Guide · GEO basics
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the work of making your website easy for AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews to read, trust and cite when they answer a question. Answer engine optimization (AEO) means much the same thing, with the emphasis on writing pages that give clear, direct answers.
Both are sometimes called AI SEO. This guide is written by RankX, an AI search optimization agency based in Sydney, Australia.
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
GEO is improving how often, and how accurately, AI-generated answers name your business and cite your pages. The "generative engine" is any tool that searches for sources and writes an answer from them.
The term comes from a research paper that defined generative engines and proposed GEO as a way for content creators to improve their visibility in AI answers (Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", KDD 2024, checked 18 October 2026). In its tests, adding sources, quotations and statistics made content more visible, while keyword stuffing didn't help.
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
AEO is writing and structuring pages so a tool can lift a clear answer straight from them. In practice that means a question as the heading, a one or two sentence answer underneath, then the detail.
For a real estate agency, that might be a suburb page with the heading "How does an appraisal work in [Suburb]?" and a plain answer directly below it. For an accounting business, it might be a page that answers one common client question at a time.
How are GEO, AEO and AI SEO related?
They're overlapping labels for mostly the same work. Pick whichever term your team prefers.
- AI SEO: the broad label for optimizing for AI-assisted search.
- GEO: focuses on tools that write an answer from several sources.
- AEO: focuses on pages that give direct, quotable answers.
All three rest on the same foundations as SEO. See GEO vs SEO for how they fit together.
What does GEO involve in practice?
Mostly unglamorous fixes: letting crawlers in, putting facts in text, and keeping your details consistent.
- Crawler access. AI tools can't cite what they can't read. OpenAI says sites that opt out of its OAI-SearchBot crawler won't be shown in ChatGPT search answers (OpenAI, checked 18 October 2026). Perplexity recommends allowing PerplexityBot (Perplexity, checked 18 October 2026). Anthropic says disabling Claude-SearchBot may reduce visibility in Claude's search results (Anthropic, checked 18 October 2026).
- Indexable text. Services, areas served and key facts belong in page text, not only in images or PDFs.
- Answer-ready pages. Question headings with direct answers underneath.
- Structured data that matches the page. JSON-LD describing your business, with every value matching what visitors can see.
- Consistent outside profiles. Your Google Business Profile, directory and portal listings should match your site. Google says complete, accurate business information helps a business show in local results (Google Business Profile Help, checked 18 October 2026).
- Sources for your claims. Back facts with references and figures you can substantiate.
Real estate agency? Our guide on how agents show up in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews applies these steps to agency, agent and suburb pages.
Does Google need special GEO tricks?
No. Google says the usual SEO best practices apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no additional requirements and no special optimizations needed.
Its guidance also says you don't need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special schema.org markup, and that a page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet to appear as a supporting link (Google Search Central, checked 18 October 2026). Google's advice on helpful, people-first content still applies (Google Search Central, checked 18 October 2026).
How do you measure GEO?
By running a fixed set of questions through AI tools and recording two things: mentions and citations. Because answers vary, one run tells you little.
- Mention: the tool names your business in the answer text, whether or not a source is linked.
- Citation: one of your pages or profiles is referenced as a source for the answer.
Illustrative example (fictional business): "Small businesses in [Local area] often shortlist Example Ledger Co." is a mention. Listing exampleledger.example as a source is a citation.
Here's what RankX measures today, and what isn't built yet:
| What | Status |
|---|---|
| Site readiness checks, including whether robots.txt allows AI crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and GPTBot | Now |
| Google AI Overviews check on your agreed keywords (in the paid audit) | Now |
| Prompt measurement in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity | Coming |
| Claude, measured through Claude's API with web search, not the Claude app | Coming |
| Mention and citation change over time, with the Retainer | Coming |
| Your own analytics (GA4 and Search Console) | Not assessed |
Read our method and how it works.
What can't GEO do?
It can't make an AI tool name you. AI tools are run by third parties and change often, and no one can guarantee what an AI tool will say.
What GEO can do is remove the reasons a tool can't read or trust your site. Even Google says meeting its requirements doesn't mean a page will be crawled, indexed or shown (Google Search Central, checked 18 October 2026). Be wary of any offer that reads as a promise of placement.
Where should I start?
With your own site. Our free check reviews AI crawler access, structured data and indexability, by email and with no card. The AI Visibility Audit goes further, across nine published areas. Prices on request.
FAQ
Is GEO the same as AI SEO?
Mostly, yes. Different people use different labels for the same work.
Do I still need SEO?
Yes. GEO builds on SEO rather than replacing it. See GEO vs SEO.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
No. Google says you don't need AI text files for its AI features. We note llms.txt at low priority.
Is GEO only for big brands?
No. Many of the fixes, like crawler access and clear suburb or service pages, suit small service businesses well.
How long does GEO take to work?
We won't promise a timeline for AI tools to change what they say. We can confirm when each fix is in place by re-testing it.