Generative engine optimization (GEO): getting your business into AI answers

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the work of making your business more likely to be cited, mentioned or recommended inside the answers that AI tools write, such as Google's AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Gemini. Where traditional SEO aims for a place in a list of links, GEO aims for a place inside the answer itself.

It's a young field with plenty of loud claims. This guide explains where the term came from, how these tools actually pick their sources, what a hotel, clinic or spa can realistically do, and how to track whether it's working.

GEO overlaps with answer engine optimization (AEO): AEO is about answering questions clearly, while GEO is about being the source or business an AI chooses to name.

Where the term came from

The phrase comes from a research paper, "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", by Pranjal Aggarwal, Vishvak Murahari, Tanmay Rajpurohit, Ashwin Kalyan, Karthik Narasimhan and Ameet Deshpande. It was first posted on arXiv in November 2023 and accepted to the KDD 2024 conference.¹

The researchers built a test set called GEO-bench, with 10,000 queries across different topics. For each query, they fed the top five Google results to an answer engine powered by gpt-3.5-turbo, then rewrote one source in nine different ways to see which changes earned it more space in the answer.²

What they found:²

• Adding quotations worked best, at around 41% above the unchanged page on their main visibility measure.
• Adding statistics and citing sources also performed well. The paper reports gains of roughly 30–40% for its best methods, though citing sources alone scored lower in its main results table.
• Making text more fluent helped by around 28%.
• Keyword stuffing scored below the unchanged page, and did 10% worse than baseline in their tests on Perplexity.
• Lower-ranked pages gained most. Citing sources lifted visibility by 115.1% for pages ranked fifth in the search results.

The authors summarise that GEO can boost visibility by up to 40%, and that results vary by subject area.¹ Keep the context in mind: this was a lab experiment using 2023-era models, and it measured how much of an answer drew on a page, not bookings or revenue. It's a useful signal of direction, not a recipe.

How generative engines choose and cite sources

Each platform works a little differently, but their own documentation points to a shared pattern: they search first, then write.

Google AI Overviews and AI Mode

Google says both features rely on its core ranking and quality systems.³ They use query fan-out, which Google defines as "a set of concurrent, related queries" the model generates to gather more information.³ To be eligible, a page only needs to be indexed and able to show in Search with a snippet.⁴ Google's position is blunt: optimising for these features is "still SEO."³

ChatGPT search

ChatGPT searches the web when a question would benefit from it, and answers that use search include inline citations. OpenAI says it may share search queries, disassociated from the user, with third-party search providers such as Bing.⁵ OpenAI says "any public website can appear in ChatGPT search", provided it doesn't block the OAI-SearchBot crawler.⁶

Perplexity

Perplexity searches the web in real time and condenses what it finds into one answer, with numbered footnotes linking to the original sources.⁷ Its crawler, PerplexityBot, is designed "to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity."⁸

Gemini

Gemini shows a Sources button, at the bottom of a response or inline, when sources are available. Google notes that not every response includes sources.⁹

The practical takeaway: if search engines can't find, read and trust your pages, AI tools are unlikely to cite them. GEO starts with being a strong search result. The basics, like crawler access and a complete Google Business Profile, are covered in our guide on how to get recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI. Below, we go a step further.

What businesses can actually do

1. Be the original source on your own facts. Google's guide recommends "non-commodity" content: expert or first-hand material that goes beyond common knowledge.³ Anyone can write "Galle is beautiful." Only your villa can say the drive from the airport took your driver 2 hours 40 minutes last Tuesday, or that the pool is 12 metres long and shaded after 3pm. A dental clinic can publish its own aftercare guidance, written and signed by its dentist.
2. Make your pages easy to quote. The GEO paper's best results came from adding quotations, statistics and citations.² For a business, that means real numbers (rooms, treatment lengths, "prices from"), short quotes from named staff, and links to credible sources where you make a claim. Don't invent figures to look authoritative.
3. Cover the questions behind the question. Because AI tools fan out into related searches, one prompt like "relaxing spa near Unawatuna for a couple" may pull in pages about couples' treatments, opening hours, location and price. Give each of these a clear section or page so there's something to find for every angle.
4. Earn genuine mentions elsewhere. Your website isn't the only page about you that a search can find: reviews, booking sites, local press and tourism guides are out there too. Google says reviews and links from other websites feed into how prominent a local business is.¹⁰ Google also warns that chasing inauthentic mentions "isn't as helpful as it might seem."³ Real guests writing real reviews beats a hundred paid directory listings.
5. Keep your story consistent. Use the same business name, description of what you offer, address and prices across your site, Google, Booking.com, Instagram and directories. Conflicting details give an AI less reason to name you confidently.

What's hype

Because GEO is new, it attracts confident advice with little evidence behind it. Some things to treat with caution:

• llms.txt files. Google says you don't need AI text files or special markup to appear in Search, and that Google Search ignores these files.³
• Chopping content into tiny chunks. Google says there's "no requirement to break your content into tiny pieces."³
• Special AI schema. Google says structured data isn't required for generative AI search, and there's no special markup to add.³
• "Position one in ChatGPT". AI answers change from one run to the next. In research by SparkToro and Gumshoe.ai, an AI-tracking start-up, ChatGPT and Google's AI gave the same list of brands in two responses less than 1 in 100 times. The study wasn't peer-reviewed, and one researcher works for a tracking vendor, but the lesson stands: exact positions mean very little.¹¹
• Guarantees. Google says no third-party tool has access to its internal ranking or AI systems.³ Anyone promising a guaranteed spot in AI answers is promising something they can't control.

How to track AI mentions

You can't see every AI answer, but you can build a reliable picture.

1. Build a prompt list. Write down 20 to 30 questions your customers would ask, such as "best boutique hotel in Galle Fort for a honeymoon" or "dentist in Colombo 7 for Invisalign." Run each one several times a month in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Gemini. Record how often you're mentioned, not your position. SparkToro suggests visibility percentage across many prompts, run multiple times, is a reasonable measure.¹¹
2. Use Google Search Console. Google's generative AI performance reports, available to all websites since 31 August 2026, show how often your pages appeared in features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode, which pages, and by country, device and date.¹²
3. Use Bing Webmaster Tools. Its AI Performance report, launched in public preview in February 2026, shows how often your content is cited across Microsoft Copilot and AI summaries in Bing, which pages were cited, and a sample of the "grounding queries" used to find them.¹³
4. Watch your referral traffic. ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to the links it sends, so you can see those visits in Google Analytics.⁶ Check your referral reports for other AI tools too.
5. Ask your customers. Add "How did you find us?" to booking forms and WhatsApp replies. When people say "ChatGPT recommended you", log it.

Paid AI visibility tools can save time on step one, but treat their numbers as samples, not exact rankings. If you'd like a quick overview of how SEO, AEO and GEO fit together, see our SEO and AI search page.

The bottom line

Generative engine optimization is less about new tricks and more about being the kind of business AI tools can find, understand and trust. Publish facts only you know, make them easy to quote, earn genuine reviews and mentions, and measure how often you appear over time. That's useful marketing whatever search looks like next year.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between GEO and SEO?

SEO aims to rank your pages in search results so people click through. Generative engine optimization aims to get your business cited or recommended inside answers that AI tools write. In practice they share foundations: Google says optimising for its AI features is still SEO. GEO adds a focus on original, quotable content and on how often AI tools mention you.

Is GEO the same as AEO?

Not quite, though they overlap. Answer engine optimization focuses on answering specific questions clearly so your content becomes the answer in snippets or AI summaries. Generative engine optimization focuses on being cited or recommended within AI-generated answers, such as ChatGPT or Perplexity naming your hotel or clinic. Most businesses benefit from doing both together.

Does an llms.txt file help with generative engine optimization?

Not for Google Search. Google says you don't need AI text files or special markup to appear in its AI features, and that Google Search ignores llms.txt files. Before spending time on one, focus on what does help: clear, original content, open crawler access and genuine reviews from real customers.

How do I know if ChatGPT mentions my business?

Ask it the questions your customers would ask, several times each, and note how often your business appears. Answers vary between runs, so track the percentage of mentions rather than a position. Also check Google Analytics for visits tagged utm_source=chatgpt.com, and ask new customers how they found you.