Structure
Language models pull modular, self contained passages. Content written as long unbroken argument is far harder to cite than content organised under clear headings with each section answering one thing.
Generative Engine Optimisation
Get Your Brand Named Inside AI Answers
The short answer
Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is the practice of shaping your website and wider web presence so large language models such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity cite, mention or recommend your business when people ask related questions. It combines a strong SEO foundation, quotable and well structured content, consistent entity data, and earned third party mentions. GEO is the broad discipline, and answer engine optimisation is the search focused part of it.
Our position
GEO is where SEO was around 2010. It is an early, real opportunity, but it is not a magic bullet. We are honest that no one can guarantee a citation in ChatGPT, and that GEO works because it amplifies the same authority signals as good SEO, not because of secret tricks. Any agency promising guaranteed AI citations is either misunderstanding how these systems work or hoping you do.
Benefits
- A citable content layer of statistics, definitions and expert quotes
- Consistent entity and business information across the web
- Schema, clean markup and an llms.txt file
- AI crawler access configuration
- Digital PR to earn the third party mentions AI trusts
- Citation monitoring across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Overviews
What drives AI citations
Evidence
The Princeton led study presented at ACM KDD 2024 found that adding statistics, quotations and citations lifted visibility in AI answers by over 40 percent across various queries. Quotation addition delivered roughly 41 percent improvement and statistics addition roughly 31 percent. Evidence is not decoration, it is the mechanism.
Authority
Brands are cited more often through third party sources than through their own domain. That makes digital PR, directory consistency and earned coverage a core part of GEO rather than an optional extra.
Freshness
Language models favour recently updated content. A page published three years ago and never touched is at a structural disadvantage regardless of quality.
A realistic note on llms.txt
The llms.txt convention, proposed by Jeremy Howard of Answer.AI in 2024, is a low cost Markdown file we can add to your site root that summarises your business and lists key pages for AI systems. No major AI provider currently guarantees it changes citations, so we treat it as upside rather than a promise. It costs very little to implement, which is the only reason it is worth doing at this stage.
Our Process
- 1
GEO baseline: run your target prompts through ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini and record who is currently cited
- 2
Fix crawlability, entity data and schema
- 3
Build the citable content and earn third party mentions
- 4
Re-run prompts monthly and report citation share
Frequently asked questions
What is generative engine optimisation?
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GEO is the practice of structuring your content and web presence so AI systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini cite or recommend your brand in their answers. It builds on SEO and adds citable content, entity consistency and earned mentions.
Can you guarantee my business appears in ChatGPT?
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No. Citations depend on the model, the query and the wider web, none of which any agency controls. We can measurably improve your chances and track your citation share over time.
Is GEO the same as SEO?
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No, but they overlap heavily. Most AI answers cite pages that already rank well, so GEO extends SEO rather than replacing it.
What is an llms.txt file?
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It is a Markdown file at your site root that summarises your business and lists key pages for AI systems. It is cheap to add and may help AI understand your site, though support across providers is still emerging.
Explore related pages
Related services
Want to know if AI is recommending you?
Book a free GEO baseline and we will run your key customer questions through the major AI engines to show you exactly who is being cited today.
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