In brief: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) makes AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Gemini name and recommend your company as the answer. The lever is no longer position one in the blue list of links, but citable content: a clear direct answer per question, clean structured data, demonstrable subject-matter authority and a technically readable website. Deliver those four things and you become the source the AI builds its answer from.

What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?

GEO is the optimisation of your website and content with a shifted goal: no longer just to rank, but to be cited and recommended in the generated answer. Classic search returns a list of links for the user to choose from. Generative systems return a finished answer and name only a few sources. If you are not among them, you simply no longer exist for a growing share of users, no matter how well your page once ranked on Google. GEO addresses exactly this new stage: AI Overviews in Google search, the answers from ChatGPT and Perplexity, the AI summaries in Gemini.

How do I get found and recommended in ChatGPT?

You get named when your content answers the specific user question clearly, self-containedly and credibly. In practice four levers matter, and they beat any trick:

  • Answer first. Every page answers its lead question in the first two to four sentences, in self-contained statements that can be quoted out of context. A model that finds the answer without a detour is more likely to adopt it.
  • Structure that machines can read. Descriptive headings phrased as questions, short paragraphs, lists and an FAQ block. That lets a model isolate the relevant passage cleanly.
  • Evidenced authority. Who is writing, with what experience, with what track record? The principle behind this is E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness, trust. Names, a profile and documented projects beat anonymous walls of text.
  • Technical readability. Content in the HTML rather than loaded later via JavaScript, clean structured data and AI crawlers that are not locked out.

In my consulting projects the most common blind spot is the last point: a formally beautiful page whose text is only assembled in the browser often looks empty to a crawler. Then even the best content helps nothing.

What is the difference between SEO and GEO?

SEO targets a place in the list of links, GEO targets being named in the generated answer itself. SEO is measured in rankings and clicks, GEO in citations, mentions and recommendations by the assistants. The technical basis overlaps heavily: fast, crawlable, well-structured pages help both. The difference lies in framing and in how success is measured. A GEO-ready piece answers a real question self-containedly, instead of draping keywords around a thin core. In short: good GEO is good, honest SEO, turned consistently towards citability rather than click bait.

How do I optimise for Google AI Overviews?

AI Overviews condense several sources into one answer at the top of search and link them. To appear there, the same principles apply, sharpened to individual questions: map real search questions one to one as a heading, give the solid answer in the first sentence beneath it, and support it with structure (definition, criteria, steps). Schema.org markup such as Article and FAQPage helps the system map question and answer correctly. Important as a practical reality: AI Overviews are volatile, the same question returns different sources on different days. The goal is therefore lasting topic authority, not a single hit.

Does my website need an llms.txt?

An llms.txt is a convention proposed in 2024 (by Jeremy Howard, Answer.AI), not an official standard, and the major AI crawlers still read it inconsistently (as of July 2026). The idea: a lean Markdown file in the root directory that presents models with the most important pages and definitions in curated form. My pragmatic advice: create one once your content foundations are in place, it is quick to make and does no harm. But do not expect a miracle. It is no substitute for clean, crawlable content and structured data, and those come first. Whoever builds the llms.txt first and orders the content afterwards has the sequence backwards. Source for the specification: llmstxt.org.

How do I test my AI visibility?

The simplest test takes five minutes: ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini about your service, your industry and a provider comparison, and watch whether and how your company appears. Note which sources the assistants name, those are your real competitors for the answer. If you prefer something more structured, use our free AI visibility check: five questions, an AI visibility score from 0 to 10 and a first read on where you stand. The result is the honest starting point: only once you know whether and what the AI knows you for does building make sense.

Conclusion

GEO is not a new marketing channel but the logical continuation of good visibility work onto the stage of AI assistants. The building blocks are unspectacular, and precisely for that reason effective: clear direct answers, clean structure, evidenced authority, readable technology. Deliver them consistently in your field and you become the source that gets cited and recommended. The starting point is always an honest audit. After that it quickly shows whether the sticking point is content, structure or technology. What this looks like as a service at Bracharz is on the page GEO: get recommended by AI, and how it fits into a predictable sales pipeline is shown in the article Growing your agency predictably. More on the approach for B2B tech: Performance Sales. Who is behind it is in the profile.

Frequently asked questions about GEO and AI visibility

What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

GEO is the deliberate optimisation of your website and content to be cited and recommended as a source by AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Gemini. It replaces classic SEO's pure ranking focus with citability: clear direct answers, structured data and demonstrable subject-matter authority.

How do I get found and recommended in ChatGPT?

By answering the specific user question literally in the first paragraph, keeping your pages technically clean and crawlable, and evidencing your expertise. AI assistants build their answer from sources that answer a question clearly, self-containedly and credibly.

What is the difference between SEO and GEO?

SEO targets a place in the blue list of links, GEO targets being named in the generated answer itself. SEO optimises for clicks, GEO for citations and recommendations. The technical basis overlaps heavily, but the goal and the way success is measured differ.

Does my website need an llms.txt?

llms.txt is a convention proposed in 2024, not an official standard (as of July 2026), and the major AI crawlers still read it inconsistently. It does no harm and is quick to create, but it is no substitute for clean, crawlable content and structured data, which come first.

How do I test my AI visibility?

Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini directly about your service, your industry and a provider comparison, and check whether and how your company is named. A structured self-test with a score is provided by the free AI visibility check.