What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your brand more likely to be mentioned, cited and described correctly when a generative AI tool writes an answer. Where SEO targets a ranked list, GEO targets a written response from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot or Google AI Mode. The goal is not a position. It is a mention, ideally with a link, inside the answer your buyer reads.
Where the term generative engine optimization comes from
The name comes from a 2023 research paper, “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”, by Pranjal Aggarwal and colleagues, later accepted at KDD 2024 (arXiv). The authors built a benchmark of queries, tested content changes, and measured how visible a source became in generated answers.
- Up to 40% boost in visibility in generative engine responses from the content changes tested Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024
Read that number carefully. It is a maximum across tested methods in a research setting, and the authors note that results vary by domain. It is evidence that content choices move the needle, not a forecast for your site.
Why GEO matters for B2B
B2B buyers now ask AI tools for shortlists: “best HubSpot partner for SaaS”, “who does technical SEO for fintech”. The answer usually names three to five companies. If you are not one of them, you are not considered, and you will never see that search in your analytics. Our AI search optimization work starts with exactly these shortlist prompts.
GEO also protects accuracy, which is what LLM visibility tracking measures. Models repeat what the web says about you. Outdated pricing, a retired product name or a competitor’s comparison page can end up in the answer.
How GEO works
Most generative engines combine what the model learned in training with live retrieval from a search index. You can influence both, slowly.
| Lever | Affects | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Your own pages | Retrieval | Clear, answer-first pages on every topic you want to be cited for |
| Third-party mentions | Training and retrieval | Earn coverage in directories, reviews, partner pages and industry media |
| Entity consistency | Both | Same name, description and facts everywhere (entity SEO) |
| Crawl access | Retrieval | Allow search crawlers like OAI-SearchBot and Googlebot in robots.txt |
| Evidence | Both | Statistics, quotes and named sources that make your page worth citing |
Example: a 30-day GEO sprint
Take a hypothetical B2B payroll software company that wants to appear when people ask “best payroll software for Nigerian startups”.
- Week 1: Run 20 buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode. Record who is named and which URLs are cited. Say the company appears in 3 of 20 answers: a 15% share.
- Week 2: Fix what the engines cite most. Often that’s a comparison page or a directory listing with outdated facts.
- Week 3: Publish one page that answers the shortlist question honestly, with a comparison table and named sources.
- Week 4: Re-run the same 20 prompts. Report the share, not individual answers, because outputs vary run to run.
When we run prompt tests for a client, the first finding is rarely about their own website. It's usually an old directory listing, a review site or a comparison article that the AI tools keep citing with outdated facts. I'd fix those sources before writing anything new. And I'd keep the prompt set the same every month, because changing the questions makes the trend meaningless.
How to do GEO
A repeatable GEO process
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Pick the prompts
Write 20–50 questions buyers ask before shortlisting, grouped by service and industry.
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Baseline your share
Run each prompt in the engines your buyers use and log mentions, citations and errors.
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Find the cited sources
Note which URLs the engines link to. These are the pages to win, fix or get listed on.
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Improve your pages
Answer-first copy, comparison tables, statistics with sources, and clear entity facts (see AEO).
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Earn mentions
Pitch the cited publications, update directory profiles and publish data others will quote.
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Re-measure monthly
Track share of answers over time alongside organic leads.
Myth vs fact
- MythGEO replaces SEO.
- FactGenerative engines retrieve from search indexes, so pages that are crawlable, indexed and authoritative are the raw material. GEO adds to SEO; it does not replace it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
AEO focuses on a single page giving a direct, extractable answer. GEO is the broader effort to be mentioned and cited across generative AI tools, including off-site work like reviews and media coverage. In practice the two overlap, and most teams run them together.
Can I pay to appear in ChatGPT or Perplexity answers?
There is no paid route into an organic AI answer. Any paid placement in an AI product is an ad, not a citation. GEO is about earning the organic mention.
How long does GEO take?
Page fixes can show up in retrieval-based answers within weeks, once pages are recrawled. Changes in what models learned in training take longer and depend on model update cycles you do not control.
What tools measure GEO?
You can start with a spreadsheet and manual prompts. Dedicated LLM visibility trackers automate the runs. Whatever you use, fix the prompt list so trends are comparable month to month.