What is GEO and how to improve your visibility in AI search

Someone looking for a supplier may move from a short search to a conversation: they ask for context, compare alternatives and add conditions. For a brand, the practical question is what information that person will find and whether it helps them understand the offer. That is where I place the work of GEO.

In this guide I propose a way to organise that work. The aim is to improve the clarity and usefulness of your digital presence, observe what happens and make decisions based on evidence. There is no instruction that forces an AI system to recommend you.

01What is GEO and who is it for?

GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, is work aimed at improving how a brand or its content is discovered and represented in AI-generated answers. Depending on the system and question, it can involve sources retrieved from the web, available references and different user contexts.

Separate three outcomes: the brand being mentioned, a page appearing as a linked source, and someone visiting that page. A mention may be accurate without generating traffic. A citation may point to a different page from the one you expected. A referred session does not, on its own, prove a commercial opportunity.

It is worth investigating when customers research before deciding: specialist services, software, products that need explanation or content that answers specific questions. Before opening a new workstream, ask which queries matter to the business and whether you have original information that helps answer them.

02GEO and SEO share a foundation

Google explains that its AI features retain the fundamentals of SEO: they do not require special optimisation, specific files or exclusive markup. To be eligible as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear with a snippet. Meeting the requirements does not guarantee inclusion. Read the official documentation on AI features in Google Search.

My approach is to connect the two disciplines. When a service page explains very little, that problem already affects someone arriving from a traditional search. If the same website uses three names for one offer, the inconsistency can make it harder to understand at any stage. Improving that foundation is often more useful than building a collection of pages about trends.

GEO analysis adds questions: how is the brand described, which sources are cited, what comparisons are made and what context changes the answer? Conclusions should retain that context and distinguish observations from interpretations.

03Start with business questions rather than a list of prompts

Imagine a company offering a specialist service. It can organise research around questions it already receives: what problem the service solves, who it suits, what it includes, what the customer needs and which criteria help compare suppliers. This is a planning example, not a case study with attributed results.

• Discovery: what is the problem called and what alternatives are available?
• Evaluation: which criteria, limitations and dependencies should a person consider?
• Decision: what information is needed before making contact or requesting a proposal?

For each question record the intent, audience, language and related offer. Add the page that should help the user. If it does not exist, the editorial opportunity is already concrete. If five pages answer the same question, first decide which should be the reference.

04Diagnosis: what to review before producing content

A useful diagnosis ends in tasks. Review the pages explaining who you are and what you do, commercial destinations and supporting content. Note missing facts, contradictory messages and questions a user could not resolve without asking again.

• A clear offer: name, definition, audience, benefit, deliverables and limits.
• Brand information: consistent names, responsible people and verifiable references.
• Technical foundation: HTTP statuses, crawling, indexing, canonical URLs and links to relevant pages.
• Supporting content: guides and comparisons with original decision criteria.
• Measurement: events and definitions that distinguish visits, enquiries and business results.

If you identify a technical error, document a URL, the observed behaviour and how to verify a correction. If information is missing, write a brief with the question, audience and available evidence. This distinction helps divide the work between development, marketing and specialists.

05Create content that deserves to be consulted

Start with a clear answer and develop what the reader needs to decide. On a service page, a generic paragraph about growth cannot replace an explanation of what the customer will receive. In a guide, repeating definitions from other pages does not provide the judgement that is missing.

Contribute knowledge you can support: methodology, documentation, examples clearly identified as examples, comparisons with explicit criteria and service limitations. If you use a figure, give its context. If content requires technical validation, identify who performs it. Do not turn expectations into results.

Google’s guidance on helpful content recommends information created for people, with original value and clear signals about who creates it. Those questions can inform editorial review; they are not a formula for securing an AI citation.

Maintenance also matters: who reviews the page, what has changed and which links no longer work. An update should improve real information. Changing a date without reviewing the text adds little for someone who needs a current answer.

06Measure mentions, citations and traffic separately

Prepare a tracking sheet with the query, date, platform, language and observed context. Record whether there is a mention, whether it is accurate, which source appears and whether it contains a link. Retain enough examples to review your interpretation, respecting each platform’s terms of use.

My proposal is to repeat a limited set of questions with a stable protocol. If queries, models and countries change in every review, differences will be hard to interpret. Even with a protocol, answers can vary: a sample informs the diagnosis but does not represent every user’s experience.

• Mentions: presence and accuracy of brand information within the defined sample.
• Citations: pages used as references and the context in which they appear.
• Traffic: identifiable referred sessions and landing pages.
• Business: valid enquiries or other outcomes that measurement can connect.

For Google’s AI features, Search Console includes activity within overall web search traffic. Do not attribute a change in total traffic to a single feature without further evidence. Analytics and a change log can add context, with their own attribution limits.

07Prioritise a plan your team can execute

Order tasks by the importance of the problem, evidence, effort and dependencies. Start with a group of pages that has a clear commercial purpose. Agreeing who can implement changes and when they will be reviewed is part of the strategy.

An initial cycle could include four tasks: improve the explanation of the offer, resolve a brand inconsistency, improve a guide with original knowledge and establish a measurement baseline. Then review what has been published and decide on the next cycle. The schedule depends on resources and the starting situation.

SEO consulting helps prepare the technical and editorial foundation. GEO consulting adds an assessment of queries and sources with agreed tracking. Both workstreams should connect with the same business rather than duplicate deliverables.

08Frequently asked questions about GEO

Does GEO replace SEO?

No. It can share technical and editorial work with SEO and add a way to observe presence in generated answers. The combination depends on the audience and agreed platforms.

Do I need to publish lots of AI-generated content?

No. Volume alone does not resolve missing useful information. Prioritise real questions, original knowledge and review by people responsible for the subject.

Can inclusion in an answer be guaranteed?

No. Systems select and present their sources independently. Responsible work explains the improvements made and the signals observed without turning them into a guarantee.

How do I know whether it is worthwhile for my business?

Start with your customer’s research and the information needed to decide. A focused diagnosis can identify clear gaps and feasible work before expanding the investment.

09The next step: review a real page

Choose an important service and read its page as if you did not know your business. Check whether it explains the problem, the audience, what is delivered and the conditions for getting started. Then compare that page with your customers’ real questions. That review produces useful tasks before looking for a new tool.

If you need to organise the diagnosis and connect improvements with your team, tell me about your project. You can review my experience in SEO, GEO and traffic acquisition for the context of my work.