Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) – The Complete Guide

The way people search is shifting fast. Traditional SEO still matters, but it’s no longer the full picture. Instead of clicking through blue links, users are getting answers directly from AI tools like ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and Google’s new AI Overviews.

That’s where Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) comes in. GEO is about shaping your content so it’s not just seen, but used by AI engines. If a language model is crafting an answer, your brand needs to be in the mix. Otherwise, you’re invisible.

This guide breaks down what GEO means (beyond the buzz), why it’s a growing priority in 2025, and how to start applying it to your strategy. You’ll learn how generative engines choose what to cite, how to signal credibility, and which tactics move the needle.

If you’ve noticed your brand missing from AI answers, or you’re wondering how to adapt SEO for this next era, this is the roadmap.

What Is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of tailoring your digital presence so AI systems can accurately reference, summarise, and surface your brand in response to user queries.

It sits at the intersection of SEO, content strategy, and AI readiness. Where traditional SEO focuses on ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs),

GEO ensures your brand is “sourceable” by Large Language Models (LLMs), the same engines powering ChatGPT, Google SGE, Bing Copilot, and Perplexity.

The rise of AI search means that search engines are now part engine, part author. Your content isn’t just competing for clicks; it’s competing for inclusion in the AI’s actual response. GEO is how you increase those odds.

 

Why It Matters in 2025 and Beyond

AI-generated search results are no longer experimental, but are becoming the default experience for millions of users.

• Google’s AI Overviews now roll out by default in many queries.
• ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Bing Copilot are gaining serious traction, especially in high-consideration research.
• Over 25% of search queries are now resolved without a single click.

This is a profound shift. Being referenced by AI is fast becoming as important as ranking on page one. Brands that embrace GEO now will build early AI visibility.

 

Why GEO Is Critical for Modern Search Visibility

Generative engines aren’t just a trend; they’re the new front door to your brand. From Google’s SGE to ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and tools like Perplexity, users now expect fast, synthesised responses that skip traditional results entirely.

And they trust them. Nearly 60% of users consider AI-generated answers just as reliable, if not more, than standard search listings.

What does that mean for your brand? If you’re not cited or included in those answers, your visibility drops to zero. GEO ensures you remain part of the conversation as AI becomes the first (and often only) stop in the buyer journey.

 

The Decline of the 10 Blue Links

Search engine results pages have evolved. The classic “10 blue links” are being pushed below AI overviews, video carousels, knowledge panels, and featured snippets.

The result? Zero-click searches are at an all-time high. According to Similarweb, over 65% of Google searches in 2024 ended without a single click.

 

Brand Discoverability and Sourceability

GEO isn’t about tricking algorithms. It’s about being findable, trustworthy, and quotable in environments where content is summarised and rephrased by AI.

This means:

• Writing in ways that align with how LLMs infer credibility and context
• Using structured formats, citations, and schema markup
• Aligning your content with known entities and topical clusters

Being sourceable isn’t just about technical optimisation, but rather it’s about making it easy for machines to trust you.

And in the age of conversational search, trust equals presence.

 

How Generative Engines Source Information

Generative engines aren’t browsing like a human. They’re parsing, weighing, and stitching together content based on structure and trust.

That means your content can’t just be good. It needs to be recognisable, at least to a machine, as authoritative.

Clear headings. Tight formatting. Logical flow. These aren’t just UX best practices anymore, but are AI visibility factors. Add in elements like author bios, publication dates, third-party coverage, and E-E-A-T-aligned context, and you’re signalling to engines: this can be trusted.

Overlook those basics, and your content might still be useful to people, but invisible to LLMs.

 

Entity Recognition and Citation Logic

When an AI tool answers a query, it doesn’t pull from thin air. It leans heavily on entity relationships, such as names, places, companies, topics, and the connections between them.

Content that clearly references recognised entities (backed by knowledge graphs or consistent schema markup) is more likely to get cited. Why? Because LLMs seek consistency. They cross-reference internal models, training data, and real-time context to decide who’s credible.

Vague writing, unclear attribution, or buried expertise? That’s how you get skipped.

We cover these techniques and real-world examples in our webinar about the shift in AI, which explores how AI engines evaluate and cite content.

 

Example Prompts and Responses

Let’s look at this in practice.

Prompt: “What’s the difference between Generative Engine Optimisation and SEO?”

In Perplexity, Brand A appears with a linked source. Brand B, despite having blog content on the topic, doesn’t.

The difference? Brand A used structured subheadings, published under a real author, and aligned their piece with topical entities like “semantic SEO” and “LLMs”. Brand B wrote a smart article, but without any signals that AI systems could latch onto.

Same effort. Different result.

 

GEO Strategy: How to Optimise for Generative Engines

Getting cited by AI isn’t about guesswork. It takes a layered approach that is technical, strategic, and editorial. Each piece plays a role in making your brand the obvious choice for AI systems to reference when generating answers.

Here’s how to build that foundation.

 

Audit Your Brand’s AI Footprint

If someone asked ChatGPT about your company, what would it say?

That’s not a rhetorical question. Type it in. Try different variations: your brand name, your service category, comparisons with competitors. Do the same in Perplexity, Bing Copilot, and even Google’s AI Overviews.

You might find your brand mentioned. Or misrepresented. Or missing altogether.

What you uncover here is your AI visibility baseline, or a snapshot of how machines interpret your digital presence today. It won’t come from Search Console or GA4. This is a different layer.

Keep track of what’s accurate and where gaps exist. Look for competitors that are showing up too, and dig into why. What content of theirs is being cited?

What patterns can you reverse engineer?

This step isn’t flashy, but it’s foundational. It tells you whether AI sees you, and what story it’s telling.

 

Create Sourceable, Authoritative Content

Want your content to show up in AI answers? Then it has to pull its weight.

That doesn’t mean louder headlines or more keywords. It means clarity, structure, and a trail of credibility that an algorithm can follow.

Be direct.

Avoid hand-wavy language. Don’t say you “drive results.” Say what you did, who it helped, and how. Something like:

“We helped a UK SaaS brand increase lead quality by 47% by reorganising its content around entity clusters and applying schema.”

That line didn’t need to be flashy. It just needed to be verifiable.

Shape your content for machines and people.

Use clear headings, logical formatting, and a structure that helps LLMs figure out what’s important. Short paragraphs, clean bullet points, and natural transitions make all the difference.

Add substance.

Original insights. Data with a source. A quote from someone with real authority. The goal isn’t to impress but to be the most trustworthy source.

Make connections obvious.

Reference known topics or frameworks. For example, if you’re explaining topical authority, tie it to E-E-A-T or Google’s quality rater guidelines. This helps engines “anchor” your content to broader concepts.

 

Build Domain-Level Trust Signals

Great content needs backup. Specifically, a domain that looks reliable from the outside in.

That means showing up in the right places. If industry publications, relevant blogs, or third-party directories mention your brand, it builds the kind of external credibility AI engines notice. You don’t need a PR agency. You need consistency.

Update your business details across every platform you control. Make sure bios are aligned, links are live, and brand voice doesn’t swing wildly between LinkedIn, your website, and your About page.

As for authorship, names matter. Articles tied to a real person with a digital footprint carry more weight than anonymous content. Use author markup, and keep bios connected across properties.

 

Schema and Site Structure

AI doesn’t crawl like a human. It reads structure, matches patterns, and builds relationships. That’s why schema matters more than ever.

Start with the basics, for example: article, FAQ, organisation. Add layers when relevant: product details, reviews, how-tos. Use tools to test markup, but don’t rely on plugins alone. They miss things.

When you cite other sources, be clear. Link directly. Use full names. Quote with context. It’s not about appearing academic, it’s about making your signals easy to spot.

And while schema handles the backend, the frontend matters too. If your layout is chaotic, your nav is unclear, or your mobile load time is poor, you’re silently telling search systems you’re not ready to be trusted.

 

Tools and Tactics to Support GEO

Generative Engine Optimisation is more than a theory. It’s a working system. And like any system, it runs better when backed by the right set of tools.

Some tools will help you structure content for AI readability. Others let you check how and where your brand is showing up. A few are early indicators of where the GEO landscape is heading.

Here’s how to support your strategy in practice.

 

Content Formatting and Markup

Strong content won’t earn visibility if its structure breaks down. Format still matters, not just for users, but for the AI models parsing your pages.

Keep your layouts simple. Use headings to break up ideas. Stick to short paragraphs and clean bullet lists. AI tools trained on HTML are more likely to summarise content that follows a logical structure.

Semantic HTML tags also play a quiet but powerful role. Elements like article, section, and h2 help AI engines infer meaning, especially when parsing at scale.

Be cautious with heavy design or embedded elements. Interactive sliders, collapsible FAQs, or content hidden behind tabs may not get read correctly. If the model can’t see it, it won’t cite it.

When it comes to schema, start with the essentials. Apply the article, FAQ page, and organisation schema wherever relevant. Use tools like Schema Pro,

Rank Math, or Yoast to get started. But always check the output. Plugins can misfire, and the defaults aren’t always sufficient.

 

Monitoring AI Response Presence

Right now, most SEO tools won’t tell you how visible you are in AI-generated results. That means part of GEO monitoring is still hands-on.

Run regular tests. Ask common questions across ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and Perplexity. Use prompts that reflect real buying or research behaviour, such as:

Best UK agencies for B2B SEO

What does generative engine optimisation involve

Who offers GEO services in the UK

Keep a log of what appears. If your brand is mentioned, note what content is cited. If it’s not, look at who is being referenced and what patterns you can spot.

Browser extensions can help streamline the process. Tools like AIPRM (for ChatGPT prompt history), the SGE SERP Overlay (for Google), or Detailed

SEO Extension can highlight what content AI tools are reading and indexing. These tools aren’t perfect, but they fill the current data gap until GEO-specific analytics platforms arrive.

 

Emerging GEO Tools and AI Visibility Trackers

This space is changing quickly. While dedicated GEO platforms are still early, a few existing tools are already offering value.

Tools like AlsoAsked and People Also Ask scrapers help uncover prompt-style questions. These are often used directly or indirectly by generative engines when building responses. If you optimise around these formats, you increase your chances of being cited.

SparkToro, though built for audience research, can be useful here too. It shows where your target audience spends time and what sources they trust. That helps you prioritise backlink strategies and brand mentions that are more likely to influence AI visibility.

For testing AI citations directly, use tools with browsing capabilities. Perplexity Pro and ChatGPT with web access can reveal if and how your content is appearing. You’ll often see subtle differences between models, which gives you insight into what’s working and where content might be falling short.

At this stage, a manual audit is still the most reliable method. But the market is moving. Expect new platforms to emerge that track brand mentions and content inclusion in AI-generated answers more reliably over time.

 

GEO vs AIO vs AEO: What’s the Difference?

As AI reshapes search, a new wave of terminology has emerged. GEO is just one acronym in the mix. You’ll also hear AIO and AEO, often used interchangeably or without much clarity.

Let’s clear that up.

 

Terminology Overview

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. It focuses on increasing a brand’s visibility within AI-generated responses, particularly from tools like ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and Google’s AI Overviews.

AIO typically refers to AI Optimisation. This is a broader concept that might include everything from using AI to generate content to adjusting your marketing stack with artificial intelligence in mind. It’s more about how marketers adapt their processes to work with AI, not how they become visible in AI results.

AEO means Answer Engine Optimisation. It’s been around longer than GEO and refers to optimising content to appear in direct answer boxes or featured snippets, especially on Google. Think of it as early groundwork for what GEO is becoming.

In short:

• GEO is about being included in the response
• AEO is about ranking in quick answers
• AIO is about using AI tools and tactics in your workflow

Each term touches the search experience from a different angle.

 

Industry Consensus (or Lack Thereof)

At the moment, there’s no universal agreement on which acronym will stick.

Some agencies have adopted AIO as a catch-all. Others prefer AEO because of its ties to structured data and featured snippets. GEO, however, is gaining traction because it directly addresses what most marketers are now seeing in search: fewer clicks, more AI answers, and new rules of visibility.

Common Ground uses GEO intentionally. It’s a practical framework that bridges SEO, content, and brand strategy in the age of generative search.

As the space matures, GEO is likely to become the dominant label simply because it captures what marketers are actually trying to do: show up in the answers, not just around them.

 

How to Communicate GEO to Clients and Teams

Not every stakeholder needs to know the acronym. But they do need to understand the shift.

Start with the impact:

• Fewer clicks from Google
• Competitors appearing in AI tools
• Your brand is missing from direct answers

From there, explain what changes. GEO involves building content that machines can use. It means increasing trust signals. It calls for aligning technical SEO with editorial strategy and creating assets that support both human readers and AI models.

For internal teams, frame GEO as an evolution of SEO. Not a replacement. It still requires keyword research and backlinks, but now it also includes content quality, structured data, and domain-level authority as inputs to AI systems.

Most importantly, anchor it to goals that matter. Better visibility. Higher credibility. More surface area across emerging platforms.

That’s a conversation leaders care about.

Final Thoughts and Next Steps

Generative Engine Optimisation isn’t a buzzword. It’s a strategic response to the evolution of search. As more queries are resolved without clicks, and more users turn to AI tools for answers, the old rules of visibility are breaking down.

This guide covered what GEO is, why it matters, and how to approach it practically. From auditing your brand’s AI footprint to creating content that machines can reference with confidence, every step helps close the gap between what you publish and what actually gets seen.

The shift isn’t just technical. It’s strategic. GEO forces brands to think beyond traffic and toward presence, specifically, how you appear, where you’re cited, and what role you play in the narratives AI engines are building in real time.

So, where should you start?

 

How to Get Started

Begin with a quick audit. Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity about your brand. Log what they say. Then review your most important content through a new lens. Is it factual, well-structured, and tied to a real author? Can a machine summarise it without missing the point?

From there, focus on:

• Building trust signals across your domain
• Tightening your schema implementation
• Creating new content with AI readability in mind

You don’t need to overhaul everything at once. Start with high-impact pages, then prioritise service pages, explainers, and long-form guides that speak to your core offer.

Explore Our GEO Services

If you want expert help, we’re here. Common Ground’s GEO service is built to help brands increase visibility in AI-generated answers across Google, ChatGPT, Bing Copilot, and beyond.

We’ll audit your current AI footprint, uncover gaps, and shape a strategy that aligns content, technical SEO, and brand positioning for the future of search.

If you’re looking to show up in AI-generated answers, but are not quite sure where to start, get in touch with us today for a chat.