Routeless — Guides

Guides for buying and building better business technology.

Web design, custom software, SaaS products, AI applications, agency partnerships, and original research — grounded in production work and documented methods.

AI Visibility
AI Visibility & AEO

Why Doesn't ChatGPT Recommend My Business? The 6 Causes We See in Scan Data

Strong Google rankings but invisible to ChatGPT? We scan AI answers daily — these are the six reasons ChatGPT doesn't recommend your business, and the fix for each.

July 21, 2026 · 6 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

What Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)? A Practical Guide for 2026

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is how you get cited and recommended by ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Here's how it works, with evidence.

July 21, 2026 · 11 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

What Does AI Say About My Business? How to Check (and Fix What You Find)

Check what ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity say about your business, spot incorrect facts, see which competitors appear, and learn what to fix.

July 21, 2026 · 6 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

Schema Markup for AI Search: What Actually Helps, What's Wasted Effort

Does schema markup help AI visibility? What we observe across AI engines: the schema types worth implementing for AI search, exact priorities, and honest limits.

July 21, 2026 · 7 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

Perplexity SEO: How to Get Cited by the Most Citation-Hungry AI Engine

Perplexity cites sources on every answer, which makes it the most winnable AI search engine. How Perplexity picks citations, and the six tactics that earn them.

July 21, 2026 · 6 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

llms.txt: What It Is, Whether It Works, and How to Create Yours

llms.txt is a proposed standard that gives AI tools a clean markdown map of your website. What it does, what it doesn't, and how to create yours in 20 minutes.

July 21, 2026 · 6 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

How to Show Up in Google AI Overviews (What the Data Supports)

AI Overviews appear on ~30% of Google searches. Here's how Google picks its sources, and the six steps that actually get your content cited in 2026.

July 21, 2026 · 6 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

How to Get Recommended by ChatGPT: What Actually Works for a Local Business

We test ChatGPT recommendations daily. Here's how ChatGPT decides which businesses to recommend, and the seven moves that actually change the answer.

July 21, 2026 · 7 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

How Does ChatGPT Recommend Businesses? The Mechanism, Step by Step

We watch ChatGPT decide which businesses to recommend thousands of times a month. The actual mechanism — retrieval, sources, synthesis — explained step by step.

July 21, 2026 · 5 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): What It Is and How to Do It

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is how brands earn visibility inside AI-generated answers. What the research shows, how it differs from SEO, and how to start.

July 21, 2026 · 7 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

The Free AI Visibility Report: See Exactly What ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity Say About Your Business

Get a free AI visibility report: real ChatGPT, Gemini & Perplexity answers about your business, competitors named instead of you, and what to fix first.

July 21, 2026 · 5 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

Do People Use ChatGPT to Find Local Businesses? What the Data Shows

Yes — and the numbers are bigger than most owners think. The data on AI-driven local discovery in 2026, which queries moved first, and what it means for you.

July 21, 2026 · 4 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

The 10 Best AI Visibility Tools in 2026 (Grouped by Who They're Actually For)

We compared the best AI visibility tools of 2026 — Profound, Peec, Otterly, Semrush, Ahrefs, and more — by price, engines, and who each one actually fits.

July 21, 2026 · 11 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

AI Overviews and Local SEO: What Actually Changes for Local Businesses

Google's AI Overviews are reshaping local search. What happens to the local pack, which queries are affected, and how a local business stays visible — with data.

July 21, 2026 · 6 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

AEO vs SEO: What's Actually Different (and What Isn't)

AEO vs SEO explained without the hype: what changes, what stays the same, and how a local business should split its effort in 2026. With observed evidence.

July 21, 2026 · 6 min read
AI Visibility & AEO

AEO Services: What They Actually Include, What They Cost, and How to Buy Them

A buyer's guide to AEO services: what answer engine optimization agencies actually do, real 2026 pricing, the questions that expose pretenders, and DIY options.

July 21, 2026 · 8 min read