AI search glossary
What is generative engine optimisation (GEO)?
Generative engine optimisation, or GEO, is the work of getting your business mentioned and described accurately in the answers that AI tools write. It is the AI-era equivalent of SEO: instead of ranking in a list of links, the goal is to be named in the answer itself.
Also called: GEO, AI search optimisation
What does GEO mean in practice?
“Generative engines” are AI tools that generate an answer rather than show a list of results, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude. GEO is about making sure those tools can find, understand and trust information about your business.
In practice that means:
- Keeping your details accurate and consistent everywhere online
- Answering your customers’ real questions clearly on your own website
- Earning trusted mentions in reviews, directories and the press
An example
A customer asks ChatGPT: “Which accountant in Malta is best for a new company?” ChatGPT names three firms. GEO is the work that makes your firm one of those three, and makes sure what ChatGPT says about you is correct.
Is GEO the same as SEO?
They overlap. Good SEO helps, because many AI tools search the web before they answer. But GEO also depends on how other websites describe you, and on content written to answer questions directly. Many people use GEO and AI search optimisation to mean the same thing.
Find out what AI is telling your customers.
Get a free AI visibility review from our team. We check what ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Claude say about your business, then talk you through what it means.
