GEO and AEO
Generative engine optimization, without the mystery
Buyers now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews who to shortlist, and the answer names a few companies. Most advice on getting named sells special files and markup. The companies that get named are the ones AI engines can read, verify and quote.
- Peer-reviewed releases
- NDA before your first call
AI engines do not read secret signals
Search for generative engine optimization and you are offered AI visibility scores, special files for language models, and markup that promises to make an assistant recommend you. Google’s own documentation says the opposite about its AI features: there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no new machine-readable files or markup are needed.
What an assistant can quote is what it can find, read and trust. A page that is indexed, says something specific in plain text, and agrees with what directories, reviews and other sites say about you is quotable. A page that hides its answer in an image, a vague headline or a claim nobody else corroborates is not.
So we treat GEO as SEO done properly, plus the places AI engines read beyond your site. Answer engine optimization, AEO, is the same work described from the answer’s side, and we use both names because buyers do.
- 01
Findable
Indexed, crawlable pages with the answer in text, not in an image or a script.
- 02
Quotable
Specific claims, clear definitions and lists an assistant can lift whole.
- 03
Corroborated
The same facts about you on directories, reviews and third-party sites.
What we do
Generative engine optimization services
Six parts of the work, starting with a baseline so every change can be measured against what assistants said before.
- 01
AI visibility baseline
The questions your buyers ask assistants, asked across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, with who gets named and which sources get cited.
- 02
Answer-ready pages
Service pages and articles rewritten so the answer sits in the first sentence, definitions are explicit, and lists and tables can be quoted whole.
- 03
Entity consistency
Your company name, address, founders, services and profiles stated the same way on your site, in structured data and across directories.
- 04
Structured data that matches the page
Organization, service, article, FAQ and breadcrumb markup generated from the same source as the visible page, so the two never disagree.
- 05
Third-party presence
The review platforms, directories and comparison pages assistants cite for your category, kept accurate and current.
- 06
Measurement
The generative AI report in Search Console, repeated assistant checks, and a question on your enquiry form asking whether the buyer found you through an AI assistant.
The three names
GEO, AEO and SEO compared
Three names for overlapping work. The overlap is the point: none of them works if the pages underneath cannot be found and read.
| Aspect | SEO | AEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank pages in search results | Make the answer on a page easy to extract | Be named and cited in AI-generated answers |
| Where it shows | Google and Bing results | Featured snippets, People also ask, voice answers | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| Main levers | Technical health, relevance, links | Direct answers, definitions, lists, structured data | All of the SEO and AEO levers, plus what third-party sources say about you |
| How it is measured | Rankings, clicks, enquiries | Snippet and answer appearances | Citations and mentions in assistant answers, AI-referred enquiries |
In practice we run them as one programme, because the same page has to rank, answer and be worth citing.
What gets cited
What actually gets a business named in AI answers
Drawn from Google’s guidance on its AI features and from reading which sources AI answers cite for B2B buying questions. None of it needs a special file.
Google Search Central: AI features and your website- 01Pages that are indexed and crawlable. An assistant cannot quote what search engines cannot reach.
- 02The answer in plain text near the top, not in an image, a slider or a script.
- 03Specific, checkable statements: what you do, for whom, where, and since when.
- 04Lists and tables that can be lifted whole, such as steps, criteria and comparisons.
- 05Structured data that matches the visible page, generated from the same source.
- 06The same facts on the directories, review sites and profiles assistants read for your category.
- 07Content with first-hand experience or primary sources, which an assistant can cite with attribution rather than paraphrase.
What Google says you do not need for its AI features: new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup. Other assistants may read files such as llms.txt, and we publish one for our own site, but it is not a substitute for any line above.
Where AI reads
Where AI assistants get their answers about you
Four places, and what we do in each.
- 01
Your own website
The primary source when it is crawlable and specific. We make the answers explicit, the facts consistent and the structured data accurate.
- 02
Search indexes
Google’s AI features and several assistants draw on search results. Pages that rank and are indexed are the pages available to be cited.
- 03
Review and directory sites
Clutch, G2, Google Business Profile and category directories are cited heavily for vendor questions. We keep your profiles complete, current and consistent.
- 04
Comparison pages and communities
Third-party lists, forums and articles shape which names appear together. We find the ones assistants cite for your category and make sure the facts about you are right.
Proof
Rated by the clients who have worked with us
Our reviews live on Google and Clutch, where we cannot edit them. The same method described on this page is how our own site is built.
When GEO is the wrong place to start
Three cases where we would tell you to fix something else first:
- 01
Your site is not indexed properly
If search engines cannot crawl or index your pages, no assistant will cite them. Technical SEO comes first, and it is usually faster.
- 02
Nobody asks assistants about your category
Some purchases are still made through tenders and referrals. Check what your buyers actually do before paying to be named in answers they never read.
- 03
You want a guarantee of being recommended
Nobody controls what an assistant says. What can be controlled is whether you are findable, quotable and corroborated.
Where GEO does pay is the buyer who asks an assistant for a shortlist before visiting any website, and whose first impression of you is a sentence someone else wrote.
How we work
From baseline to being cited
The same five stages we use for every engagement, with notes where AI search changes a stage.
Discovery
We map your workflows, systems, and constraints with the people who use them every day, before anything is scoped.
For GEO: the baseline of what assistants say about you and your competitors today, and which sources they cite.
Scope and plan
You get a scope, a timeline, and a price that hold. Architecture decisions are made and documented before code starts.
For GEO: which pages to make answer-ready first, and which third-party profiles to correct.
Build in stages
Senior engineers deliver in planned stages, with working software demonstrated at every step, not a reveal at the end.
Launch
Data migration, training, and a production cutover planned around your operations and your calendar, not ours.
Run and improve
The team that built your system stays on it: monitoring, support, and the next improvements on one roadmap.
For GEO: the same assistant questions asked again each month, against the baseline.
Industries
B2B sectors we work with
The sectors where we already know the buyer questions assistants are being asked.
Fintech
SaaS & Startups
Ecommerce & D2C
Healthcare
Real Estate
Education
Logistics
Professional Services
FAQ
Questions buyers ask about GEO and AEO
What is generative engine optimization?
Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the work of making a business findable, quotable and corroborated so that AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google’s AI Overviews name and cite it in their answers.
What is the difference between GEO, AEO and SEO?
They overlap almost entirely. SEO makes pages rank in search results. AEO, answer engine optimization, makes the answer on a page easy to extract. GEO extends both to the sources AI assistants read beyond your site. Google says its AI features need nothing beyond sound SEO.
Do I need llms.txt or special markup for AI search?
Not for Google. Google states that you do not need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Some other assistants may read llms.txt, so it can do no harm, but it does not replace the fundamentals.
How do you measure GEO?
Three ways: the generative AI report in Google Search Console, the same buyer questions asked of each assistant every month against a baseline, and a question on your enquiry form asking whether the buyer found you through an AI assistant.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend us?
No. Nobody controls what an assistant says. We can make sure you are findable, that your answers are quotable, and that the facts about you agree everywhere assistants look.
Is SEO dead now that AI answers questions?
No. AI answers are built from pages that search engines have found and indexed, so the pages that rank are the pages available to be cited. See our SEO services for that side of the work.
Which AI platforms do you optimize for?
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode. The underlying work is the same for all of them; the baseline and monthly checks are run on each.
What does a GEO audit include?
The buyer questions for your category asked across the main assistants, who gets named and which sources are cited, a technical check that your key pages are indexable and readable, and a review of how consistently your company is described across your site and third-party profiles.
Do reviews and directories affect AI recommendations?
They appear to matter a great deal for vendor questions. When assistants answer who to shortlist, they frequently cite review platforms, directories and comparison lists, so keeping those accurate and current is part of the work.
How long does GEO take?
Fixes to your own pages can show within weeks, once they are recrawled. Changing what third-party sources say about you takes longer, and assistants update on their own schedules.
Find out what AI assistants
say about you today
Tell us your category and the questions your buyers ask. We will check what the main assistants answer, and who they cite, before recommending anything.
