GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and AI Search refer to the same thing — how businesses appear in AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI. We use both terms interchangeably.
What is generative engine optimisation?
GEO is the practice of optimising your business's presence in AI-generated answers — the responses produced by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, and other large language models. When someone asks an AI "what's the best [product] for [need]?", GEO is about making sure your business appears in the answer.
How does GEO differ from SEO?
SEO optimises for search engine result pages — the ten blue links. GEO optimises for AI-generated responses — the conversational answers that are increasingly replacing those links. SEO cares about keywords, backlinks, and page authority. GEO cares about whether AI models have absorbed your business's content, understand your positioning, and consider you relevant enough to cite. They're complementary, not competing. But SEO alone is no longer enough.
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Measure
We query AI platforms with real customer questions
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Act
Content, PR, and technical fixes based on findings
3
Review
Re-measure to track what shifted
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Repeat
Repeat strategy based on evidence, not guesswork
Why does GEO matter now?
The landscape is shifting fundamentally:
- 900 million people use ChatGPT every week — doubling in under a year (OpenAI, Dec 2025)
- 37% of consumers now start searches with AI instead of Google (Conductor/Search Engine Land, 2025)
- 69% of Google searches now end without a click — up from 56% a year earlier. When AI Overviews appear, that rises to 83% (Similarweb, July 2025)
- 58% of shoppers now use AI models for product research and recommendations — up from 25% in 2023 (Evertune/ALM Corp, 2025)
- Gartner predicted traditional search volume would drop 25% by end of 2026 — and the data suggests they were right (Gartner, Feb 2024)
The shift isn't coming — it's already here. GEO is how businesses prepare for that shift. Businesses that aren't visible in AI answers are invisible to a growing share of their audience.
What can businesses actually do about it?
Honest framing: Nobody has cracked exactly how AI decides what to cite. But we do know what correlates with citation:
- Structured, authoritative web content that directly answers common questions
- Presence on domains that LLMs already trust (trade publications, review sites, Wikipedia)
- Consistent business narrative across multiple sources
- Schema markup and structured data that helps AI understand your content
- Regular content publication that keeps your business visible and current
This isn't a quick fix. It's an ongoing process of creating the kind of content that AI models recognise as authoritative.
How do you measure AI business visibility?
Brief explanation linking to methodology: We use our AI Visibility Score (AVS) — a structured framework for measuring how AI talks about your business. Read the full methodology →
Can you guarantee AI citations?
No — and anyone who claims they can is overselling. GEO is a new discipline. AI model behaviour is probabilistic, opaque, and constantly evolving. What we offer is structured measurement, educated recommendations, and quarterly tracking to see what's working. We're honest about the uncertainty. The alternative is not measuring at all.
Questions Answered
What does GEO stand for?
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Generative Engine Optimisation.
Is GEO the same as AI SEO?
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Similar concept, different execution. GEO focuses specifically on AI-generated answers rather than traditional search rankings.
Which AI platforms matter most?
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ChatGPT, Google AI (AI Mode and AI Overviews), and Perplexity are the current primary platforms. The landscape is evolving rapidly, and new platforms emerge regularly.
How long does GEO take to work?
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There's no guaranteed timeline. We recommend measuring quarterly to track directional changes. Some businesses see movement within 90 days; others take longer. The key is understanding what's shifting over time rather than expecting overnight results.
Do I need GEO if I already do SEO?
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Yes. SEO and GEO are complementary but different. A business can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible to ChatGPT. They're optimising for different mediums — you need both.
What is AI Visibility Score?
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Our structured framework for measuring AI business visibility. It's a score out of 100 that shows how often and how prominently AI platforms mention your business.
See our methodology page for full details.
How much does GEO cost?
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We offer AVS Flashs (free), AVS Starter (one-off), AVS (quarterly or one-off), and AVS International (quarterly or one-off, bespoke for multi-market). All include your AVS score, citation sources, scoring breakdown, competitor benchmarking, and prioritised recommendations.
See our services page for full pricing.
Is GEO just for big businesses?
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No. We offer AVS Flashs (free) and AVS Starter (one-off measurement, priced by business need). See our services page for full options and pricing.