Short answer: to get AI search to recommend your AI agent, do three things. First, cover the questions your target customers actually ask, answer-first, on your website. Second, get mentioned in credible third-party sources such as reviews, community discussions, comparison articles and app marketplaces. Third, get the technical basics right: allow AI crawlers, add structured data and make sure search engines index you properly. GEO builds on SEO, so do both.
What is GEO
GEO (generative engine optimization) means optimizing your content and your brand's presence online so that AI search and assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews and Claude cite your content and recommend your product when answering related questions.
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank high in search results and earn clicks | Be cited or recommended in AI answers |
| User behavior | Types keywords, clicks links | Asks in natural language, reads the answer |
| Content | Pages targeting keywords | Clear answers, facts and comparisons that can be quoted |
| Trust signals | Backlinks, site authority | Consistent mentions across many credible sources |
Many AI search products draw on search engine indexes, so being properly indexed by Google and Bing with a sound SEO foundation remains a prerequisite for GEO.
Step 1: write content around real questions
What do your target customers ask AI? For example:
- "What are the best AI support tools for Shopify stores?"
- "What is the difference between tool A and tool B?"
- "How can I use AI to handle sales leads automatically?"
Write content for these questions:
- Answer first: the opening paragraph answers the question directly, then details follow. Every guide in this section is written this way.
- Clear structure: headings, lists and tables make information easy for AI to extract.
- Specific and verifiable: concrete steps, conditions and scope instead of vague adjectives.
- Cover comparisons: compare yourself honestly with alternatives and say which situations each suits.
- FAQ: put common questions with short answers on the page.
Step 2: get mentioned by third parties
When AI recommends products, it draws on many sources. Praising yourself on your own site is not enough:
- Reviews and comparisons: aim to be included by industry media, newsletters and tool review sites.
- Community discussions: take part genuinely on Reddit and industry forums; see Community-led growth.
- Creator content: YouTube tutorials and reviews; see Creator marketing for AI tools.
- Marketplaces and software directories: build listings on integration marketplaces and software review sites, and earn real reviews. See App marketplaces and integrations.
- Launch platforms: such as Product Hunt.
Keep your product name, one-line positioning, pricing and company details consistent everywhere so AI can form an accurate description.
Step 3: get the technical basics right
- Allow AI crawlers: check robots.txt and make sure you are not blocking GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot or other crawlers you want.
- Structured data: mark up your organization, products, articles, FAQ and breadcrumbs with Schema.org.
- llms.txt: an emerging proposal for a Markdown file that summarizes your site for AI. Not every AI product reads it yet, but it costs little and is a useful extra.
- Readable pages: do not hide important content behind heavy client-side scripts.
- Sitemaps and indexing: submit your sitemap to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
- Multilingual: mark language versions with hreflang.
Step 4: measure
GEO is still hard to measure precisely. Watch it this way:
- Regularly ask the main AI search tools your target questions and record whether and how you are mentioned.
- Check referral traffic from AI search in your analytics.
- Ask "How did you hear about us?" on sign-up, with AI search as an option.
FAQ
If we do GEO, do we still need SEO?
Yes. Many AI search products rely on search engine indexes, and solid SEO is the foundation of GEO. Do both.
Can we mass-produce articles with AI?
You can use AI to assist writing, but content needs real experience, concrete methods and accurate information, reviewed by people. Mass low-quality content helps neither SEO nor AI citations.
How long until GEO shows results?
It depends on content quality, third-party mentions and indexing, and usually takes sustained effort. It is a long-term investment to run alongside active acquisition in the cold start.