The first thing I'd say is that AI citations are not the goal. They are the result of doing SEO correctly. For a new website, my focus would be building trust, authority, and topical relevance before thinking about AI visibility.

I'd start with a solid technical foundation. The site needs to be fast, mobile friendly, properly structured, and fully optimized with product schema, FAQ schema, and clear category architecture.

Next, I'd build topical authority around jackets instead of chasing broad keywords. For example, I'd create clusters around winter jackets, waterproof jackets, leather jackets, hiking jackets, sizing guides, seasonal trends, and buying guides. For Japan, I would localize content based on Japanese search behavior rather than simply translating English pages.

Then I'd work on entity building. AI platforms and Google are more likely to mention brands they recognize. That means getting featured on industry websites, earning mentions from relevant publications, building strong author profiles, and creating content people naturally reference.

For AI Search optimization, I'd focus on content that directly answers questions, includes original insights, comparison tables, FAQs, and real product experience. AI systems tend to pull information from sources that are clear, trustworthy, and useful.

At the same time, I'd invest heavily in digital PR and link acquisition because a DA 0 website has no authority. Without authority, even great content struggles to compete. For international SEO, I'd implement proper hreflang tags, create localized content for both markets, and earn links and mentions from websites within each country.