Think for a moment about how you found the last new restaurant, tradesperson or holiday cottage. There is a fair chance you didn’t scroll through a page of blue links. You asked. You typed a proper question into ChatGPT, or you read the AI summary that now sits at the very top of Google, above the normal results. Your artists’ audiences are starting to do exactly the same thing, and so, increasingly, are the promoters, journalists and programmers who decide whether to book them.
So here is the question. If someone asks an AI assistant to “recommend a young British cellist” or “suggest a conductor for a Mahler cycle”, is your artist in the answer? If you are not sure, you are in good company. But it is worth finding out, because this is changing faster than most people in our industry realise.
What has actually changed
Almost a third of people in some markets are expected to use AI search this year, and ChatGPT alone now has hundreds of millions of users every week. Google now places a Gemini written summary above its ordinary results for a great many searches. Tools like Perplexity answer a question directly, often naming a handful of people, recordings or organisations, rather than handing you ten links to sift through.
This matters for us because classical music decisions are full of exactly the kind of question these tools love to answer. Who should I book? What should I listen to? Who teaches this? Which agency represents that artist? The risk, and the opportunity, is that AI tends to give one short, confident answer. You want your organisation or artists to be in it.
The field has an ugly name, “Generative Engine Optimisation”, or GEO, but the idea behind it is simple. It means making sure the machines that now sit between you and your audience understand who your artists are and feel confident recommending them. Here is how to give yourself the best chance, without becoming technical.
1. Write so a machine can quote you
AI tools favour content that answers a question clearly and early. If a key fact about your artist is buried three paragraphs down, or trapped inside a designed image, it might as well not exist. On each important page, state plainly and near the top who the artist is, what they do and what makes them distinctive. “Anna Lapwood is a British organist and broadcaster known for bringing classical music to new audiences.” is exactly the kind of plain sentence an AI can lift with confidence. Save the lyrical writing for further down the page.
2. Be boringly consistent everywhere
AI builds a picture of your artist by cross-checking lots of sources. If their name, instrument, repertoire and current role read slightly differently on your website, their LinkedIn, their streaming profiles and the various concert listings, the machine becomes uncertain. Uncertainty usually means it leaves them out. So pick one clear, correct version of the key facts and use it everywhere. This is unglamorous housekeeping, but it is some of the most valuable work you can do.
3. Get the invisible labels right
Search engines and AI tools rely on something called structured data: small labels in the code that quietly tell a machine “this is a person” or “this is a concert, on this date, at this venue”. You do not need to understand the code yourself. You just need a website built by someone who does. Ask your developer whether your artist and event pages use Person and Event schema. Done properly, this is what helps an artist earn a proper Google “knowledge panel” and helps AI list their concerts accurately rather than guessing.
4. Show up where AI looks
These tools lean heavily on a small number of trusted sources, including Wikipedia, reputable press, LinkedIn and respected industry directories. A well-kept Wikipedia page, where one is genuinely merited, accurate directory entries, and real press coverage all feed the picture AI forms. You cannot fake your way onto these, nor should you try, but it is worth making sure that wherever your artists legitimately appear, the information is correct and current.
5. Give it real, checkable facts
AI is drawn to specifics it can stand behind: actual dates, venues, competition results, recording details, named collaborators. Vague marketing language such as “acclaimed” or “world-class” tells it nothing useful. A concrete line like “winner of the 2025 Leeds International Piano Competition” is gold. Keep your factual pages precise and up to date.
6. Don’t abandon the basics
None of this replaces a fast, mobile-friendly, clearly written website. AI still draws most of its knowledge from the open web, so good old-fashioned clear content and sound SEO remain the foundation. AI search sits on top of that work. It does not bypass it.
A five-minute test you can do today
Open ChatGPT, or look at Google’s AI summary, and ask about your own artists or organisation. “Tell me about [name].” “Recommend a Germany-based [their voice type or instrument].” See what comes back. Is it accurate? Is it out of date? Are they even mentioned? Whatever you find is useful, because it shows you precisely what the rest of the world is now being told.
I don’t think any of this is a reason to panic, and it is certainly not a reason to chase every shiny new tool. The artists and organisations who do well here will be the ones who were already clear, accurate and well organised online. AI simply raises the reward for getting those fundamentals right, and the cost of leaving them messy. A little attention now means that when the next promoter, journalist or curious listener asks a machine for a recommendation, your name is the one that comes up.
Need a hand with this?
If you would like help making sure your artists and your organisation show up well in this new landscape, whether that is a website built to be understood by both people and AI, tidier artist profiles, or a clearer digital strategy, I would be happy to chat. At Knight Classical we work across websites, film and video, digital media, social media and audience engagement, always focused on helping artists and arts organisations be seen and understood. You can reach me directly at martin@knightclassical.com.
