Definition
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) means optimising content for generative AI search such as ChatGPT Search, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews, so that these systems use the content as a source for their answers.
Also: Generative Engine Optimization, AI SEO, LLM optimisation
How generative search engines form answers
A classic search engine shows a list of results. A generative search, by contrast, writes an answer itself and relies on a handful of sources, some of which it cites as links. The system decides afresh for every question which pages these are. The answers change with the wording of the question, the context of the conversation and the point in time.
This is exactly where GEO comes in: a page should be easy for such systems to read, unambiguous and trustworthy, so that it qualifies as a source.
What GEO means in practice
- Clear statements: every page answers one question clearly, ideally in the first paragraph. Products, versions and places are named explicitly rather than paraphrased.
- Technical accessibility: AI crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot must be able to fetch the pages. The robots.txt file controls which crawlers are allowed. Search crawlers and training crawlers can be managed separately.
- Machine-readable data: structured data based on schema.org helps to identify products, prices and organisations unambiguously.
- A traceable brand: it should be clear who is behind a page, with a legal notice, named contacts and verifiable information.
GEO and SEO
GEO does not replace classic search engine optimisation. Both need the same foundation of clean technology and helpful content. Google does not name any additional special optimisation for its AI Overviews and AI Mode. What is new is mainly the answer formats and the measurement: mentions in AI answers do not show up in any ranking tool and have to be tracked through spot checks, source reports such as those in Bing Webmaster Tools and the traffic figures in Google Search Console.
Limits
No provider can guarantee a mention in ChatGPT or any other AI search. The respective system decides on sources and wording. GEO improves verifiable prerequisites, but no particular placement can be derived from it.
Read how we implement GEO for online shops on the page GEO, AEO and AI visibility.