Optimizing a site for organic search visibility has always fallen under search engine optimization, also referred to as SEO. The advent of AI search engines and other AI tools used for search has required a new range of focus. This new process of optimizing for AI is called Generative Engine Optimization, also referred to as GEO.
What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the process maximizing your website’s reach and visibility in generative AI engines. This includes:
As opposed to SEO, users who search through generative AI engines receive generated results to queries. This means that GEO optimization requires a focus on optimizing your content to be better suited as a source used in AI results.
Optimizing content for GEO requires the same focus on SEO. Always put the user first when writing content. With GEO, you want to focus on writing the best content for AI-search engines to source from, in addition to writing the most useful content for your target audience.
The Language Learning Model (LLM) Explained
A language learning model, also known as a large language model, is a type of machine learning model that is trained on large sets of human data. The goal of LLM is to understand, interpret, and generate human language. Language learning models aim to provide a natural response. The large datasets used to train these models often consist of books, articles, and other text that helps the model understand human language. This does not always create the most grammatically correct response, but rather the one that is most natural or humanlike.
Large Language Models are the core technology used by generative search engines. Generative AIs create responses to users based on the dataset consumed and interpreted by large language models.
Why Is GEO Important?
Businesses can utilize GEO strategies to expand their site’s visibility to AI users. Generative AI is continuously growing and expected to grow even more in the months and years to come. While Google still dominates the search market, their share fell below 90% for the first time in a decade. According to Search Engine Land, ChatGPT alone is expected to hold a 1% share of the search market in the next year. This is significant given the fact that OpenAI launched it to the public back in November 2022.
In early stages of the customer journey, your target audience may not be looking for a business, service, or product just yet. Instead, they conduct research related to the services or products you offer.
In example, take a business that sells sneakers. They offer a sneaker with a supportive sole recommended by podiatrists. Before a customer begins searching for sneakers or sneaker brands, they might conduct a search based on a need. For example, a user could initially search: “What relieves plantar fasciitis?” In the results of that answer, they may read that they need more supportive footwear. This would then bring them to a search for shoes with a supportive sole.
Like regular search engines, generative AI aims to provide users with the best answers to their search queries. But, the difference lies in the response. While regular search engines, like Google or Bing, provide a series of websites in their results that users can use to answer their questions, generative AI provides an answer, even if that answer is from multiple sources.
The Most Used AI Search Engines
Each AI search engine is trained through its own dataset. GEO optimizations require an understanding of each popular search engine that you could get referral traffic from. Knowing how these search engines source their data is the first step in understanding how to optimize for them. It is also ideal to test each search engine to gain an understanding of how they formulate your answers. Then, look at your own content, and see how your content structure aligns with that search engine’s generated answers.
ChatGPT
Owned by OpenAI and in strategic partnership with Microsoft, ChatGPT is one of the leading AI search engines. ChatGPT launched to public use in November 2022. GPT-4o mini is free to use, while use of GPT-4o and o1 are offered at plans starting at $20 per month.
Perplexity
Perplexity AI was founded in August 2022 and is backed by investors like Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and tech giants like Nvidia. It focuses on high-quality search results, providing multiple query modes and source citations within its answers, allowing for transparency to ensure the accuracy of its answers. Like ChatGPT, Perplexity AI offers a free plan, as well as paid plans starting at $20 per month.
Gemini
Gemini is Google’s AI model, formerly known as Bard, that launched in March 2023. It has been integrated into Google products like Gmail and YouTube for improved user experience on all their platforms. Gemini also offers either a free plan or a paid upgrade called Gemini Advanced, starting at $19 per month.
Claude
Claude AI is owned by AI startup Anthropic and backed by Amazon and Google. It was founded by former OpenAI research executives, the company that founded ChatGPT, offering a generative AI chatbot similar to Gemini, Perplexity, and ChatGPT. First released in March 2023, Claude AI offers a free tier, as well as pro plans starting at $20 per month.
Copilot
Despite being a strategic partner of ChatGPT, Microsoft also developed its own generative AI chatbot based on the GPT-4 series of LLMs. Similar to Gemini for Google, Copilot AI is used in Microsoft 365 across all its apps. There is a free version as well as Copilot Pro, a monthly subscription starting at $20 per month.
Effective Strategies for Generative Engine Optimization
Content optimization strategies are the core factor of GEO. The goal of GEO is to ensure that your content is favorable to AI search engines, who can use your content as source material or a reference for users.
Optimize Content
Creating content that answers questions directly is the first step to GEO optimization. AIs generate straightforward answers to search queries, unlike traditional search engines, which provide users with reference sites to find their answers. This is why, as with SEO, you should always put your users first.
Users have always wanted first and foremost to get the most efficient answer. It is the same reason that over 50% of Google searches in the U.S. in 2024 resulted in zero clicks. With AI overviews now taking the top spot in most search results, users find their answers quicker, without the need to sift through a whole landing page or article.
Provide Factual Information
Users want answers from credible sources. To become favorable in AI search engines means to provide factual, straight forward answers to search queries. Refer to the sources that AIs like Perplexity use in their answers. Also, see what the top websites are that are ranking for your primary keyword. Is there somewhere in your content where you can reference those sites? Using credible sources as evidence to back your content helps you generate content similar to how AI search engines structure their own answers.
Increase Visibility in Search Engines
To optimize for GEO, you first need to optimize for SEO. Indexable pages can be used as source material for generative AIs. The bigger reach you have through traditional organic search, the more likely you will begin to see referrals from AI search engines too.
Track AI Search Visibility
Unfortunately, generative AI search engines do not provide tools yet like Google Search Console to track how your site is appearing in AI search results. But, there are still ways to track your AI visibility.
Referral Traffic
Tools like GA4 allow you to track referral traffic to your site. GA4 will show you what websites your referral traffic came from, whether that is ChatGPT, Perplexity, or another generative AI site. This is the best way to see the total number of users arriving at your site from these generative AI search engines. From there, you will at least know that your website is appearing in its generated results.
Third Party Tools
Because generative AI is still growing, there aren’t many tools allowing you to track AI search visibility. Some third party tools allow you to track specific AI-related data. For example, AI Overview data in Semrush is available to show when you are ranking for a keyword specifically through the AI overview in Google search results. This is a new SERP feature added to their tools.
Manual Search
The best way to understand generative AI engines is to use them. Search for primary keywords or questions related to your content in ChatGPT, CoPilot, Gemini, Perplexity, or other AI search engines. Focus on your best performing content first, as it’s more likely to appear in results.
Balancing User Experience and GEO
While GEO prioritizes the use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) in its responses, GEO experts still need to avoid over-optimization. Changing content readability and usefulness for the benefit of AIs can hurt user experience. Human users should be the primary focus for content on a site. Over-optimization can sometimes reduce the user experience when the content’s readability, tone, factual accuracy, or usefulness is compromised for the benefit of an AI search engine.
Start Implementing GEO Strategies Today
Businesses embracing GEO strategies are getting ahead of the future of generative AI and how users search. Beginning to implement GEO strategies to your site today will give you an early competitive advantage. It also allows you to cater to users looking for businesses like yours through AI search engines, as opposed to regular search. By optimizing your website now for generative AI, you don’t miss out on any potential traffic referrals to your site.
