Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — also known as AI Search Optimization or Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) — is the practice of structuring and writing content so that AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews understand it, trust it, and cite it in their responses.
Where traditional SEO optimises for ranking in a list of links, GEO optimises for being named inside a single generated answer. The tactics overlap — both reward clear, credible, well-structured content — but GEO adds answer-first writing, machine-readable structure, an llms.txt file, entity consistency, and third-party corroboration.
GEO is measured not by rankings but by citations: whether, and how often, engines mention your brand when asked the questions you want to own.
You will see the same discipline called AI Search Optimization or Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). The naming is still settling, but the goal is identical: be the source an AI answer chooses to cite.
