For twenty years, search meant typing a few words into Google and scanning a list of blue links. That is changing fast. More and more people now ask a question and get a single, written answer from an AI, whether that is Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini. If your brand is not part of those answers, you are invisible to a growing share of your market.

This is where AI SEO and GEO come in. Here is what they mean, how AI engines decide who to cite, and the practical steps to get your business found.

What is AI SEO?

AI SEO is the practice of optimising your website and content so you show up in AI-powered search experiences, not just the traditional list of results. It builds on classic SEO but adds a new goal: becoming a source that AI models trust and quote when they answer a question.

What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)?

Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is the discipline of getting your brand cited inside answers produced by generative AI. Where traditional SEO aims for a ranking position, GEO aims for a mention in the answer itself, ideally with a link back to you.

You will also hear the term Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), which is closely related and often used to mean the same thing. The labels matter less than the outcome: being the trusted answer when someone asks an AI about what you do.

How AI engines decide what to cite

Generative engines do not pull answers out of thin air. They lean heavily on content they can find, read and trust. A few things consistently help:

  • Clarity and structure. Content that directly answers a question, in plain language, is far easier for a model to quote than a wall of marketing copy.
  • Entities and context. AI engines understand the world in terms of entities (people, places, brands, topics) and how they connect. The clearer you make who you are and what you do, the more confidently you get cited.
  • Authority and trust. Mentions and links from credible, relevant sources tell AI models your brand is a reliable source, just as they do for traditional rankings.
  • Freshness and accuracy. Up to date, factually correct content is more likely to be used, especially for topics that change over time.

How to optimise for AI search

The good news is that GEO rewards many of the same fundamentals as good SEO, done with a sharper focus on being quotable.

  1. Get the fundamentals right. Fast, crawlable, well-structured pages are the price of entry. If a search engine struggles to read your site, an AI will too. Start with strong technical SEO.
  2. Answer real questions directly. Lead with a clear, concise answer to the question a page targets, then expand. Self-contained sections are easy for an AI to lift and cite.
  3. Add structured data. Schema markup helps engines understand your content, your business and your authors, which supports both rankings and citations.
  4. Write strong, accurate titles and metadata. Clear titles help every engine understand your page. You can sanity-check yours with our free meta title checker.
  5. Build entity authority. Be consistent about who you are across your site, your Google Business Profile and the wider web. Earn mentions and links from sources your audience already trusts.
  6. Keep content current. Review and refresh key pages so the facts, figures and examples stay accurate.

Does traditional SEO still matter?

Yes, more than ever. AI engines are built on top of the web they crawl, so the sites that rank well and earn trust are usually the same ones that get cited in AI answers. GEO is not a replacement for SEO, it is an extension of it. The brands that win are the ones doing both together.

How to measure AI visibility

Measuring GEO is newer than tracking rankings, but you can start by monitoring whether your brand is mentioned when you ask the major AI tools about your services, tracking referral traffic from AI platforms, and watching for impressions in AI Overviews where reporting allows. Treat AI visibility as its own goal alongside rankings and traffic.

Where to start

AI search is still early, which is exactly why it is an opportunity. Most businesses, and most agencies, have not adapted yet. Getting the fundamentals right and making your content genuinely quotable now will pay off as more of your customers move to AI-first search.

If you want a head start, take a look at our GEO service or get a free audit and we will show you where your biggest AI search opportunities are.