What is GEO? How to get recommended by ChatGPT and other AI search engines
More and more people no longer ask Google — they ask ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity. They don't ask for a list of links, but for advice: which business would you recommend? And the answer the AI gives increasingly decides where a customer ends up.
Whoever gets mentioned in those answers has a head start. Whoever doesn't appear simply doesn't exist for that customer. The field that deals with this is called GEO — and in this article we explain in plain language what it is and how to get started.
What does GEO mean?
GEO stands for generative engine optimization: setting up your business and website so that AI search engines understand, trust and recommend you. Where SEO (search engine optimization) is about ranking high in Google's results, GEO is about something else: being mentioned in the answer itself.
That difference sounds subtle, but it's big. In a list of ten links there is still something to choose from. In an AI answer, often only one or two businesses get recommended — and that's where you want to be.
GEO and SEO: different goal, same foundation
The good news: GEO and SEO don't compete with each other. They build on the same foundations:
- Content that genuinely answers your customers' questions
- A logical page structure with clear service pages
- Technically healthy, fast pages that machines can read well
- Recent, positive reviews that prove trust
- Consistent business details everywhere online (name, address, phone number)
The difference is in the emphasis. AI models look for understandable, reliable sources that answer a question completely. They combine what they find on your website with what the rest of the internet says about you — from reviews to mentions on other sites.
Where do AI search engines get their recommendations?
An AI answer doesn't come out of nowhere. Models such as ChatGPT and Gemini lean on a combination of sources:
- Your own website: the clearer your pages explain what you do and for whom, the better
- Reviews and ratings: recent, positive reviews are a strong trust signal
- Mentions elsewhere: industry directories, articles and platforms that mention your business
- Live search results: many AI tools search Google and Bing in real time
That's why GEO never works separately from your reputation. A business with a strong review profile and a clear website simply has more evidence an AI can cite.
How to start with GEO
GEO isn't a trick but structural work. These are the steps that make the biggest difference:
- Answer the questions on your website that customers would ask an AI
- Give every service or product group its own clear page
- Add structured data so machines read your business details flawlessly
- Structurally collect recent reviews and reply to them properly
- Make sure your business name, address and phone number are the same everywhere
- Measure whether you get mentioned — and adjust based on what you see
Measuring: are you being mentioned yet?
That measurement is more precise than many business owners think. Scans show you how often your business — and your competitors — get mentioned for relevant searches and AI questions. Read how it works in our article on the SEO & GEO competitor analysis.
Rather have us run this whole process — from research and content to reviews and adjustment? See our SEO & AI visibility (GEO) service.