International SEO and AI Search: Localise Beyond Translation

Separate language from market

A language version and a country version are different decisions. An English-speaking customer in Warsaw may need the same Polish availability, złoty prices and booking conditions as a Polish-speaking neighbour. An English page does not automatically mean that you serve the UK or the United States.

Likewise, someone reading Polish may live outside Poland. Decide what each page covers and make the offer clear. Where one business serves several countries, delivery areas, currencies, support and terms may genuinely differ. Where it serves one city in two languages, most business facts should stay consistent.

Write a simple brief for each version: intended reader, language, country or service area, main task, available offer and responsible reviewer. Avoid launching additional markets solely because translation software makes it easy.

What the AI citation research tells us

In an analysis published on 8 October 2026, Aleyda Solis compared citations from ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode across ten topics in the US, UK, Spain and Brazil. Citation patterns differed across the sampled markets, topics and platforms; no platform consistently had the highest local share in every market.

The study used country-code domains as an indicator of local sources. That approach misses some locally relevant sites using generic domains such as .com or .org. A generic domain does not establish that its content is English or irrelevant to a country.

These observations support checking sources market by market. They do not prove that buying a local domain causes more citations, establish a fixed preference for local websites or describe Poland, which was not a sampled market. The English/Polish example below is an editorial illustration, not a finding from the study.

S22 Aleyda Solis on local versus global AI citations

For a small business, the useful question is whether customers receive locally appropriate information. A high-level country average cannot tell you whether an answer about your own service is accurate or helpful.

Localise the information people use to decide

Read each important page as a customer would. Could someone tell whether the offer is available to them, what it costs or how to get a quote, and how to take the next step? Check the answers with the business owner or the person responsible for that market.

Publish actual prices and availability

A currency conversion is not necessarily a local selling price. Use the price the business actually offers, with its relevant conditions. If you quote individually, explain the quote process rather than inventing a standard fee for the translated page.

Keep a common source for shared business facts so translations do not drift apart. When a product is withdrawn or a service area changes, identify every affected version. Do not leave an old offer active because nobody remembers which translated page contains it.

Where an online shop serves different markets, check the visible product page, relevant feed and existing structured data against the correct market offer. Verify delivery and returns information separately. If commercial or legal terms differ, have the responsible specialist review them.

Product information and ecommerce SEO

Research terminology before translating keywords

Begin with enquiries, customer conversations and the language used by your market-facing team. Compare likely wording with relevant search results and your own query data. Ask a fluent reviewer whether the phrase sounds natural and describes the service correctly.

A literal translation may describe a different task or sound unfamiliar. Polish inflections and everyday wording deserve attention in headlines, navigation and forms as well as in the body. Use terms that clarify the offer; avoid repeating every grammatical variation as a separate keyword or page.

Treat translated keyword lists as research leads. Do not assume that the phrase with the closest dictionary meaning has the same customer intent or demand. Equally, a keyword suggestion does not establish that your business can provide the service.

Use sources that fit the market and the claim

When explaining a local requirement, use the relevant authority or primary documentation for that jurisdiction. When helping someone choose a product or service, consider useful specialist publications, trade organisations and genuine customer experience in that market. Check who produced the evidence and what it actually supports.

A locally registered domain is not a trust certificate. A global manufacturer may be the best source for a product specification, while a local delivery page answers an availability question. Choose sources by their relevance and reliability, not just their domain ending.

Solis’s third-party prioritisation framework considers business value, durability and effort alongside citation opportunities. Apply that judgement to local partnerships and coverage: worthwhile work should still help your audience if a platform’s citation patterns change.

S19 Aleyda Solis on third-party citation priorities

Do not manufacture local reviews, invent an office or buy a placement and describe it as an earned endorsement. Keep directory and partner information accurate, and contribute useful expertise where it belongs.

Digital PR for small businesses

An English and Polish example for a Warsaw business

This example is fictional. A bicycle workshop in Warsaw serves customers locally and takes bookings in Polish and English. It is adding an English version for residents who prefer that language, not launching a UK operation.

Its approved offer is the same in both versions: a basic service costs 180 zł, replacement parts are charged separately, and collection is available only in two stated Warsaw districts. These are illustrative business facts, not market prices or recommendations.

A fluent bilingual reviewer would check that “basic service” and “przegląd podstawowy” describe the same actual work. Both pages should list what is included and make the parts charge clear. The forms and confirmation messages need the same review as the headline.

Changing the English page to pounds, claiming nationwide UK collection or linking to UK-specific conditions would misrepresent the offer. Changing the language has not changed the business’s location or capabilities.

The pages could use separate example URLs such as https://example.com/en/bicycle-service/ and https://example.com/pl/serwis-rowerowy/. Their language switcher should lead to the equivalent service page. A Polish-only service with no English equivalent should not pretend to have a translated counterpart.

Keep the technical structure understandable

Google recommends separate URLs for different language versions. Use clear links between equivalent pages and let people choose a language. Avoid forced redirection based on a guessed language or location, which can obstruct access to other versions. Keep the main content and navigation appropriate to the selected language.

Google’s guidance for multilingual and multi-regional sites

For a small WordPress site, folders within the existing domain can be a manageable editorial choice. A country domain or subdomain may fit a different business setup. Choose a structure you can maintain; do not migrate a working site just because another structure is presented as an automatic ranking advantage.

Check each public version directly. It should load correctly, offer useful content and allow the intended customer task. Test on a phone, including longer translated labels, Polish characters, forms and confirmation messages. Review accidental noindex settings, broken links and security challenges with the person maintaining the site.

Declare the document language correctly for browsers and assistive technology, for example lang=”pl” for a Polish page. This has a different purpose from mapping alternate pages with hreflang. It should agree with the language of the actual page.

W3C guidance on declaring language in HTML

Use hreflang for the search task it supports

Hreflang identifies alternate versions for Google Search. It helps Google choose an appropriate language or regional page; it is not a promise of higher rankings, a translation-quality check or a documented rule that every chatbot follows.

For the workshop’s language-based pair, each page can list both alternatives, including itself, in its HTML head. These illustrative tags belong in the page template, not as visible article text:

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”en” href=”https://example.com/en/bicycle-service/” />

<link rel=”alternate” hreflang=”pl” href=”https://example.com/pl/serwis-rowerowy/” />

Use a regional code only when it matches the intended version, such as en-GB for UK English or pl-PL for Polish in Poland. Do not assign a UK code simply because a Warsaw page is written in English. An optional x-default identifies a fallback for unmatched languages.

Use full URLs, valid codes and return annotations between equivalent pages. Google supports HTML, HTTP headers or sitemap annotations; choose a method you can maintain. Check the output after changes.

Google’s hreflang implementation guidance

Keep canonical decisions separate

A canonical identifies the preferred URL among duplicate or very similar pages. Do not point every Polish page to the English original merely because it was published first. For distinct translated pages intended to be indexed, a self-referencing canonical is the usual starting point; investigate other duplicate routes separately.

Check that canonical URLs, internal links and sitemap entries agree with your intended published pages. More complex same-language regional duplicates may need individual decisions. Hreflang is not a cure for an incorrect canonical, and translated pages do not need protection from an automatic translation-related duplicate-content penalty.

Google’s guidance on canonical URLs

Check what your WordPress setup actually produces

A multilingual plugin can help manage versions, but the public output matters more than the feature label. Confirm that your current configuration gives each version a usable URL, maps equivalents correctly and lets you edit translated metadata and customer-facing messages.

Review a small set of templates: homepage, service or product page, article, contact form and checkout where applicable. Look for competing plugins producing conflicting annotations. Retest affected pages after changing a translation, URL or template. Do not assume that installing a plugin completes localisation.

Check AI answers under recorded conditions

Use real customer questions in each relevant language. For the fictional workshop, compare “Can I book a bicycle service in Warsaw with collection from Mokotów?” with “Czy mogę umówić serwis roweru w Warszawie z odbiorem na Mokotowie?” A fluent reviewer should confirm that the questions describe an equivalent need.

Record the exact question, date, platform and experience, search state, account or session, language and stated location. Repeat important questions. Keep different platforms and personalised sessions separate rather than blending them into one score.

Language, location, platform and conversation context can change observed answers. If you change the language and location together, you cannot confidently attribute a difference to language alone. A later improvement also does not prove that your page edit caused it.

Inspect price, service area, availability and recommendation suitability, then open any visible sources. A helpful answer may cite a global product source and a local service page. A business mention without a link is still worth checking for accuracy.

Log the observed problem, approved fact, source evidence and next action. Correct relevant owned pages and external listings, then retest. Report what appeared in your recorded samples without claiming that all Polish or English-speaking customers received the same answer.

How to check what AI search says about your business

Measure local usefulness as well as visibility

In Search Console, compare relevant country, page and query views over consistent periods. There is no standard language dimension in the Search results Performance report: use language-specific URL groups as a practical way to inspect your versions. A country filter and a Polish URL group answer different questions.

Search Console Performance report dimensions

The former International Targeting report and its country-targeting setting are no longer supported. Do not look for that control as a required setup step. Google continues to support hreflang on pages.

Google’s notice about the retired International Targeting report

Review completed enquiries, bookings or sales for each version using the measurement available to your business. Language preference is not proof of nationality, and recorded visits do not capture everyone who saw an AI answer. Check whether the audience attracted is one you can serve.

Keep AI citation observations, recorded referral visits and commercial outcomes separately labelled. If a translated page receives enquiries for an unavailable area, correct the offer and contact journey before commissioning more translations.

How to measure SEO success when Search uses AI

A manageable localisation checklist

• Define the reader, language, market and available offer for each version.
• Confirm local prices, availability, exclusions and contact routes with the business.
• Research natural customer terminology and check examples and sources.
• Have a fluent reviewer inspect the copy, metadata, forms and confirmations.
• Test separate URLs, equivalent-page links, language declarations, hreflang and canonicals.
• Check important AI questions repeatedly under recorded conditions.
• Record factual errors and correct useful pages and relevant listings.
• Review enquiries or sales alongside visibility, and update all affected versions when facts change.

Start with an important customer journey you can maintain well. A complete, accurate service page and working enquiry route are more useful than a large collection of translated pages with conflicting information.

Frequently asked questions

Is translation enough for international SEO

No. The page must describe an offer that fits its intended audience. Review the facts, terminology, examples, sources and customer journey as well as the wording.

Does every language need a country-specific website

No. Decide which markets you serve and choose a structure that fits that work. Two languages can serve the same local business, and one language can serve several different markets.

Does hreflang tell every AI assistant which page to use

Do not assume that. Hreflang is documented here as a Google Search implementation topic. Its presence does not establish how every assistant selects sources or guarantee a citation.

Do local domains guarantee local AI recommendations

No. A domain ending is one indicator, not a guarantee of reliable information or selection. Inspect locally relevant sources and your own sampled answers without treating the research as a universal rule.