What GEO is and how to get your website ready for AI search

What GEO is

GEO, short for Generative Engine Optimisation, is the set of practices that help your content get found, understood and cited by generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and the AI summaries Google shows at the top of some searches.

If traditional SEO aims to put your page among the top results, GEO aims to put your brand inside the answer.

Does GEO replace SEO?

No. In practice, AIs lean on pages that are already crawlable, fast and trustworthy. A site with technical problems rarely becomes the source of an answer. Think of GEO as an extra layer on top of solid SEO.

Getting your site ready

1. 01Answer directly. Open each section with the answer and only then go deeper. Clear passages are easier to quote.
2. 02Structure your content. Descriptive headings, lists, tables and structured data help machines understand every part of the page.
3. 03Show who is behind it. A named author, an update date and information about the company strengthen trust in the content.
4. 04Get cited elsewhere. Mentions on trusted sites, guides and profiles in your industry make it more likely that AI will link your brand to the topic.

The goal is not to trick the algorithm. It is to be the best answer to your customer's question.

Where to start

List the five questions your customers ask most before they buy. Check whether your site answers each of them clearly, on its own well-structured page. This simple exercise already improves your SEO and lays the groundwork for GEO.

• GEO
• SEO
• Artificial intelligence

Written by

Wlad · Head of SEO

Leads SEO and GEO strategy at Apex. Helps businesses get found by the people searching for what they offer.