What Is GEO? AI Search Optimisation Explained for Businesses
GEO (generative engine optimisation) explained: what it is, which AI systems it covers, how they differ, what is known and unknown, and what the work involves.
Quick answer
GEO builds on SEO rather than replacing it: Google says its AI features need nothing beyond a page being indexed and eligible for a snippet, and ChatGPT search shows only sites its OAI-SearchBot crawler can reach. On top of that, GEO adds one consistent description of the business, direct answers and independent mentions, measured monthly on a fixed set of buyer questions. Nobody can guarantee a mention.
GEO, short for generative engine optimisation, is the work of making your business easy for AI answer systems to find, understand and reference when someone asks a question about your field.
Those systems include Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT with search, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot.
It is not a separate trick on top of the web.
These systems either draw on a search index or fetch live pages, so GEO starts where SEO starts: pages that can be crawled, that answer questions clearly, and facts about your business that agree wherever they appear.
This article explains what GEO covers and what is known about it.
The step-by-step work is in our guide to appearing in ChatGPT answers, and the comparison with classic search is in GEO vs SEO.
What Does GEO Actually Mean?
Classic SEO works towards a position in a list of links.
An AI answer is different: the system writes a reply, may name businesses in it, and may show the pages it used as sources.
GEO is about being one of the businesses named, or one of the sources shown, when the question is one your customers ask.
In practice that means three things.
The business has to be findable: its pages can be crawled and indexed.
It has to be understandable: one clear, consistent description of who you are, what you do and where.
And it has to be checkable: independent websites say the same things about you that you say yourself.
Which AI Systems Does GEO Cover, and How Do They Differ?
Treating every AI tool as one system is the most common mistake in this field.
They take their information from different places, so what you can do about each one differs too.
| System | Where its answers come from | What a business can check |
|---|---|---|
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Google's own search index; a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet | Indexing in Search Console and the same basics as for ordinary Google results |
| ChatGPT with search | Pages fetched from the live web; OpenAI uses its OAI-SearchBot crawler for these results | That your robots.txt does not block OAI-SearchBot and your pages load as readable text |
| Perplexity and similar tools | Live web retrieval, with the sources listed next to the answer | Whether your pages appear among the listed sources for your questions |
| A chat model without search | What the model learned in training, from older web content | Nothing quickly: editing your site today does not change what the model already learned |
Mention, Recommendation, Citation: What Is the Difference?
Three different things can happen in an AI answer, and they should never be added up into one number.
- A mention: the answer names your business, for example in a list of firms in your town.
- A recommendation: the answer suggests your business as a good choice for the question asked.
- A citation: one of your pages is shown as a source the answer drew on.
A citation shows that your page was used. A recommendation shows that you were chosen. Report them separately, or you will not know which one you are improving.
What Is Known About AI Search, and What Is Not?
Some things are documented by the providers.
Google says there are no additional requirements and no special optimisation needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, that the page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, and that existing SEO fundamentals continue to be worthwhile.
It also says no special files or schema are required.
OpenAI documents that sites which block OAI-SearchBot are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, and that this crawler is controlled separately from GPTBot, which collects training data.
What is not published is how any of these systems choose which businesses to name or which pages to cite, how much any factor weighs, or how long changes take to show.
Anyone who offers a list of AI ranking factors or a date for your first citation is guessing.
Between those two sits what practitioners observe: answers tend to quote pages that state facts plainly, and businesses described the same way in many independent places are easier to describe correctly.
These are reasonable working assumptions, not confirmed mechanics.
What Does GEO Work Involve in Practice?
The work overlaps heavily with good SEO and good PR.
What makes it GEO is the target: being named, recommended or cited in answers, and measuring that directly.
- Access: check that search crawlers and OAI-SearchBot can reach your important pages.
- One description: write who you are, what you do and where, and use it on your site and every profile.
- Answers: open each key page with a direct answer to the question it targets.
- Evidence: earn genuine mentions on independent websites in your trade and area.
- Measurement: test a fixed set of buyer questions every month and record mentions, recommendations and citations separately.
How Do You Know Whether GEO Is Working?
Write down 20 to 30 questions your buyers really ask, run them in the AI tools your customers use, and keep the answers.
Repeat on the same dates each month.
Next to that, keep your usual search numbers and enquiries, because AI visibility that never reaches the phone or the inbox is not worth much.
Our article on measuring GEO covers the scorecard in detail.
Whether SEO still matters in this picture is answered in foundational SEO with AI, and our view on where this is heading is in is GEO the future of digital marketing.
GEO is not a replacement for SEO and not a secret formula. It is the discipline of making true, consistent, easy-to-check information about your business available where AI systems look, and then measuring honestly whether it is used. Our AI & GEO service starts with a free audit and costs from €400 a month plus VAT.
Want to know how AI answers describe your business today? Our free audit tests your buyers' questions and shows where you stand.
Get a free GEO auditFrequently asked questions
What does GEO stand for?
Generative engine optimisation: making a business easy for AI systems that generate answers, such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search and Perplexity, to find, understand and reference.
Does GEO replace SEO?
No. Google says its AI features rely on the same index and that SEO fundamentals continue to be worthwhile. GEO adds a different target and a different way of measuring on top of SEO.
Can anyone guarantee that ChatGPT will mention my business?
No. Why not, and what can honestly be promised instead, is covered in our guide to appearing in ChatGPT answers.
Does editing my website change what ChatGPT knows?
Not what the underlying model learned in training. It can change what ChatGPT finds when it searches the live web, provided its search crawler can reach your pages.
Do I need special files or schema for Google's AI Overviews?
Google says no special files, schema or other optimisation are required for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Structured data should still match what is visible on the page.
How much does GEO cost with FOXVISITS?
Our AI & GEO service costs from €400 a month plus VAT for the core scope, with a six-month minimum. We start with a free audit and quote a wider scope after it.
