not a set-and-forget optimization. Research shows AI platforms rotate their cited sources on a cycle measured in weeks, not years. A source cited by ChatGPT last month gets replaced when fresher, more structured content appears. We monitor your AI visibility on an ongoing basis, refresh content that has dropped from citation, and update your pages as AI platform preferences shift.
GEO Builds on Your Existing SEO Foundation
Generative engine optimization (GEO) and traditional SEO share the same technical requirements: fast load times, clean site architecture, mobile performance, and authoritative content. A site with a strong SEO foundation gets cited by AI engines at a higher rate because AI platforms use traditional quality signals as one input into their citation decisions. We approach both together rather than treating them as separate workstreams.
If your website has structural problems, slow load times, or thin content, we address those as part of the GEO engagement. A well-built site is the prerequisite for AI citation, and we build sites from the ground up with that in mind.
Frequently Asked Questions about AI Optimization
Do I need to be ranking on Google before this helps?
A strong Google presence helps because AI engines use traditional search quality signals as one input. A site with good technical SEO, clean structure, and authoritative content gets cited at a higher rate. That said, AI citation and Google ranking are separate outcomes. We can improve your AI visibility regardless of where your Google rankings currently stand, and the work we do for AI optimization typically improves your Google presence at the same time.
How long does it take to see results?
Which AI platforms does this cover?
We optimize for the platforms Spokane customers use most: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot. The core optimization principles work across all four since they share similar content quality and structure criteria. Platform-specific adjustments are made where the citation behavior differs.
Is this the same as SEO?
GEO and SEO share a technical foundation but target different outcomes. SEO targets Google’s ranking algorithm to earn a position in the list of search results. GEO targets the reasoning process of AI language models to earn a citation in a synthesized answer. A comprehensive search strategy in 2026 covers both. We provide both under the same roof.
Do you work with businesses outside Spokane?
Our primary service area covers Spokane and the surrounding region including Spokane Valley, Liberty Lake, Cheney, Mead, Airway Heights, Post Falls, and Coeur d’Alene. AI search optimization engagements for businesses outside that area are considered case by case.
Spokane Businesses That Invest Now Build an Advantage That Compounds
AI search adoption among consumers is accelerating. The businesses that establish citation authority now face less competition for those citations than they will in twelve months. We have built GEO principles into every website and SEO engagement we run because this is where search is going, and our clients should be ahead of it.
Get a free consultation on your current AI search visibility. We will show you where your business stands across the major AI platforms and what it would take to improve it. Call 509-475-1177 or get a free quote below.