About Lee Hartley — Founder, AI Visible

AI Visible is a Salford-based schema markup and AI search optimisation consultancy. We help UK businesses become discoverable in AI-powered search results, including ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and the next generation of search engines that don't show ten blue links.

The Person Behind It

Lee Hartley is the founder of AI Visible, based in Salford, Greater Manchester. He started his first web business in Miami in 1998 at 24, building sites and digital services during the first dot-com era, long before "SEO" was even a word.

After returning to the UK in 2008 for family reasons, Lee spent 17 years in engineering before coming back to digital in 2025. He re-entered the industry just as AI search was fundamentally changing how businesses get found online, and immediately recognised that structured data was the critical missing piece for most UK businesses.

Lee has just achieved his Digital Marketing Pro Diploma from the DMI (the Digital Marketing Institute) and specialises in schema markup implementation, generative engine optimisation (GEO), and AI search visibility strategy.

Why AI Visible Exists

Search is changing faster than most businesses realise. Google AI Overviews now appear on millions of searches every day. ChatGPT is being used to find local tradespeople, solicitors, dentists, and accountants. Perplexity is answering product questions that used to send traffic to ecommerce sites.

The businesses getting cited in those AI answers aren't necessarily the biggest or the best — they're the ones whose websites speak the right language. Schema markup is that language. It tells AI systems exactly what a business is, what it does, where it operates, and why it should be trusted.

Most UK businesses don't have it. That's the gap AI Visible was built to close.

Credentials & Expertise