More and more people no longer put their question to Google, but to ChatGPT, Perplexity or the AI summary at the top of Google’s search results. Instead of a list of ten blue links, they get a single answer. The question for you as a business owner: are you in that answer? That is what GEO is about.
What does GEO stand for?
GEO is short for Generative Engine Optimization. “Generative engine” is the umbrella term for AI systems that write an answer themselves instead of just showing links: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and similar tools. “Optimization” means the same as it does in SEO: you make sure you come out as well as possible.
So the meaning of GEO is: everything you do to be mentioned, recommended or used as a source by AI tools when someone asks a question that matches your product or service.
Note that GEO means something else in other fields. In geography and in software it usually refers to location. In online marketing, GEO almost always means Generative Engine Optimization. You will also see terms such as “AI SEO”, “AEO” (Answer Engine Optimization) or “LLM optimisation”. They largely overlap with GEO.
How does GEO work?
To understand how GEO works, you first need to know where AI tools get their answers from. Broadly, there are two sources:
- What the model learned during training. A language model is trained on an enormous amount of text from the web. If your brand appears there often and in a clear context, the model is more likely to know you.
- What the model looks up live. Most AI tools now run a web search when you ask a current or specific question. They read a number of pages and summarise them, often citing their sources. Google AI Overviews works in a similar way on top of the regular search results.
That second source is why GEO and SEO are so closely related. When an AI tool searches the web, it often ends up on pages that also rank well in the regular search results. If you are not there, the chance of being used as a source is small.
What stands out when you test AI answers: the tools favour content that answers directly, is factual, is well structured and comes from a trustworthy source. A page that clearly explains in its first paragraph what something is and what it costs is easier to summarise than a page that builds atmosphere for five paragraphs before getting to the point.
Exactly how AI models choose their sources is not public and changes regularly. Anyone who claims to know the formula is exaggerating. What is certain is that the principles above come back time and again in what we see in our own tests.
GEO vs SEO: the differences side by side
GEO is not a replacement for SEO, but an extension of it. Still, a few accents shift.
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank high in the search results | Be mentioned or cited in AI answers |
| Result | A click to your website | A mention, sometimes with a link, sometimes without |
| Key signal | Relevance, authority, technical health | Clarity, factual accuracy, brand mentions |
| Measurability | Rankings, clicks, traffic | Traffic from AI tools, visibility in answers, your own tests |
| Content style | Complete and well structured | Direct answer at the top, then depth |
The biggest practical difference: SEO revolves around the click. With GEO you can be mentioned without anyone clicking through. That is harder to measure, but no less valuable. If ChatGPT names your business as one of the options, you are already in that customer’s consideration set before they have even seen your website.
What can you actually do about GEO?
These are the elements we work with at Stijgt. No magic, just discipline.
1. Get your SEO foundation right. A technically healthy site, indexable pages, a clear structure. Without that, you are going nowhere. Our technical SEO checklist is a good starting point.
2. Answer directly at the top. Start every important page with a short, factual summary: what it is, who it is for, roughly what it costs, how it works. Then go deeper. This article is built that way itself.
3. Write factually and specifically. Vague marketing language is rarely picked up. Concrete facts, steps, tables and question-and-answer blocks are.
4. Build mentions of your brand. AI tools see you as relevant more often when trusted websites mention you: industry media, directories, review platforms, partners. It resembles link building, with one difference: a mention without a link counts too. You can read how to approach that in what are backlinks.
5. Keep your business information consistent everywhere. Name, address, services, opening hours and prices should match on your site, in your Google Business Profile and in directories. Conflicting information makes an AI unsure, and an unsure AI would rather not mention you.
6. Use structured data. Schema.org markup for your organisation, products, FAQs and reviews helps search engines and AI systems interpret your content correctly.
7. Test and measure. Ask the questions your customers ask, in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google. Note who gets mentioned. Repeat that monthly.
How do you measure GEO?
GEO is more measurable than many people think, as long as you combine three sources.
- GA4: you can recognise traffic arriving from AI tools by the referring source. That is an underestimate (not every mention leads to a click), but it shows the trend.
- Semrush: shows your visibility in AI answers and which questions go with it.
- Your own tests: a fixed list of questions that you put to the AI tools periodically. Simple, but the most honest picture.
Do not expect results within a week. As with SEO, we typically see the first movement with GEO after 4 to 6 weeks, and it keeps growing from there. We do not give guarantees, because no agency has control over exactly what an AI model answers. What we can do: structurally increase the odds and make that visible in numbers.
From our own experience: at our own company Djunes (photo booth and event hire) we apply the same approach we use for clients. First the SEO foundation, then direct answers on every page and mentions on relevant sites. Organic traffic grew by 187% in 12 months, and what we learn there about AI visibility goes straight into our client work.
Is GEO right for you?
GEO pays off mainly when people are already searching for what you offer and want advice along the way: which provider, which product, what it costs, what to look out for. Those are exactly the questions people put to AI tools. If you sell something nobody is looking for yet, GEO will not help you, and neither will SEO.
Want to know how to actually get found in ChatGPT? Read how to rank in ChatGPT. Curious what Stijgt can do for your website? See our GEO approach or get in touch.