What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
Published 4 min read
GEO is the work that helps AI answers name and quote your company. Here is the plain meaning, where the word comes from, and one example.
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What does GEO mean?
Generative engine optimization (GEO) means making your pages easy for AI engines to find, quote and name in their answers. The engines are tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. GEO works on the same pages as SEO. The goal is different: to be named inside the answer, not only listed under it.
What does GEO mean for a company?
It means checking what AI says when buyers ask, and fixing the pages it reads.
- 1
A buyer asks
Someone asks an AI tool a question.
- 2
AI reads pages
The tool searches the web and reads some pages. GEO works here.
- 3
The answer names companies
It writes one answer and names a few companies.
- Know the questions your buyers ask AI, in their own words.
- Check whether AI names you, and who it names instead.
- Make the page for each question clear and easy to quote.
Where does the word GEO come from?
From a research paper first posted in November 2023: "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization".
- Pranjal Aggarwal and five co-authors wrote it. It was accepted at KDD 2024.
- In their tests, adding sources, quotes and statistics helped pages most. Keyword stuffing did not help.
What does GEO look like in practice?
Here is a made-up example, not a real company.
Example: the gap
Buyers ask AI which payroll tool suits part-time staff. The payroll company has no page on that.
Example: the fix
It adds a page for part-time payroll, with the price as text. Now AI has a page to quote.
How do you check if GEO works for you?
Ask AI your buyers' questions every week, and compare the answers.
- Note which companies each answer names, and which pages it links.
- Answers change from run to run, so look at several weeks.
Questions about GEO
Is GEO the same as LLMO or LLM SEO?
Mostly, yes. LLMO stands for large language model optimization. All three names mean helping AI answers name you.
How does generative engine optimization work?
AI engines search the web, read some pages and write an answer. GEO makes your pages easy to find and quote at that moment.
Can anyone promise that AI will name my company?
No. AI picks names from the pages it reads, and answers change. Nobody can promise a mention, Nenn included.
See GEO for your own company
Which of your buyers' questions name you today? Try the test run.
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How to get AI to recommend your company
Six steps for your own pages.