Are we optimizing for AI search or just hoping it notices us?

Spent time this week reviewing what's actually getting cited across platforms and the gap between what people think works and what's actually moving is wider than expected.

The brands showing up consistently aren't running a separate AI search strategy — they built genuine presence in the places AI already trusted before AI search was even a category. Forums, niche communities, independent publications. The model didn't find them because they optimized, it found them because they were already there. Optimization without that foundation is just arranging furniture in a house nobody knows exists.

Anyone actually seeing citations move from on-site changes alone or is it always the off-site layer doing the heavy lifting?