Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Also called: GEO, generative engine optimisation, geo seo, generative search optimization, ai citation optimization

Optimizing your content so that generative AI engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google's AI Overviews — cite your business inside the answers they write for users.

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of earning a citation inside the response a generative AI model writes. When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity “who builds AI receptionists for HVAC companies?”, the model composes an answer in its own words and footnotes a few sources. GEO is the work of being one of those footnoted sources.

It differs from classic SEO in what it optimizes for. SEO competes for a ranked list of blue links; GEO competes to be quoted in a single synthesized answer where there is no page two. The tactics that move it: writing in a direct, factual question-and-answer style the model can lift verbatim, stating specifics (numbers, names, places) rather than vague claims, adding structured data and FAQ schema so engines can parse the page, earning mentions on third-party sites the models already trust, and keeping content fresh — generative engines favor recent, clearly-sourced material.

For a small business this is a rare opening. The generative-search category is new, so authority is up for grabs in a way it never is on a mature Google SERP. A focused local business can become the cited answer for its niche far faster than it could ever outrank national publishers on traditional search.