What is GEO? How to get your business recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI
Something has changed in search. And most small businesses haven't noticed yet.
Open Google right now and type a question, not a keyword. Something like "who are the best kitchen fitters in Bristol" or "which local accountant is recommended for freelancers in Exeter." In a growing number of searches, you'll see something at the top of the results page that wasn't there two years ago. An AI-generated answer. A paragraph or two, synthesised from multiple sources, making a recommendation before you've clicked a single link.
And a growing number of people are skipping Google entirely. ChatGPT now has over 800 million weekly active users as of October 2025, doubling in just eight months. They're asking AI tools questions and getting direct answers with no results page, no list of links, just a recommendation.
If your business isn't part of those answers, you're invisible to those searchers. Completely. It doesn't matter how well you rank in traditional results if the person never gets to the results page.
This article explains what GEO is, how it differs from SEO, why now is the right time to act, and what a business needs to do to start showing up in AI-generated answers.
What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. The term was formally introduced in a research paper published in November 2023 by researchers from Princeton University, Georgia Tech, the Allen Institute for AI, and IIT Delhi. By 2026 it has become a defined discipline in its own right.
Where SEO is the practice of helping Google rank your website in a list of links, GEO is the practice of making your business visible in AI-generated answers. It's about being the business that gets cited, mentioned, or recommended when someone asks an AI tool a question relevant to what you do.
The simplest way to think about the distinction:
SEO gets you into the library catalogue. The ranked list of results.
GEO gets you into the librarian's recommendation when someone walks in and says "I need help with X, who should I speak to?"
The two are related. Good SEO work tends to support GEO. If Google trusts your website and sees it as credible, AI tools that draw on Google's data are more likely to reference you. But doing one does not automatically mean you're doing the other. GEO requires its own distinct thinking.
““SEO gets you clicked. GEO gets you quoted.” That shift in framing changes what you optimise for.”
How AI Search Engines work (and why your content either gets cited or ignored)
To understand GEO you need a basic grasp of how AI tools actually generate their answers.
Traditional search, the way Google has worked for for two decades, is index-based. Google crawls the web, builds an index of pages, and returns a ranked list when someone searches. The searcher clicks a link.
AI search works differently. When you ask ChatGPT a question, it doesn't go to an index in real time. It generates an answer based on patterns learned during training from vast amounts of publicly available content, supplemented in some versions by real-time web access. Google's AI Overviews draw on Google's live index, but instead of returning links, they synthesise information from multiple sources into a single coherent response.
The query fan-out process
Here's something worth understanding about how AI generates complex answers. When someone asks a nuanced question, the AI doesn't search for the full question as a single query. It breaks it into smaller sub-queries, searches for each one separately, and synthesises the results. Researchers call this "query fan-out."
For example, if someone asks ChatGPT "who are the best kitchen fitters in Bristol for Victorian terrace properties", the AI might separately search for "kitchen fitters Bristol", "kitchen fitting Victorian properties", "kitchen fitter reviews Bristol", and combine what it finds into a single answer.
This means your visibility in AI answers depends not just on one page doing one thing well, but on being present, specific, and credible across multiple related contexts.
What the AI is looking for in your content
AI tools are not looking for pages that are keyword-optimised. They're looking for content that is:
Specific and factual. "We fit bespoke kitchens in Victorian and Edwardian properties across Bristol, typically completing a full kitchen refit in two to three weeks" is a sentence an AI can extract and use confidently. "We provide high quality kitchen solutions with a customer-first approach" gives the AI nothing concrete to work with.
Structured for extraction. Clear headings, FAQ sections, short paragraphs, and direct answers at the start of each section make your content easier for AI to parse. Research analysing 10,000 real-world queries found that pages with structured lists, statistics, and direct answers had 30 to 40% higher visibility in AI responses compared to unoptimised content.
Distributed and credible. AI tools draw on everything publicly available about your business: your website, your reviews, your listings, mentions in other publications. The wider and more consistently your information appears, the more confidently an AI can describe and recommend you.
Why GEO matters right now for small businesses
The case for acting now rather than later comes down to a combination of scale, trajectory, and first-mover advantage.
The scale of AI search is already significant
AI Overviews now appear in over 52% of all Google searches up from 25% in early 2025. Perplexity processes over 780 million monthly queries. ChatGPT's 800 million weekly users represent one of the fastest growth trajectories of any technology product in history.
Gartner has predicted that traditional search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026 as AI tools capture more of the search space. Early data from GEO adopters is striking: some report that 32% of their sales-qualified leads now come from generative AI search compared to virtually none twelve months ago.
The first-mover advantage is real and time-limited
47% of brands still have no deliberate GEO strategy according to 2025 research. That's a significant gap in the market. The businesses that build their GEO presence now will be the ones AI recommends when those 47% finally catch up. And catching up will be considerably harder once others have established authority.
The analogy to early SEO is accurate. The businesses that optimised for Google in 2005 built a head start that took competitors a decade to close. GEO is at that same inflection point right now.
Your existing SEO investment is not wasted
This is worth addressing directly, because it's a concern that comes up. If you've been investing in SEO, you haven't been wasting your time. The authority signals you've built, including credible links, strong reviews, consistent business listings, and quality content, are also the foundations of GEO.
What GEO requires additionally is greater content specificity, wider distribution of your business information, and a more deliberate approach to answering the exact questions your customers ask. These build on the SEO foundation rather than replacing it.
GEO vs SEO: The practical differences
Understanding what changes, and what doesn't, between SEO and GEO helpsO and GEO helps you prioritise your effort.
What stays the same
Technical SEO foundations. If Google can't crawl and index your site, AI tools using Google's data can't find you either. Page speed, mobile-friendliness, clean URL structure, and proper indexation all matter for both.
Authority signals. Links from credible websites, consistent NAP (name, address, phone) information across directories, a strong Google Business Profile, and genuine reviews all contribute to both traditional rankings and AI visibility.
Content quality. Thin, generic, or inaccurate content performs poorly in both traditional search and AI search. Writing that is genuinely useful, accurate, and specific works for both.
What changes with GEO
The success metric. In SEO, success is a ranking position. In GEO, success is being cited or recommended inside an AI response. You're not competing for a spot on a list. You're competing to be the business an AI specifically names when asked a relevant question.
The content format. AI tools extract information more easily from direct, structured content. FAQ sections, clear question-and-answer formats, specific factual statements, and short paragraphs are all more GEO-friendly than long, flowing prose optimised for keywords.
The distribution requirement. SEO rewards depth on your own site. GEO rewards breadth across the web. Being mentioned in local publications, having consistent and complete listings across directories, earning reviews that mention specific details. All of these create the distributed web of information that AI tools draw on when forming a recommendation about your business.
The specificity requirement. Generic content is the single biggest GEO failure mode. An AI cannot confidently recommend a business whose website contains only vague claims. Every factual, specific statement about what you do, where, for whom, and with what results is an asset.
What good GEO presence looks like in practice
Here is a comparison that illustrates the gap clearly.
Two kitchen fitters, both serving Bristol. Both with ten years of experience. Both doing excellent work.
Kitchen fitter A: strong GEO presence
Website with specific, detailed content covering exactly what services they offer, what types of property they specialise in, typical project timelines, and approximate cost ranges. A blog with twelve case studies from real jobs, each including location, what the client needed, what was done, photos of the completed kitchen, and how long the project took. Seventy-four Google reviews averaging 4.9 stars, with recent responses from the owner on every review, many of which mention specific details like "Victorian terrace" or "complete redesign including structural work." Accurately listed on Checkatrade, Houzz, and three local business directories. Mentioned in a Bristol home renovation blog and a local newspaper feature.
Kitchen fitter B: weak GEO presence
Website that says "We offer quality kitchen fitting services across Bristol and surrounding areas. Get in touch today for a free quote." Nine Google reviews. No blog. No listings beyond Google Business Profile. No external mentions.
Both do the same quality of work. But when someone asks ChatGPT "who are the best kitchen fitters in Bristol for a Victorian terrace renovation", Kitchen fitter A has every chance of appearing in the answer. Kitchen fitter B is essentially invisible to AI. Not because of anything they've done wrong technically, but because the web doesn't contain enough specific, credible information about them for an AI to confidently recommend them.
“The businesses that appear in AI answers are the ones with the clearest, most consistent, most specific trail of information across the web. That trail is built deliberately, over time, and it starts now.”
The four GEO building blocks every small business needs
GEO presence is built from four interconnected elements. None of them alone is sufficient. Together they create the foundation an AI needs to confidently recommend your business.
1. Specific, useful content on your website
Your website needs to clearly describe what you do, where you do it, who you do it for, and how. Not in vague terms. In specifics. Product types, service areas, project types, client categories, typical timelines, approximate price ranges where appropriate.
FAQ sections are particularly valuable. The question-and-answer structure maps directly onto how AI tools construct responses to queries. A well-written FAQ page answering the questions your customers commonly ask is one of the highest-impact GEO additions you can make to your website. It also benefits traditional SEO.
Schema markup is structured data code that explicitly tells search engines what your content means. It can improve AI visibility by 30 to 40% according to research. Your web developer can add this, or many website platforms include it through plugins. Mark up your business name, address, services, and opening hours as a minimum.
2. Consistent business information across every platform
Your business name, address, and phone number need to be identical across every platform where you appear. Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Yell, Checkatrade, industry directories, and social media profiles. Make sure they are all consistent.
AI tools cross-reference information across sources. Inconsistencies, such as a slightly different address here, an old phone number there, create noise that reduces the AI's confidence in the information. Consistency, by contrast, reinforces it.
Complete your Google Business Profile fully. The right category, a detailed description using relevant keywords naturally, recent photos, your service areas, and accurate opening hours. For local businesses, this is the single most important listing to get right.
3. Genuine reviews that mention specifics
Reviews are a source of AI-readable content about your business. Not all reviews are equally valuable for GEO. A review that says "great service, highly recommend" adds almost nothing specific. A review that says "replaced our boiler in a Bristol Victorian terrace, finished on schedule, price matched the quote exactly, and Phill was professional and tidy throughout" gives an AI rich, location-specific, service-specific information it can draw on.
When you ask customers for reviews, encourage them to be specific. Mention the type of work, the location, what made the experience good. This produces reviews that serve both your reputation and your GEO visibility.
Volume and recency both matter. Active, recent reviews signal that the business is operating. A strong review profile from two years ago with nothing recent looks like a business that has stopped trading.
4. Credible third-party mentions
Every time your business is mentioned by a credible external source, such as a local publication, an industry directory, a partner business website, or a community forum, you add to the web of information AI tools can draw on.
Local PR is one of the most undervalued GEO assets available to small businesses. A feature in a local newspaper, a mention in a regional business directory, a case study on a supplier's website. Each one is a credible third-party reference that reinforces your authority and specificity in your local market.
This doesn't require a large budget. It requires consistent effort over time: reaching out to local press when you complete a notable project, maintaining your directory listings, building relationships with complementary local businesses who might reference you on their websites.
Frequently Asked Questions about GEO
What is the difference between GEO and SEO?
SEO focuses on ranking in a list of search results. GEO focuses on being cited or recommended inside an AI-generated answer. They share many foundations: technical site health, authority signals, and content quality. But GEO places additional emphasis on content specificity, FAQ formats, schema markup, and distributed web presence.
Does GEO replace SEO?
No. GEO builds on SEO foundations. The businesses best positioned for GEO are the ones that have done strong SEO work. Think of them as the same strategy with different emphasis, not competing approaches.
Which AI tools should I be targeting for GEO?
The most significant in terms of scale are ChatGPT (800 million weekly users), Google AI Overviews (appearing in over 52% of searches), and Perplexity (780 million monthly queries). Each works slightly differently, but the same core practices, including specific content, strong authority signals, consistent listings, direct answers to common questions, will improve your visibility across all of them.
How do I know if my business is being recommended by AI?
The simplest audit: open ChatGPT or Google and ask the questions your ideal customers would ask. "Who are the best [your service] in [your town]?" "Which [your trade] in [your area] is recommended for [specific job type]?" See whether your business appears. Most businesses who do this for the first time find they're not there at all. That's your baseline.
How long does GEO take to work?
Expect three to six months before meaningful changes in AI visibility, similar to the timeline for traditional SEO. GEO is a compounding effort. Consistent work on content specificity, review management, and directory presence builds up over time. There is no shortcut, but there is a clear process.
Is GEO relevant for local businesses?
Particularly relevant. Local intent searches are among the queries where AI tools are most actively synthesising recommendations. "Who are the best plumbers in Exeter" is exactly the type of question AI Overviews and ChatGPT are increasingly answering. Local businesses that build their GEO presence now are in the best position to capture those recommendations.
Your GEO Audit: Where to start today
Before building new GEO assets, audit what currently exists. This tells you where the gaps are and where to focus effort first.
Step 1: Test your current AI visibility
Open ChatGPT and Google. Search for the questions your ideal customers would ask. Note whether your business appears. If it does, note what the AI says about you and whether it's accurate and specific. If it doesn't, that's your starting point.
You can also use the free Otter Labs GEO Audit Tool at geo.otterlabs.co.uk to check how your business is currently showing up in AI search. It gives you an instant read on your GEO visibility and highlights where the gaps are before you start making changes.
Step 2: Audit your content for specificity
Read your homepage and main service pages. Ask: could an AI lift a sentence from this page and use it in a confident recommendation? If every sentence is a vague claim rather than a specific, factual statement, the content needs rewriting. Look specifically for opportunities to add FAQ sections answering the questions customers commonly ask.
Step 3: Check your listings for consistency
Search for your business name on Google, Bing, Apple Maps, and the main directories in your industry. Is your name, address, and phone number identical everywhere? Are the listings complete? Fix any inconsistencies you find.
Step 4: Review your review profile
Check the volume, recency, and specificity of your reviews. Are you actively asking customers for reviews? Are those reviews mentioning specific details about the work, location, and experience? If not, adjust how you request reviews.
Step 5: Identify third-party mention opportunities
Where could your business legitimately appear as an external reference? Local press, industry publications, supplier case studies, community directories. Make a list of three to five realistic targets and pursue them systematically.
“GEO is not a one-time project. It’s an ongoing practice. Businesses that treat it as a consistent monthly discipline will see compounding returns over time.”
Watch the Video
This article is based on Video 8 of the Back to Basics series, the opener for Module 3 on GEO. The video covers the core concepts in ten to twelve minutes.
