Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of shaping your content and online presence so generative AI systems can understand it, trust it and reference it when they answer questions. Those systems include Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and others.
Why GEO matters
More people now ask a question and read a synthesised answer instead of clicking through ten links. If your business is mentioned in that answer, you gain visibility and credibility. If it is absent, a competitor may be the one described.
GEO and SEO: how they relate
GEO builds on SEO rather than replacing it. Pages that are crawlable, fast, helpful and well-structured are the same pages that AI systems find easier to use. The difference lies in emphasis: GEO puts more weight on clear definitions, direct answers, consistent facts about your organisation, structured data and trust signals that exist beyond your own website.
Practical GEO principles
- Answer first. Put the direct answer at the top of the page, then explain.
- Define your terms. Clear definitions are easy to extract and quote.
- Be specific. Concrete details, processes and original insight are more useful than generic statements.
- Keep entity information consistent. Your business name, services, location and description should match everywhere they appear.
- Use structured data. Organization, Service, FAQ and Article markup help machines interpret pages.
- Show who is behind the content. Author and company information supports E-E-A-T.
- Earn mentions. Credible third-party references reinforce your authority.
What GEO cannot do
No one can control what an AI model says, and the systems change often. Be wary of anyone who guarantees citations. Sensible GEO improves the odds by doing the fundamentals well, then tests and measures what happens.
A simple first step
Ask several AI assistants the questions your customers ask, for example “Who offers [your service] in [your city]?” Record what is said about you and your competitors. That test shows where your gaps are.