The short answer
What is generative engine optimization?
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of getting a brand named and cited in answers written by AI models such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. It works on three things: clear entity signals, citable facts on your own pages, and mentions on the third-party sources those models trust.
5
AI engines tested
3
Signals: entity, content, mentions
Week 1
Citation baseline set
Monthly
Same questions retested
How models choose
Four things decide who gets named.
A model cannot recommend a brand it cannot find, cannot identify, or cannot back up with a source.
01
Access
AI crawlers allowed in, pages that render without scripts, and an llms.txt pointing at what matters.
02
Entity clarity
The same name, founding year, locations, numbers and partner status everywhere, backed by schema that agrees with itself.
03
Citable content
Prices, timelines, benchmarks and named processes. Models quote specifics and skip vague brand copy.
04
Third-party mentions
PR, Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, reviews and trade directories saying the same thing about you.
What we do
GEO work, layer by layer.
01
Crawler access
robots.txt and llms.txt
Robots rules that let GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended and Applebot-Extended in, plus an llms.txt that points models at your best pages. Rendering checked so crawlers see what visitors see. The wider crawl work sits in technical SEO.
- robots.txt
- llms.txt
- AI crawlers
02
Entity work
Schema and consistent facts
Organization, Person, Product and Service schema that agree with each other, with sameAs links to real profiles. The same facts on your site, LinkedIn, Google Business Profile and every directory.
- Organization
- Person
- sameAs
- Knowledge Graph
03
Citable content
Facts a model can quote
Pricing, timelines, comparisons, case studies and original data added to the pages that matter, written so one paragraph can stand alone when quoted.
- Pricing pages
- Comparisons
- Case studies
- Original data
04
Third-party mentions
Where models look
PR, Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn, review platforms, trade publications and industry directories, worked with real accounts and real expertise. Full scope in the AI SEO off-site program.
- PR
- Quora
- Directories
05
Citation tracking
Who gets named, every month
Your category's buying questions run through each engine, the brands named and sources cited recorded, competitors noted, and the same set retested monthly.
- Citation tests
- AI referrals
- Share of voice
D2C and B2B
What buyers ask the models.
D2C brands
Recommendations and trust
- "Best [product] for [need]"
- "Is [brand] legit?"
- "Cheaper alternatives to [brand]"
Tracked through AI referral traffic and orders in GA4.
B2B companies
Shortlists and vendors
- "Top [product] suppliers in [country]"
- "Alternatives to [vendor]"
- "Which agency handles [B2B need]"
Tracked through AI referrals and an AI option in your inquiry form's "how did you find us" field.
What is included
GEO work, every month.
- AI citation baseline across five engines
- Monthly citation retest on the same questions
- Competitor citation tracking
- Organization, Person and Product or Service schema
- sameAs and profile consistency
- AI crawler access in robots.txt
- llms.txt at the site root
- Citable facts added to priority pages
- PR, Reddit, Quora and LinkedIn mentions
- Trade directory and review profiles
- AI referral tracking in GA4
- Monthly report on citations, traffic and inquiries
Ground rules
What we will not do.
Some GEO tactics work for a month and then get a brand ignored or penalized. We do not use them.
Never, on any account
- Hidden text or prompt instructions aimed at AI crawlers
- Fake reviews, sock-puppet accounts or bought upvotes
- Mass-produced AI content published to look like authority
- Promising a guaranteed mention in any AI engine
Questions
GEO questions.
What is the difference between GEO and SEO?
SEO gets your pages ranked in search results. GEO gets your brand named inside the answers AI models write. The two overlap, because models often draw on well-ranked pages, but GEO adds work SEO usually ignores: entity signals, AI crawler access, citable facts and mentions on the third-party sources models trust when they recommend a brand.
Which AI engines do you optimize for?
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews, the engines most buyers use for research today. Each one sources answers differently. Perplexity cites live web pages heavily, while ChatGPT mixes what it learned in training with live web search. That is why we test every engine separately instead of assuming one result applies to all.
Can you guarantee ChatGPT will recommend my brand?
No, and nobody honest can. AI answers change between runs and between users. What we commit to is the work in the scope, a baseline test before we start, and a monthly retest on the same questions, so you can see whether your citation rate is actually moving.
Do I need an llms.txt file?
It helps, but it is not magic. No major AI company has confirmed it reads llms.txt the way search engines read robots.txt. It costs little to add, gives models a clean map of your most important pages, and is part of our setup. Crawler access, entity signals and third-party mentions move citations far more.
How long does GEO take to work?
Plan on three to six months. Crawler access and schema fixes are quick, but models only pick up new pages after they are crawled and indexed, and third-party mentions take time to build. Some engines refresh faster than others. We retest the same questions every month, so you see the trend instead of guessing.
Does GEO work for B2B companies?
Yes. More B2B buyers now ask AI tools to shortlist suppliers or compare vendors before contacting anyone. If your company is not named in that answer, you are not on the list. We make your capabilities, certifications and proof easy for models to verify, and build mentions in trade publications, directories and LinkedIn, where B2B research happens.
How do you track AI citations?
We build a fixed set of buying questions for your category, run each one through every engine, and record which brands get named and which sources get cited. The same set is retested monthly. We also track AI referral traffic in GA4 and, for B2B, add an AI option to your inquiry form's "how did you find us" field.
Ask ChatGPT about your category. We will tell you why it named someone else.
Send your URL and three questions your buyers ask. We run them through five AI engines and send back who gets named, and what it would take for that to be you.