Guide · GEO
Generative engine optimization (GEO): how to get named when customers ask AI
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the work of getting a business named, recommended and cited in the answers AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode give. Where SEO is about ranking in Google's list of links, GEO is about making the short list of names the AI writes in its answer. You do it by being mentioned on the pages the AI reads and by having pages that answer customers' questions clearly – and you only know it works when you measure it.
In short
- GEO stands for generative engine optimization: optimizing for AI answers, not only for Google's links.
- An AI answer usually names 3–5 businesses. If you're not on it, you don't exist for that customer.
- What moves the most: mentions on the sites the AI takes its recommendations from, and pages that answer first.
- Measure it with the same prompts, asked several times, on the AIs your customers use.
Updated · AIvisible
What is GEO?
The term comes from a 2023 research paper, “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”, by researchers from Princeton University among others (published at KDD 2024). They showed that content can be adapted so it's used more often in AI answers: in their tests, the right changes raised visibility by up to 40%.
Today GEO, AI SEO, AEO and LLM SEO are used for much the same thing: becoming part of the answer when the customer asks an AI instead of searching.
GEO vs SEO
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| The goal | A high position in Google's results | Being named and cited in the AI's answer |
| What the customer sees | Ten links and ads | An answer with a few names and some sources |
| What counts | Keywords, links to your site, technical health | Mentions on the sites the AI reads, clear answers on your own pages, a page the AI can read |
| How you measure | Position and clicks in Search Console | Share of AI answers that name you, against competitors |
GEO doesn't replace SEO. The AIs search the web themselves before they answer, and they often use the same pages that do well in Google. Good SEO is the foundation; GEO is what takes you from the results page into the answer.
See how often AI names you
A free AI check for everyone. We open the full measurement one company at a time.
How to do it: GEO in five steps
Find the prompts customers ask
Start from your real searches in Google Search Console or Google Ads, and turn them into the questions people ask an AI: “Where can I buy …”, “What's the best …”.
Measure who the AI names today
Ask the prompts in ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode with web search, several times each, and note who is named, in what order and with which sources.
Get onto the sites the AI cites
Price comparison, reviews, tests, guides and industry directories: if the AI links to them when it recommends your competitors, that's where you need to be.
Create pages that answer first
One page per important question, with the answer in the first paragraph, concrete facts (prices, range, delivery) and structured data, so the AI can quote you directly.
Make sure AI can read your site
Check that robots.txt and your firewall don't keep the AI crawlers out – such as OpenAI's OAI-SearchBot and ChatGPT-User – and that the text is in the HTML, not only in JavaScript.
Measure again after each change. AI answers vary, so look at the trend over several runs, not at a single answer.
How to measure GEO
GEO without measurement is guesswork. The numbers that matter are visibility (the share of answers that name you), share of voice (your share of all businesses named), position (where in the answer you come) and citations (which pages the AI links to).
AIvisible measures all of it on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode with live web search and gives you a prioritized action plan. A free check with 10 prompts needs only your website; tracking costs from €9 a month. See what to look for in an AI visibility tool.
Sources: Aggarwal et al., “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”, KDD 2024
Questions and answers
What does GEO stand for?
Generative engine optimization: optimizing for the generative AIs that answer instead of showing a list of links, such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode.
Is GEO the same as SEO?
No, but they're connected. SEO is about positions in Google's results, GEO about being named in the AI's answer. The AIs often use the same sources, so good SEO helps – but it isn't enough if the sites the AI cites name your competitors and not you.
How long does GEO take?
Technical fixes, such as in robots.txt, can work as soon as the AI reads the pages again. New pages and mentions on other sites take longer, because they have to be found and used first. That's why you measure continuously and look at the trend.
Can anyone guarantee you'll be named?
No. Nobody controls what an AI answers. You can raise the odds and measure whether it works – that's what GEO is about.