Search · 5 min read
From SEO to GEO: getting cited when AI answers the question
More buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity before they see a search result. Here is what I've found helps a brand become a source those answers quote.
For most of my career, search meant one thing: rank on page one of Google, then win the click. That still matters. But more and more, the first answer a buyer reads is written by an AI assistant, and the question is no longer 'do we rank?' but 'are we the source it quotes?'
Answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO) are names for the same habit: making your expertise easy for machines to find, understand and attribute.
What AI assistants look for
- Clear answers to real questions, written in plain sentences near the top of the page.
- Facts with context: who, where, when and a source, not adjectives.
- Structure they can parse: headings that match questions, FAQ sections, and schema markup for the organisation, people and products.
- Consistency across the web: the same facts on your site, your LinkedIn, press coverage and directories.
Practical steps for this quarter
A good place to start is the twenty questions your sales team hears most. Write a short, direct answer to each on the page where it belongs, then add FAQ schema. Make sure your About page states plainly who you are, where you operate and what you're known for.
Then open the door. Allow AI crawlers in robots.txt if you want to be cited, and publish an llms.txt file that points assistants to your most important pages. I've done both on this website; it's a simple first step.
If an assistant can't tell what you do in one paragraph, it won't recommend you in one either.
Measure differently
Rankings and clicks no longer tell the whole story. Track brand mentions in AI answers for your key questions, referral traffic from assistants, and branded search volume. When an AI answer names you, people search for you directly, and that shows up.
The good news for teams with solid SEO foundations: the fundamentals carry over. Helpful content, technical health and real authority still win. The bar for clarity is just higher, because the reader is now a machine that summarises before a human ever arrives.
Want to talk about this for your team?