What generative engine optimization is
A generative engine is an AI assistant that writes the answer itself: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overviews. Generative engine optimization means putting the facts about your business where these assistants look, in a form they can read and are willing to recommend.
The term comes from a 2023 research paper of the same name. The same work also goes by AI SEO, answer engine optimization (AEO) and LLM SEO, and its result is usually called AI visibility.
GEO vs. SEO: what’s different
In search engine optimization the goal is a position in a list of results, and even tenth place still gets some clicks. An AI answer has no tenth place. It usually names three to five businesses, and the rest aren’t mentioned at all.
- The answer is assembled from many sources. The assistant turns one question into several searches, reads the results and combines them. What other sites say about you counts as much as what your own site says.
- Assistants disagree. ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini often recommend different businesses for the same question.
- Answers change from one time to the next. Ask the same question tomorrow and some of the names will be different. One try doesn’t tell you where you stand.
- Some answer from memory. When an assistant doesn’t search the web, it answers from what has been written about your business over the years.
SEO still matters. When an assistant searches the web, it reads the top results, and a page search engines can’t find is a page AI won’t read either.
What makes AI recommend a business
You’re on the sites AI reads
Directories, comparison sites, review platforms, local media and forums such as Reddit are among the sources assistants use most. If the comparison site for your industry lists ten businesses and yours isn’t one of them, the assistant is unlikely to come up with you on its own.
Your site answers the customer’s question
Say plainly what you do, where, for whom and roughly what it costs. The assistant looks for an answer to the whole question, such as “affordable accountant for a small business in Austin”, and a page that states these things in text is easy to quote.
Your details match everywhere
The same name, services and service area on your website, your Google Business Profile, in directories and on social media. Conflicting details make the assistant hesitate.
People talk about you
Reviews, case studies and mentions in articles and discussions are how an assistant concludes that a business is worth recommending. They also give it the reasons, since assistants explain why they recommend someone.
AI can read your site
Check that robots.txt doesn’t block the assistants’ crawlers (such as OAI-SearchBot and Claude-SearchBot) and that your key content is on the page as text, not only in images.
Where to start
Find your baseline
Ask the assistants the questions your customers ask and see who they name. Use several questions and several assistants, because a single answer varies.
See where the recommended businesses appear
The sites the assistants read before they recommend a competitor are the first places you need to be too.
Fix your own site
Answer the customer’s questions on the page: services, area, prices and who the service is for.
Measure again in a few weeks
Assistants that search the web pick up changes sooner than those that answer from memory.
Frequently asked questions
What does GEO stand for?
Generative engine optimization: the work of getting AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini to name your business in their answers.
Is GEO the same as SEO?
No, but they support each other. SEO aims for the top of the search results; GEO aims for a mention in the AI’s answer. Assistants that search the web read search results, so good search visibility helps with GEO too.
Is GEO the same as answer engine optimization (AEO)?
Largely, yes. Both mean being the answer an AI gives. AEO is the older term, first used for featured snippets and voice search; GEO is used more for assistants like ChatGPT.
How long does GEO take?
Assistants that search the web can pick up new content and new mentions within weeks. Assistants that answer from memory only change when their model is updated, which can take months.
How do I know GEO is working?
Measure the same thing before and after: in what share of answers your business is named, in what position, and whether the assistant cites your own site. Askray’s free scan gives you a baseline in a few minutes.