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Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is the practice of improving how a brand and its source content can be discovered, understood, mentioned and cited in generative AI experiences such as ChatGPT search, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot.

AI search optimisation is an umbrella term for improving visibility in search experiences that generate answers rather than only ranking links. It overlaps with SEO, AEO and GEO and includes crawlability, useful source content, entity clarity, external authority, structured information and AI-crawler access.

SEO focuses on visibility and rankings in traditional search results. GEO focuses on how sources and brands are selected, cited or mentioned inside generative answers. Strong SEO is still foundational because many AI search systems retrieve information from web search indexes or crawlable public sources.

AEO focuses on creating clear direct answers across search and conversational experiences. GEO focuses more specifically on generative AI systems and the probability that a brand or source is retrieved, cited or mentioned. In practice, useful structured answers support both.

Make important content publicly accessible, do not block OAI-SearchBot if you want pages to be discoverable for ChatGPT search, publish clear factual service and company information, answer real buyer questions and strengthen credible third-party mentions. There is no guaranteed submission that forces an organic ChatGPT recommendation.

OAI-SearchBot is OpenAI's crawler for search-related discovery. OpenAI states that publishers who want content to be discoverable, surfaced and cited in ChatGPT search should make sure OAI-SearchBot is not blocked.

Perplexity documents PerplexityBot as its crawler for surfacing and linking websites in search results. Allowing the crawler, keeping source pages current and publishing clear source-worthy information can improve eligibility, but no website can guarantee citation for a particular answer.

Google says there are no additional technical requirements or special optimisations beyond normal Search eligibility and SEO best practices. Pages need to be indexed and eligible for Search snippets, and useful people-first content remains the foundation.

There is currently no proven AI-search ranking benefit from llms.txt. Google explicitly says special AI text files are not required for its generative Search features. A well-maintained llms.txt can still be a useful machine-readable site summary for tools that choose to read it, but it should not replace robots.txt, XML sitemaps, crawlable HTML or strong content.

Structured data can help machines understand entities and page information, but there is no universal 'AI ranking schema'. Google says structured data should match visible text and that no special schema is required for AI Overviews or AI Mode.

Credible links and mentions can help establish authority and make a source easier to discover across the web, but GEO should not be reduced to backlink quantity. Source quality, relevance, brand consistency, original information and third-party references all matter.

Accurate reviews, directories, editorial mentions, industry profiles and other credible third-party references can strengthen entity clarity and provide independent sources that AI systems may encounter. They should be earned and kept consistent rather than manufactured.

No. Generative systems are probabilistic and their outputs change by prompt, model, location, retrieval source and time. GEO can improve discoverability and source quality, but no agency can guarantee an organic mention or recommendation.

Measurement can include AI citations and mentioned pages, referral traffic from ChatGPT or Perplexity, Bing Webmaster Tools AI Performance, Google's generative AI Search Console reports, prompt-set monitoring, brand accuracy audits and downstream conversions.

No. Search behaviour is expanding rather than collapsing into one channel. Google itself states that SEO remains relevant for generative Search features, and many AI systems rely on search indexes or web retrieval. Businesses should build a combined SEO, AEO and GEO strategy.

There is no fixed GEO timeline. Crawlers need to discover changes, search indexes and source relationships need to update, and AI answers vary between runs. Improvements are best treated as an ongoing visibility program rather than a one-time optimisation.

There is no universal content type that guarantees citations. Clear source pages, original research, expert explanations, definitions, comparison data, current factual information, documentation and pages that answer specific questions can all be useful when they are authoritative and accessible.