AI Search Optimization Helps Kouboo Break Into the Top 3 AI Answers

A boutique brand with handcrafted roots, Kouboo has broken into the top 3 recommendations in ChatGPT and Perplexity—listed right next to retail giants like Amazon and Wayfair.

The brand offers artisan-crafted home decor, including rattan furniture, wicker baskets, and coastal-inspired pieces. Kouboo proves that Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) can help even niche brands break through and compete with industry giants.

Objective

Kouboo had solid Google rankings, but was invisible in AI search. As more shoppers turn to tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to make purchase decisions, that gap became impossible to ignore. In fact, over half of consumers (58%) now use Gen AI tools instead of traditional search engines for product and service recommendations—up from just 25% in 2023.

To stay competitive, Kouboo needed to claim visibility where buying intent is shifting: inside AI-generated answers.

Strategy

Instead of treating AEO as a separate initiative, we approached AI visibility as a natural outcome of applying user-centered, semantic SEO best practices.

While many factors likely contributed to Kouboo’s presence in AI search—such as strong customer reviews—our focus on strategic PDP and PLP optimization played a key role. We ensured that key pages were descriptive, relevant, and covered the subtopics and attributes users care most about.

We also secured external citations that reinforced the messaging presented on-site. This alignment between on-page content and off-page signals helped shape how both search engines and LLMs interpreted the brand.

Through continuous monitoring of Kouboo’s performance across leading LLMs, we refined and adjusted as needed. In the end, our combined efforts in SEO and AEO made the content more valuable to AI, resulting in meaningful visibility gains.

Results

As a result, Kouboo achieved 53% visibility in ChatGPT and Perplexity for high-intent prompts over a 7-day period, ranking #1 among all brands.

The brand appeared in the top 3 recommendations for prompts like “Where to buy rattan furniture in the US,” “Where to buy wicker baskets online,” and “Where to buy rattan chairs,” mentioned alongside major retailers like Amazon, Wayfair, IKEA, and Houzz.

Kouboo was cited across four product categories, including rattan furniture, chairs, baskets, and chandeliers.

Takeaway

As more consumers turn to AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity to ask where to buy, how to choose, and what to trust, brands can’t afford to ignore AEO in their strategy. Kouboo’s success shows that even small, product-focused businesses can stand out—if they speak the language AI understands.

Want your brand to appear at the top of AI-generated answers? Get in touch with us, and we’ll walk you through the first steps to making AI recommend your brand over competitors!

Share on: