Plain-English guide
What is Generative Engine Optimisation?
GEO is how businesses get named in the answers AI tools write. Here is what it means, where it came from and what to do about it.
48%
of UK adults use AI-assisted tools to find information
SEOWorks, 2026
58.5%
of US Google searches ended without a click
SparkToro and Datos, 2024
25%
predicted fall in traditional search volume by 2026
Gartner forecast, February 2024
In one paragraph
The simple definition
GEO in plain English
Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is making your content easy for AI tools to find, understand and cite when they write answers. Instead of competing for a position in a list of links, you are working to be mentioned in the answer itself.
A "generative engine" is any tool that writes an answer rather than listing pages: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and the AI Overviews at the top of Google. GEO is closely related to answer engine optimisation, which focuses on how a page is formatted. Most real projects use both.
Where it came from
The research behind the term
The term comes from a research paper, "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", first posted online in November 2023 and presented at the KDD 2024 conference. Its authors, from Princeton University, IIT Delhi and other institutions, tested different ways of changing web content to see whether AI tools would cite it more.
Some changes made a clear difference: the best raised visibility in AI answers by up to 40% in their tests, though results varied by subject and by tactic. It was an early study, and AI platforms have changed since, but it gave the field a name and a method. You can read the full paper on arXiv.
How search has changed
The evolution of search
For a closer look at the Google side of this, see our guide to Google AI Overviews.
GEO in action
Three real-world examples
"best plumber in Exeter"
The tool looks for plumbers it can verify in Exeter: a complete Google Business Profile, the same phone number everywhere, reviews that mention the town, and a page about plumbing in Exeter. A plumber with a thin website and mismatched details is harder for it to recommend with confidence.
"top SEO agency Somerset"
This is not a ranked list. The tool weighs which businesses look most relevant and trustworthy: clear service pages, named experts, real case studies and consistent listings. The ones that make it easy to confirm who they are get named.
"how much does web design cost"
AI tools favour pages that state prices or ranges plainly. A page that gives a clear range, explains what changes it and shows who wrote it can be quoted. A page that only says "contact us for a quote" gives the tool nothing to lift.
Why now
Why local businesses should care now, not in two years
Local searches are some of the easiest for AI tools to answer, and the sources they use are things a small business can control. The businesses that tidy up their details and answers now will be the ones the tools already know when customers start asking in bigger numbers.
It also helps your ordinary search results. Consistent details, a strong local SEO foundation and clear answers all work for both. For the wider view of what has and has not changed, read AI search vs traditional SEO.
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Five things you can do today
- 1
Make your business details identical everywhere
Same name, address and phone number on your site and every listing. This is the entity side of LLM SEO.
- 2
Complete your Google Business Profile and collect reviews
Add services, photos and opening hours on your Google Business Profile, and ask happy customers to review you.
- 3
Answer real customer questions clearly on your pages
Put the answer first, then the detail. Good on-page SEO makes this the default.
- 4
Add structured data and check your site can be crawled
Schema labels your facts for machines, and technical SEO keeps your pages readable. See our structured data guide.
- 5
Show who is behind the content
Named authors, qualifications and real credentials. That is the heart of E-E-A-T.
Want it done properly and tested across every AI platform? That is our GEO service, and it starts with an AI SEO audit. It all sits within our AI search readiness work.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
No, though they are closely related. SEO aims to get your pages ranking in search results. GEO aims to get your business named or cited inside the answers AI tools write. Good SEO is the foundation, and GEO builds on it.
Not to get started. Much of it is free work you can do yourself: keep your business details consistent, complete your Google Business Profile, write clear pages that answer real questions and show who is behind the content. Paying for help makes sense when you want it done thoroughly, or tested across the AI platforms.
Yes. Local questions, such as "best plumber in Exeter", are a natural fit for AI answers, and the sources those tools lean on, like Google Business Profile data, reviews and local pages, are things a small business can control. See how we apply it in our GEO service.
Ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity the questions your customers would ask, such as "who is the best [your trade] in [your town]". If competitors are named and you are not, or the answer about you is wrong, you have a GEO gap. Our AI SEO audit does this properly across every platform.
They overlap heavily. GEO is the wider practice of being cited by generative AI tools. AEO, answer engine optimisation, focuses on the content format: structuring pages so an answer can be extracted cleanly. Most real projects use both.
- ServiceGenerative Engine Optimisation (GEO)Get your business cited when AI tools answer questions in your sector.Read more
- GuideAI Search vs Traditional SEOWhat still works, what no longer does, and where to put your effort.Read more
- GuideGoogle AI Overviews GuideHow AI Overviews work, what triggers them and how to be cited in them.Read more
- ServiceLLM SEOShow up when ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity recommend a business like yours.Read more
- ServiceAI SEO AuditFind out whether AI tools can find, understand and recommend your business.Read more
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