The same question, asked in French, German and English from Paris, Frankfurt and Zurich, to Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity. For two of the three tools, changing country barely moves the sources they cite; changing language changes almost all of them. Three findings, the method, its limits, and access to the full dashboard.

This is the written version of my lightning talk at Google Search Central Live Deep Dive Europe, in Barcelona on 1 October 2026. You can also get the worksheet that walks you through all three signals on your own site

Translating your website is the obvious first move into a new market, and it belongs fourth. Distance, offer fit and local credibility decide whether expansion works. Here is the order I use, and why it matters more than any single task.

Most international SEO investment isn't lost during execution. It's lost in the gap between a board-approved expansion and the brief someone wrote to deliver it. Demand fit, market knowledge, local authority: three things worth establishing before your agency starts with keyword research.

I've watched brands rank #1 in Google in a market while being completely invisible in AI search results in that same market. The two problems look similar. They're not. This is the framework that addresses both.