AI is changing how people discover charities, think tanks, nonprofits and other mission-led organisations.
A policy advisor needs to understand your issue area before a briefing tomorrow morning. They open Gemini and ask: What global organisations are working on climate justice?
A potential funder is comparing approaches to a problem you’ve spent years solving. They ask Claude: Which nonprofits are most effective at tackling homelessness?
A journalist researching a story types into Perplexity: What’s the current evidence on education inequality in the UK?
If your content isn’t optimised for AI search, you’re not in those answers. Skip AI and AI skips you – or worse, misrepresents your work entirely.
What is AI search?
AI search (also called LLM search) uses Large Language Models to analyse people’s queries and respond to them with direct, conversational answers.
While traditional keyword-based search engines link lists to click through, LLM search engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity answer questions directly on the result page.
People either type or voice-record questions in natural language, and AI systems pull together information from the web to create fast, context-aware summaries. Optimising for these systems is called Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) – the AI search equivalent of traditional SEO.
Why optimise for AI search now?
When AI models can’t parse your web content structure (break down unorganised text, documents, or data into organised, machine-readable formats), they either ignore it or generate inaccurate summaries. Your mission-led work never reaches funders, policymakers, journalists, and people who now start their research with AI tools. LLMs are pulling answers together, so we need to make it easy for them to correctly understand who you are, what you do, and what you should be recommended for.
Why mission-led orgs have an AI search advantage
The scale of this AI shift is massive. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity now handle millions of queries daily where people expect direct answers, not a list of links to click through. According to a 2025 Semrush study, Google’s AI Overviews now appear for 15.69% of all search queries – and informational queries still dominate AI search results. AthenaHQ’s State of AI Search 2026 Report (which analysed 8 million AI responses) found that 89% of citations come from independent, trusted sources.
This is your advantage: mission-led organisations already produce the exact kind of trusted, educational content that AI systems prioritise. At the end of last year, On Think Tanks saw AI search referrals double in just two months. At Cursive, we also began seeing inbound enquiries come in from ChatGPT and Perplexity. The question isn’t whether AI will value your work. It’s whether AI can actually read and cite it.
LLM optimisation services
We make your web platform and content AI-readable so important work reaches decision-makers. Our generative engine optimisation services are designed to set you up properly, then stay by your side to monitor risks and scale visibility.
We structure your web content so AI systems understand what each page contains without reading every word. This lays the foundation for AI search visibility and is especially valuable for sites publishing vast amounts of fast-moving content, such as think tanks with thousands of pages that need to stay findable as the platform evolves.
- Automated schema generation from your existing page types and content
- Custom schema controls for publications that need precise, hand-crafted metadata – you’re never locked out of fine-grained control
- Integration with Wagtail CMS so it works without manual effort
- Schema.org markup that's picked up by both traditional search and LLM interpretation
AI systems learn what you’re known for through consistent, focused, organised content on your core issues. We reorganise how information appears on your site to help you accurately rank in AI search, and build sustained thought leadership to make you a constant reference point when people ask AI about your sector.
- Content strategy and creation that positions you as the authority on specific issues
- FAQ sections targeting real-life AI queries in your sector
- Executive summaries written in plain language for LLM parsing
- Clear heading hierarchies that signal expertise and authority
- Metadata enhancement across publications, research, and expertise pages
AI search visibility isn’t a set-and-forget process. We stick around for the long run, tracking how AI systems continue to represent your organisation and adjusting strategy based on real citation data.
- Regular audits of AI-generated summaries about your work
- Web traffic analysis from AI search tools and chatbots
- Accuracy assessments comparing AI responses to source material
- Regular reports with recommendations you can act on
How we work
As a digital, content, and AI visibility SEO agency, we treat AI optimisation as measurable, testable, and a crucial part of your long-term digital investment. Our approach focuses on steady, structured foundations that work with the rest of your digital strategy and deliver results you can track.
AI search visibility audit
We audit your current AI visibility by testing queries across platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. We identify where your content is being overlooked or misrepresented, and establish clear benchmarks for improvement.
What we’re looking for: Which high-value questions your audiences ask AI tools, and whether your organisation shows up in the answers. We analyse what content types generative engines surface in your sector, so we know what patterns to match.
Schema markup for AI search
We set up automated schema generation for immediate results, with custom controls for high-value content that needs precise metadata. This creates the structured, machine-readable foundation that AI systems need.
Why we do this: Because we need to speak the language of the machines. Semantic HTML and schema.org metadata help AI systems parse and cite your content accurately. Most organisations see improvements within days – machines can suddenly understand what your pages are actually about.
Content restructuring
We rewrite and reorganise your content to match how people really ask questions, whilst establishing your authority through credible sources and expert insights.
Why we do this: AI-generated summaries are more accurate when content includes:
- Clear headings that organise information around explicit themes
- FAQ sections addressing specific questions your audiences ask
- Executive summaries and distilled formats that break down complex ideas
- Current references and expert insights that position you as a trusted source
AI visibility tracking & reporting
We track citation accuracy, referral traffic from AI tools, and representation quality. Regular testing shows how LLMs pick up who you are and what you do, while quarterly reporting keeps your visibility strategy current as AI search evolves, with specific recommendations on coverage to strengthen.
What we monitor:
- Your organisation's appearance in AI responses to strategic prompts
- Which queries trigger citations vs which get ignored
- Factual accuracy of AI-generated summaries about your work
Enhance and optimise
AI search changes fast. Our team sticks by your side, helping you adjust your strategy based on what the data shows – strengthening presence across the prompts that matter most, fixing misrepresentations before they create risk, and identifying new opportunities as AI behaviour shifts.
Why we do this: We’re here for partnerships, not projects. Our goal is to make sure your organisation is part of the knowledge base that AI engines draw from, so your work shows up to the people who matter. We’ve retained 92% of our clients over the last five years because we genuinely care what happens next.
Your AI search questions, answered
Working with an integrated AI SEO agency ensures your sector expertise reaches decision-makers at the exact moment they’re forming opinions. When someone asks AI the best approach to an issue area or which organisations work on a specific cause, they’re not looking for a browsing experience. They just want a direct, trusted answer. So when you optimise for AI search, these machines can:
- Compare your work clearly against other organisations in your sector
- Include your accurate perspective in responses to key questions
- Educate potential supporters on key issues, shortening decision-making and raising intent
This all leads to more qualified funders, better partnership opportunities, and stakeholders who already understand your work when they make contact.
Schema markup implementation delivers measurable improvements in hours or days, not weeks. Once we set up automated schema generation, AI systems immediately have better context for interpreting your pages. Traffic increases from AI search tools typically appear within the first week. Content restructuring takes more time but shows steady improvement as we optimise high-priority pages first.
We’re specialist digital platform partners for organisations doing world-changing work that can’t afford to be overlooked. We’ve helped organisations like:
- ODI Global make 16,000+ web pages easier to search
- Power for Democracies launch a secure, values-led platform in six weeks
- B Corp-certified Dupe more than double its web users
We understand the pressures you face more than a typical AI search optimisation agency. We know all about your funding pressures, tight timelines, complex stakeholder sign-offs, and the need to get it right when the work matters this much. Our approach combines technical authority with digital care and deep sector fluency – we’ve worked with independent think tanks, nonprofits, charities, and academic organisations for almost 20 years, so we speak your language and understand your constraints.
And we’re not a standalone generative search optimisation agency. Our integrated approach to digital means we can help with a range of web services: from accessible web platforms to ethical content marketing to ongoing digital care, you can choose to work with us on AI optimisation alone or as part of a broader digital partnership.
LLM optimisation complements traditional SEO rather than replacing it. Schema markup improves both AI understanding and traditional search engine indexing. FAQ sections serve AI queries while also appearing in Google’s featured snippets. Clear content structure benefits human readers, search engines, and AI systems simultaneously. Think of it as evolving your digital strategy for an environment where both traditional search and AI-powered answers coexist.
Once schema infrastructure is in place, maintenance is minimal. Automated schema generation means new content gets optimised automatically. We recommend quarterly audits to track how AI systems represent your work, identify new optimisation opportunities, and adjust to platform changes. This ongoing monitoring catches misrepresentations early and keeps your visibility strategy current as AI search evolves.
Yes, and we’ve seen it firsthand – it’s already influencing how people find Cursive. We’ve seen real intent arrive via AI search, not just awareness. We got our first inbound enquiry from ChatGPT last year – a prospect who asked the tool to recommend agencies and found us. This shift isn’t theoretical: people are already using conversational tools to shortlist who they work with or support, and we can’t see it slowing down anytime soon.
By your side, whatever the future of search
Where other AI SEO agencies may deliver schemas and move on, we offer ongoing digital partnerships built around proactive care – maintaining your platform, keeping content sharp, and supporting your team as AI search continues to evolve.
Our integrated approach means you get:
- One point of contact instead of juggling multiple agencies or freelancers
- Seamless workflows where content, search strategy, design, and dev inform each other throughout
- Faster timelines without waiting on handoffs between separate teams
- Stronger outcomes with messaging, platform architecture, and LLM optimisation built together from the start
