GEO: The New SEO — How to Get Your Brand Cited by AI Search Engines
ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews are changing how people find information. Here's how to ensure your brand gets cited instead of your competitors.
Search Has Changed Permanently
A growing percentage of search queries are now answered by AI — either in Google's AI Overview, Perplexity, or directly in ChatGPT. For many queries, the user never clicks through to a website at all.
What Is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of optimising your content to be cited and recommended by AI search engines. Unlike traditional SEO, the goal isn't just ranking — it's being the authoritative source the AI draws from.
The Principles of GEO
AI search engines prioritise content that is comprehensive (covers a topic in full depth), authoritative (cited by other credible sources), structured (clearly organised with headers and definitions), and specific (concrete data, case studies, and named examples).
Getting Started
Audit your highest-traffic pages. For each one, ask: does this page comprehensively answer every question a user might have about this topic? If not, expand it. Then build a systematic link acquisition programme to establish third-party authority.