What is GEO? Generative engine optimisation, explained
When Google answers a query with an AI Overview instead of ten blue links, the game changes. You are no longer competing to be clicked; you are competing to be quoted. Generative engine optimisation is the work of being the source those generated answers draw from.
What is generative engine optimisation?
GEO is the practice of structuring your content so that generative search experiences — Google's AI Overviews, Bing's Copilot answers, and the AI panels appearing across search — represent you accurately and cite you as a source. Where classic SEO targets the ranked list, GEO targets the generated paragraph that now sits above it, summarising the web in the model's own words.
The stakes are subtle. An AI Overview can answer a user's question so completely that they never scroll to the links at all. If the Overview draws from you, you gain a citation and a shot at the click. If it draws from a competitor, you have lost the query before the user saw a single result, and no ranking report will flag it, because your ranking did not move.
GEO vs AEO: is there a difference?
GEO, AEO and the occasional AISO are used loosely and often interchangeably. They describe the same underlying shift — optimising to be surfaced by AI rather than only by a ranked index — with different emphasis. The distinction is one of scope, not of technique, and the practical work overlaps almost entirely.
| Term | Emphasis |
|---|---|
| AEO — answer engine optimisation | Being cited by conversational assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude |
| GEO — generative engine optimisation | Being represented in generative search results, especially Google AI Overviews |
| AISO — AI search optimisation | An umbrella term for both, used when the boundary does not matter |
How Google AI Overviews choose sources
AI Overviews assemble an answer from multiple pages and attach citations to the ones that contributed. Google has not published a formula, but the observable pattern is consistent: Overviews favour pages that state a clear, self-contained answer to the query, back it with evidence, and come from a source the wider web already treats as credible.
- Passages that answer the question directly and completely, in a few sentences a model can lift without stitching.
- Content that agrees with other reputable sources — corroboration reads as reliability.
- Established entities the knowledge graph already understands, with consistent names, categories and details across the web.
- Fresh, maintained pages over stale ones, especially for anything time-sensitive.
GEO ranking signals
The levers that move generative visibility are not exotic. They are the durable fundamentals of good, machine-legible content, applied with citation in mind.
Extractable, self-contained answers
Write the answer as a clean unit. A short paragraph that fully resolves a specific question is far more quotable than the same information scattered across three sections a model must reassemble.
Entity clarity
Be unambiguous about who and what you are. Consistent naming, structured data, and an Organization graph help the model resolve you to a known entity rather than guessing, and known entities get cited more readily.
Corroboration and authority
Generative answers lean on sources the web already trusts. Genuine mentions, references and consistent facts across the internet raise the odds your version is the one the model repeats.
Structure and freshness
Semantic HTML, structured data and a current sitemap make you easy to parse; recent updates signal the page is maintained. Both nudge you ahead of a stale competitor saying the same thing less legibly.
How to optimise for GEO
- Identify the real questions your customers ask, in their words, and make sure a single passage on your site answers each one completely.
- Add structured data — Organization, WebSite, Product or FAQPage as they apply — so your facts are machine-readable rather than inferred.
- Tighten entity signals: consistent name and description everywhere, a clear About page, and an llms.txt that states plainly what you are.
- Keep content current and your sitemap accurate, so generative crawlers find your best pages and skip your dead ones.
- Earn corroboration the slow, legitimate way — real coverage and references — rather than trying to manufacture it.
Frequently asked questions about GEO
Is GEO just SEO with a new name?
It builds on SEO but is not the same. SEO aims for ranking; GEO aims for being cited inside a generated answer. The foundations overlap heavily, but GEO puts more weight on extractable phrasing, entity clarity and corroboration than on link position alone.
How is GEO different from AEO?
They are near-synonyms with different emphasis. AEO tends to describe conversational assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity; GEO tends to describe generative search results like Google AI Overviews. The optimisation work is largely identical.
Can I control what an AI Overview says about me?
Not directly, but you influence it. Clear structured data, consistent facts, and a plainly written answer to the question raise the chance the Overview draws from your version rather than paraphrasing a vaguer source.
Does GEO cost me clicks?
An Overview can answer a query without a click, which is a real risk. The counter is to be the cited source: a citation keeps you in the consideration set and captures the users who do click through for depth.
How do I measure GEO?
Start with the presence checks a free audit runs — structured data, semantic HTML, sitemap, entity signals. Measuring actual citation means running the queries against the engines and recording who gets mentioned, which is deeper, ongoing work.
Related guides
- AEOWhat is AEO?Answer engine optimisation is the practice of getting AI assistants to read, understand and cite your site. What it is, how citation works, and how to improve it.
- SEOWhat is SEO?Search engine optimisation is the practice of making your site easy to find and rank in search. Its three pillars, and why it is still the foundation for AEO and GEO.
- AI visibilityWhat is llms.txt?llms.txt is a plain-text file that tells language models what your site is and which pages matter. What it is, what goes in it, and how to write one.
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