Digital marketing glossary
What is GEO (generative engine optimisation)?
Written and reviewed by L.K. Monu Borkala · Updated
Definition
GEO (generative engine optimisation) is the practice of improving the chance that AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews mention, recommend or link to your brand when they answer a question. It builds on SEO, but the goal is to be cited inside an answer rather than only listed as a link.
How it works
AI answer tools write a reply using what their model learned in training and, in many cases, web pages they search for and read at the moment of the question. Pages are more likely to be used when they are easy to crawl, answer specific questions clearly, include concrete facts such as prices, locations and specifications, and come from a source that other sites also mention. GEO work therefore includes publishing precise, well-structured pages, keeping business details consistent across the web, earning mentions in trusted places like news sites, review platforms and directories, and regularly checking what AI tools currently say about your business.
Example
Say a family-run homestay in Coorg finds that when someone asks an AI assistant for 'quiet homestays near Madikeri with home-cooked Kodava food', it never comes up. The owners add a clear page listing room rates from ₹3,500 a night, meals, distance from Madikeri and house rules, answer common guest questions in plain sentences, and encourage guests to leave detailed reviews on Google and travel sites. Over time, AI tools have more specific, consistent facts about the homestay to draw on.
An illustration: the business and the rupee figures are made up to show how the idea works.
Common mistake
Treating GEO as a trick, such as hiding instructions for AI tools on a page or publishing hundreds of AI-written pages. These tactics do not build the trust that answer engines rely on, and mass-produced pages can fall under Google's scaled content abuse policy. Another mistake is treating one test of an AI answer as final, since answers vary between tools and over time.
Where you learn it
- Module 3: Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Class: SEO in the AI Era: AI Overviews, GEO & AEO
Related terms
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