What is GEO?
GEO, or generative engine optimisation, is the practice of getting your content cited and recommended inside AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI. It extends SEO: instead of only ranking in a list of links, you aim to be the source the AI quotes.
GEO in one idea
Search engines return a list of links. AI assistants return an answer, often citing a few sources. GEO is about being one of those cited sources. As more people ask AI assistants instead of scrolling search results, being quoted in the answer becomes as valuable as ranking first.
How GEO differs from SEO
- SEO optimises to rank a page in search results.
- GEO optimises to be quoted and recommended inside an AI answer.
- They overlap: clear, well-structured, trustworthy content helps both. GEO adds an emphasis on self-contained, quotable passages and factual clarity.
What content wins at GEO
AI answers favour content that states a clear answer up front, is easy to quote in a sentence or two, cites facts, and is structured so a machine can lift a clean passage. That is why modern AI SEO tools build content this way by default. See why AI visibility matters for the business case, and the glossary for the surrounding terms.
Frequently asked questions
What does GEO mean in SEO?
Is GEO replacing SEO?
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