GEO vs SEO: what is Generative Engine Optimization?
Updated 2026-10-27
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your business easy for AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity to find, understand and describe accurately. SEO aims to rank links on a results page; GEO aims to be named and correctly summarised inside an AI-written answer. They overlap heavily, and good SEO is the foundation of GEO.
How GEO differs from SEO
- Goal: SEO wins a click from a list of links. GEO wins a mention or citation inside a generated answer.
- Signals: SEO leans on links and keywords. GEO leans on clear entity facts, consistency across sources and extractable answers.
- Measurement: SEO has rank trackers. GEO means asking the models and checking what they say.
What to do first
- Let AI crawlers in (robots.txt, firewall) and publish a sitemap.
- Serve key content as plain HTML, not only via JavaScript.
- Add structured data (Organization, Product or LocalBusiness, FAQPage).
- Write a clear, consistent description of your business and repeat it across your site, profiles and directories.
- Publish pages that answer real questions directly in the first two sentences.
- Get listed and reviewed on credible third-party sites. Models weigh what other sources say about you.
Can you guarantee an AI will recommend you?
No. Anyone promising guaranteed AI rankings is overselling. What you can do is remove obstacles, state the facts clearly and measure what models say so you can fix gaps.