GEO · 6 min · Updated
What Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) really is, and what it isn't
A plain-English guide to GEO: how AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews choose sources, and the practical steps that help your business get cited.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the work of making your business easy for AI assistants to find, understand and cite. When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot or Google's AI Overviews for "the best accountant in Leeds" or "how much a Shopify store costs", the answer is assembled from sources the system trusts. GEO is about becoming one of those sources.
What GEO is not
It is not a trick, a hidden tag or a special file that forces an AI to mention you. Google's own guidance for its AI features says the same fundamentals that help pages rank in Search apply: helpful, original content, a crawlable site and clear information. Anyone promising guaranteed AI citations is promising something no one controls.
How AI assistants choose what to say
Most assistants combine a language model with live search. They look for pages that answer the question directly, come from a recognisable entity, and agree with what other reputable sources say. Consistency matters: if your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn page and directory listings describe you differently, the model has less confidence in any of them.
The practical checklist
- Make every key page readable without JavaScript, and allow AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot in robots.txt.
- Open each service page with one clear sentence: what you do, for whom, and where.
- Use the same business name, address, services and contact details everywhere online.
- Answer real buyer questions on your pages: prices, timelines, process and who it suits.
- Add structured data (Organization, Service, FAQ) so facts are machine-readable.
- Publish evidence: named case studies, team expertise and reviews on independent sites.
- Earn mentions in places assistants already trust, such as industry directories and trade press.
How to measure it
Choose 20 to 30 questions your buyers really ask, run them monthly across the main assistants, and record whether your brand appears, how it is described and which sources are cited. Pair that with Search Console data, because strong SEO and strong GEO usually rise together.
Penta Services offers a free AI visibility assessment that starts exactly this way: a fixed panel of questions, a baseline, and a prioritised list of fixes.
Want this done for your business?
Talk to a project lead. You will get a clear plan and a fixed quote within one business day.