What is GEO? A plain-English guide to generative engine optimisation
GEO helps your brand get mentioned and cited in AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity. Here is how it works and how it differs from SEO.
GEO helps your brand get mentioned and cited in AI answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity. Here is how it works and how it differs from SEO.
What GEO actually is
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of improving how often — and how accurately — AI assistants mention your brand. When a buyer asks ChatGPT “best Magento agency in the UK”, the answer is generated from sources the model trusts. GEO is about becoming one of those sources.
RELATED GUIDEHow to get your business recommended by ChatGPT →How AI chooses who to mention
- Clear, consistent facts about who you are and what you do
- Third-party corroboration: reviews, directories, press and comparison articles
- Content that directly answers specific questions
- Pages that are fast, crawlable and well-structured
- Recency — updated content and active signals
GEO vs SEO
SEO wins clicks from search results; GEO wins mentions inside answers. They overlap heavily: technical health, helpful content and authority help both. GEO adds extra focus on entity consistency, quotable answers, structured data and being present on the sites AI models cite most.
Where to start
- Ask AI tools the questions your buyers ask and record who is mentioned
- Fix inconsistent company descriptions across your site and profiles
- Create answer-first pages for your top 20 buyer questions
- Earn mentions on trusted third-party sites in your niche
- Track visibility monthly with a tool such as VISIBI Radar
Common mistakes to avoid
How we help with ai visibility & agents
Frequently asked questions
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. AI assistants still rely on the open web, so SEO remains the foundation. GEO builds on it.
How long does GEO take?
Entity and content fixes can shift mentions within weeks; authority building compounds over months.
Can I measure GEO?
Yes — by tracking mention rate, citation rate and share of voice across a fixed set of prompts.