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What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the work of getting your business named and cited in the answers written by AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews.1

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Why it matters for a small business

The term comes from a research paper first posted in November 2023. Its authors tested how edits to a web page changed how much of an AI answer drew on that page.2

An AI answer is built from a small set of pages. Google says its AI features fetch pages from its search index, write a reply from them, and link the pages that back it up.1

Google files GEO under SEO. Its guide warns that many tricks sold as GEO don't work, and points owners back to clear, useful pages.1

A made-up trattoria in Lisbon

Rosa's menu lived in a PDF, and her opening hours were only on Instagram. She put the dishes, prices and hours on her own site as plain text, and made her Google listing say the same. Now an AI answer about pasta near the river has her words to quote.

How to check it yourself

  1. Ask the AI apps your customers use

    Type a question a customer would ask, like "seafood near the harbour open now". Ask it a few times, in different words, and note whether you are named.3

  2. Read your pages the way an AI does

    Your menu, prices, hours and address should be written as text on the page, not only shown in a photo of a sign or a menu.4

  3. See what Google reports

    Search Console's Generative AI performance report shows which of your pages were linked in AI Overviews and AI Mode.5

Questions about GEO

Who came up with the term GEO?

Six researchers, with Pranjal Aggarwal as first author, in a paper first posted to arXiv in November 2023 and accepted to the KDD 2024 conference. They also built a set of test questions to measure it.2

Can anyone promise my business will appear in AI answers?

No. Google says no outside tool has access to its ranking or AI systems, and it warns against tools that promise ranking success.1

Where this comes from

  1. Google's guide to generative AI search: AEO and GEO describe work on visibility in AI search, which Google treats as SEO; its AI features retrieve pages from the Search index and link those that support the answer; Google Search ignores llms.txt files; no special schema.org markup is needed; Business Profiles help local businesses show in AI responses; measure with the Generative AI performance report; no third-party tool sees Google's ranking or AI systems (last updated 10 July 2026)developers.google.com
  2. Aggarwal and others, "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization" (arXiv:2311.09735, first posted 16 November 2023, accepted to KDD 2024): names GEO and measures a source's visibility in an AI answer by how much of the answer cites it and wherearxiv.org
  3. AI Overviews give an AI-generated snapshot with links, appear when Google's systems find them helpful, can make mistakes, and Google suggests asking several versions of a questionsupport.google.com
  4. To be a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode a page must be indexed and able to show a snippet; AI Overviews show only when Google judges them additive; important content should be in text; robots.txt rules for Googlebot and nosnippet or noindex controls apply; AI feature traffic counts in the Performance report's Web search type (last updated 10 December 2025)developers.google.com
  5. Search Console's Generative AI performance report counts impressions of a site's links in AI Overviews and AI Mode by page, country, device and date; rolled out to all websites on 31 August 2026support.google.com

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