GEO is the practice of making your business easy for AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI features to find, understand and cite. It builds on SEO rather than replacing it: most of the work is still clear content, a technically accessible site and a reputation others confirm.
Where does the term come from?
The term was popularised by a 2023 research paper that studied how content can become more visible inside AI-generated answers. It now stands for a wider practice. You'll also see AEO (answer engine optimization), which means roughly the same thing.
How does GEO differ from SEO?
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | A high position in a list of results | Being named or cited in an answer |
| Result | A click to your site | A mention, sometimes a link |
| Basis | Content, technology, links | The same, plus clear statements that are easy to quote |
They overlap heavily. Google's own guidance on AI features points to the same fundamentals as regular search. Be wary of anyone selling GEO as a separate trick.
What can you actually do?
- Answer real questions. Put the question in the heading and the answer directly beneath it.
- Make your site readable. Content that only appears after JavaScript or inside images is harder to use. Check you aren't blocking crawlers such as OpenAI's.
- Be specific. Prices, processes, locations and who you work for are easier to repeat than "tailored solutions".
- Use structured data honestly. It should describe what is on the page, not more.
- Get confirmed elsewhere. Mentions on sites other than your own give an answer engine reasons to trust you.
How do you measure it?
There's no equivalent of a ranking report. A practical method is a fixed list of questions, asked regularly in several AI tools, recording whether and how you appear. Answers vary, so look at the pattern over time and not at a single result. Here's how to check if ChatGPT mentions your business.
