What is GEO?
What is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the process of improving how a brand or business is represented in generative engines- AI systems that provide answers, summaries, or recommendations instead of listing websites, like google does.
GEO focuses on how AI models find, interpret, and cite information about your company. The aim is simple: when a customer asks an AI assistant for advice, recommendations, or services, your business should be included in that answer.
How does it differ from SEO?
SEO is about optimising your website so Google (and other search engines) can crawl, index, and rank it.
Whereas, GEO is about ensuring AI engines understand your business through structured data, strong citations, and clear digital signals, though many of the principles still stay true to GEO there are many extra steps that AI engines reach for.
Why is GEO important to modern businesses?
First mover advantage- Most businesses (and even many agencies) are still focused purely on SEO. GEO is at the frontier of digital visibility. By embedding your business into the data supply chains of generative engines now, you gain an advantage that will compound as customer reliance on AI systems grows. Think of it this way: in the early 2000s, few companies invested in SEO. Those who did now dominate their industries online. GEO represents the same kind of early-mover opportunity- but applied to the AI era. Although I do not believe GEO is as large a revolution as SEO was, many of the ideas staying similar it will be extremely powerful to begin to monitor and implement strategies that are optimised for AI and search together rather than just search engines.
Local impact- For local businesses, GEO is transformative. When a customer asks an AI tool: “Where’s the best coffee shops within 5 miles?” or “What’s the top-rated plumber in my town?” The AI won’t show a page of search results. It will give a single synthesised answer- and your business either appears or it doesn’t. GEO ensures that you’re included in these high-intent, zero-click answers, where the stakes for visibility are higher than ever.
Shifts in consumer behaviour- Consumer behaviour is rapidly moving toward conversational search. Instead of typing keywords like “best coffee shop near me”, people ask generative systems, “Where’s the best place to get organic coffee nearby?”. Failing to optimise for GEO means your business risks being invisible in the exact platforms where customers are shifting their attention.
Generative engine’s entity reliance- Generative engines rely heavily on entities- distinct, names like that of businesses, products, or people, this helps them ground their answers. Without proper knowledge graph and entity optimisation your business may be omitted from generative engines, leaving huge opportunities for organic traffic to you
Ensuring citation frequency and reliability- generative AI models rank and retrieve information based on citation reliability and frequency. If your business is mentioned in: authoritative directories, reputable news outlets and has consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) citations. Then, you are far more likely to be named in generative engine model answers. This is why digital PR, structured data, and link-building remain essential but must now be reframed slightly in a GEO-context.
Feedback mechanisms- Unlike traditional search, where an algorithm update impacts ranking, AI models evolve through fine-tuning and feedback loops. If your business is misrepresented, the error may propagate into multiple AI tools. This means continuous monitoring of how AI engines describe your company is vital. GEO strategies include brand and reputation monitoring across AI platforms, as well as structured corrections (schema markup, verified listings, direct feedback).