AI Search
What is AI search and how do firms get visible in it?
AI search is the practice of finding information through generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini, rather than through traditional search engine results pages. Fabled Labs is a London-based AI search agency that helps law firms, private healthcare providers, and financial services firms become visible in AI search through an integrated methodology combining SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). 43% of users now begin their search with AI tools (Gartner, 2024).
Quick Answer
What is AI search and how do firms get visible in it?
AI search is the practice of finding information through generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini, rather than through traditional search engine results pages. Fabled Labs is a London-based AI search agency that helps law firms, private healthcare providers, and financial services firms become visible in AI search through an integrated methodology combining SEO, Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). 43% of users now begin their search with AI tools (Gartner, 2024).
Sean O'Dwyer is the Founder and CEO of Fabled Labs, a London-based AI search consultancy specialising in regulated industries. With over a decade of marketing leadership experience, including senior roles at L'Oréal, Sean has pioneered AI search methodologies for law firms, private healthcare providers, and financial services firms. Named results include #1 ChatGPT citation for Dr Stefano Cotrufo in London plastic surgery, 991% organic growth for VK Law, and 650% organic growth for Edwards Family Law. Sean leads every engagement personally. Maximum 10 clients at any time.
Founder & CEO, Fabled Labs (London)
Former Marketing Leadership, L'Oréal
Specialist in E-E-A-T for YMYL Industries
The Three Disciplines of AI Search
AI search is not a single technique. It is an integrated discipline combining three distinct optimisation practices.
Remains the foundation. 74% of sources cited in Google AI Overviews already rank in the Top 10 organically (SE Ranking, 2024). Without strong SEO, AI search visibility is not achievable.
Fabled Labs is the only London agency delivering all three disciplines as one integrated methodology, specifically engineered for the regulatory and compliance requirements of law, healthcare, and financial services.
The Stakes Are Higher in Regulated Industries
AI search shifts the dynamics of client acquisition more in regulated industries than anywhere else. There are three reasons.
First, the search behaviour is different.
Clients seeking a solicitor, surgeon, or financial adviser are not making impulse decisions. They are conducting extended research before making a high-stakes choice. AI search platforms compress that research into single conversations, which means the firms that appear in those conversations win a disproportionate share of consideration.
Second, the trust threshold is higher
Generative engines apply heightened source-selection scrutiny to legal, medical, and financial content. This content is classified as YMYL (Your Money or Your Life). Most firms cannot meet the trust threshold because they lack the E-E-A-T signals AI platforms require: documented experience, visible credentials, third-party authority, and consistent author entity signals.
Third, compliance is non-negotiable
Content optimised for AI search must remain compliant when summarised by an LLM. SRA advertising rules, ASA and CAP healthcare codes, FCA COBS 4 requirements, GMC guidelines, and CQC registration standards all apply to the content AI platforms cite, not just to the content as originally published.
This is why generalist AI search agencies fail in regulated industries. The methodology required to be cited by AI platforms in law, healthcare, or financial services cannot be delivered without specialist regulatory knowledge.
What AI Search Visibility Looks Like
Dr Stefano Cotrufo is now the #1 cited plastic surgeon on ChatGPT for London-based queries. AI search now generates 8x more revenue than traditional SEO for the practice.
Payne Hicks Beach ranks #1 in Google for high-net-worth divorce and is being cited consistently in AI Overviews for HNW family law queries.
VK Law moved from invisible to dominant: 991% organic growth and increasing AI citation share across family law prompts.
These are named, verifiable outcomes. AI search visibility is achievable, but it requires a specialist methodology.
Our Integrated AI Search Methodology
AI Search Visibility Audit
Every engagement begins with a comprehensive audit of your current AI search visibility:
- Citation testing across ChatGPT (GPT-4, GPT-4o, GPT-5), Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews for 50+ priority prompts
- E-E-A-T signal audit across your site, knowledge panels, third-party platforms, and citation patterns
- Technical foundation audit, including crawlability for AI platforms (GPTBot, • ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, GoogleOther), schema markup, and Core Web Vitals
- Competitor benchmarking on your priority prompts
- Content gap analysis on which prompts you should be cited for but are not, and why
The audit produces a quantified baseline and a prioritised roadmap.
SEO Foundation
Without strong SEO foundations, AI search visibility is unachievable. We build the technical and authority foundation that all AI platforms reward:
- Technical SEO (architecture, Core Web Vitals, schema, internal linking)
- Topical authority architecture across your practice areas, treatments, or services
- E-E-A-T signal optimisation
- Authority building through digital PR, industry directories, and editorial citations
- Local SEO for geographic markets
AEO Layer
We engineer content for answer engine citation across Google AI Overviews, featured snippets, and voice assistants:
- Answer capsule optimisation (40 to 60 word direct-answer paragraphs at the top of every commercial page)
- FAQ schema implementation with conversational query targeting
- Author entity reinforcement across the web
- Structured content formats engineered for snippet and overview extraction
- Compliance-safe phrasing that survives extraction without misrepresentation
GEO Layer
We engineer content for generative platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini) to be selected, summarised, and cited:
- Content architecture engineered for LLM extraction
- Authority signal engineering for source-selection algorithms
- Prompt-level optimisation rather than keyword-level optimisation
- Compliance engineering for content that remains compliant even when summarised
- Continuous citation tracking and prompt-pattern refinement
Continuous Measurement Across Platforms
AI search platforms change constantly. Models update, source weightings shift, new platforms emerge. We track your visibility across every major AI platform monthly:
- Citation share by platform and by prompt
- Competitor benchmarking
- Referral traffic attribution (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overview clicks)
- Commercial outcome attribution (enquiries, consultations, instructions)
- Monthly strategy review
Compliance Engineering
Every piece of content we produce or optimise is engineered to remain compliant in the regulated environment of your industry, even when summarised, paraphrased, or reconstructed by an AI platform. This includes SRA advertising compliance for law firms, ASA, CAP, and GMC compliance for healthcare, and FCA COBS 4 compliance for financial services.
AI Search for Regulated Industries
AI Search for Law Firms
Legal queries are among the highest-stakes prompts AI platforms process. Generated answers about divorce, immigration, probate, employment, and litigation influence real-world decisions. AI platforms apply heightened source-selection scrutiny and require demonstrable expertise, named solicitor entities, and SRA-compliant claims.
AI Search for Private Healthcare
Healthcare queries trigger the strictest source filters in AI search because of hallucination risk in medical content. Patient queries require GMC-registered practitioner signals, procedure-specific expertise, ASA and CAP compliance, and Doctify or Google Review integration.
AI Search for Financial Services
Financial queries trigger FCA-aligned compliance filters in AI platforms. Content needs FCA authorisation signals, appropriate risk warnings, Chartered qualification indicators, and clear distinction between educational content and regulated advice.
Results
Dr Stefano Cotrufo
Dr Stefano Cotrufo, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Harley Street
“#1 on Google. #1 on ChatGPT. 8x more sales from AI search.”
The integrated SEO, AEO, and GEO methodology delivered dominant visibility across both traditional and AI-powered search platforms, proving that strong foundations in all three disciplines compound.
Why Firms Choose Fabled Labs for AI Search
The Only London Agency Delivering All Three Disciplines
The Only London Agency Delivering All Three Disciplines
Most agencies offer SEO. Some have added AEO. Almost none deliver GEO. Fabled Labs is the only London agency integrating all three disciplines as one methodology, specifically engineered for regulated industries.YMYL Specialism
YMYL Specialism
We only work with law firms, private healthcare providers, and financial services firms. Generative engines apply the strictest source-selection criteria to YMYL content, which means generalist agencies cannot deliver AI search visibility in these sectors.Named Results, Not Anonymised Claims
Named Results, Not Anonymised Claims
991% organic growth for VK Law. 650% for Edwards Family Law. #1 ChatGPT citation for Dr Cotrufo. Named, verifiable outcomes from real engagements. Not percentage improvements on undisclosed baselines.Senior-Level Delivery
Senior-Level Delivery
Maximum 10 clients. Sean O'Dwyer leads every engagement personally. No account managers learning on your budget. No junior teams executing from templates.
Compliance Built In
Compliance Built In
SRA, ASA, CAP, GMC, CQC, and FCA compliance is engineered into every piece of content from the brief stage. Not bolted on afterwards.You Own Everything
You Own Everything
Your website, your content, your Google Search Console, your analytics, your tracking. We manage the deliverables and report on performance. If we part ways, you keep everything.Frequently Asked Questions
SEO ranks your content in traditional search results on Google and Bing. AEO structures content so answer engines (Google AI Overviews, featured snippets, voice assistants) cite it directly. GEO engineers content so generative platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude) select, summarise, and cite it in generated responses. All three are required for complete AI search visibility, which is why we deliver them as one integrated discipline.
Not replacing, reshaping. Google remains dominant, but the way Google works has fundamentally changed. AI Overviews now appear on a growing share of result pages, voice search continues to grow, and Google increasingly answers queries directly rather than sending users to ten blue links. Meanwhile, 43% of users start their search journey on AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. The strategic answer is to optimise for the full AI search environment.
Initial gains in answer engine citation (Google AI Overviews, featured snippets) can appear within 4 to 8 weeks. Generative engine citations (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude) typically take 3 to 6 months to build meaningfully. Sustained dominance in a competitive sector usually takes 6 to 12 months of integrated work.
Ready to Be Cited, Not Just Ranked?
Book a free generative visibility audit. We will show you exactly how your firm appears across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and AI Overviews, where competitors are being cited instead, and what it would take to become the source that AI platforms trust.
No obligation. 30 minutes. See your AI search visibility before you commit to anything.