Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Optimising content to be read, cited and recommended by AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews, rather than only ranked by classic search.
Search behaviour is splitting: part of the audience still clicks blue links, a growing part asks an assistant and reads a synthesised answer. GEO is the practice of earning presence in that answer: leading with a definitive, liftable sentence under each heading; keeping numbers next to their sources so quotes carry provenance; publishing machine-readable files like llms.txt; and structuring comparative content as tables that survive extraction. It overlaps with classic SEO but the currency differs: search ranks pages, answer engines cite sources. The measurable end of GEO is new: assistants send real human referrals, and those visits convert differently from search traffic, which makes measuring them the first step of any GEO programme.
Related terms
The discipline of structuring content so answer engines, from featured snippets to AI assistants, can extract and attribute a correct answer to you.
Large Language Model. A neural network trained on massive text data that can generate, summarize, and reason about language.
Put these concepts into action
Oscom connects your SEO, content, ads, and analytics into one system. Stop context-switching between tools.
Start free trial