Search is splitting in two. Plenty of people still type a query and scan links — but a fast-growing share now read a single synthesised answer from Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity and never click through at all. If your business isn't represented in that answer, you're invisible to them.
SEO vs GEO
Traditional SEO optimises to rank a page. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) optimises to be cited inside an AI-generated answer. The overlap is real, but the tactics diverge.
- Be the clearest source: answer the question directly, near the top.
- Structure for extraction: headings, lists, definitions, FAQs.
- Establish entities: consistent name, services, location across the web.
- Earn citations: AI engines favour sources they can attribute confidently.
Get your facts straight first
Before optimising, audit what the AI engines currently say about you. They're often confidently wrong — out-of-date services, the wrong location, a competitor's claim attributed to you. Fixing inaccuracies is the highest-ROI move you can make.
Measure what matters
Rankings aren't the metric anymore. Track whether you're mentioned, whether the mention is accurate, and whether you're cited as a source — across each major AI engine, every month. That's the new visibility scoreboard.