GEO
More and more often, when we look for information online, we turn to generative AI models for answers. So do your customers.
Competitive advantage today is not measured on search engines alone, but on the ability to be present and recognisable in every environment where users search and make decisions.
GEO optimisation, short for Generative Engine Optimization, increases a brand’s visibility in large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Overviews. The aim is not simply to appear: it is to be understood, selected and recommended by generative engines.
GEO does not replace SEO optimisation: it works on a different circuit, extending the brand’s presence to channels that traditional SEO does not reach.
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Optimising websites for search engines | Optimising content for generative AI models |
| Where | Google, Bing, Yahoo and vertical engines such as YouTube. | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, AI Overviews, generative answer engines |
| How | Technical, semantic and off-site SEO | Brand building, relevance of content, citations and mentions. |
| Objective | Improving the organic ranking of a site or a web page | Being cited and mentioned in answers produced by generative artificial intelligence |
AI models do not simply return results: they interpret the user’s question, retrieve information from several sources and synthesise an answer. We work on the signals that help these systems understand and correctly cite a brand.
GEO does not start from the AI, but from the quality of the information those AI models are able to find. If the site is difficult to crawl, the content is unclear or the information about the brand is inconsistent, generative systems will have fewer reliable signals to draw on. This is why traditional SEO best practice retains a central role.
In the past the central element was the keyword. Today it is the entity. Search engines and AI systems do not analyse the individual resource but the whole: they take account of context, semantic relationships and related topics.
We help these systems recognise the brand as a clear, defined entity, by building consistent signals across several channels.
With AI Mode and AI Overviews, Google uses query fan-out: it breaks the user’s request down into related questions and consults different sources. A search such as “best GEO agency” can therefore generate queries about costs, services, case studies, sectors and reviews. Covering a topic fully and in a structured way therefore helps to capture secondary questions and latent needs as well.
Generative engines select content that is easy to read and to recall. Chunking means dividing information into clear, self-contained blocks, each focused on a specific question.
Descriptive headings, short paragraphs, direct definitions, FAQs, tables, lists and structured data help LLM systems understand the content and select it as a source.
Reputation is one of the most important assets a business has, and one of those most exposed to distortion in AI systems. Monitoring the brand makes it possible to see whether it is cited, in what context, and whether incomplete or incorrect information is emerging. We work on content, sources and communication to improve accuracy, authority and visibility.
Unless a brand is already very well known, the information about it online is not always complete, consistent or up to date. Working on GEO optimisation means strengthening these signals in order to increase the chances of being cited when users are looking for solutions.
Widening the audience
GEO makes it possible to reach users who are not looking for a list of results but for an answer that has already been filtered. In these searches the brand is not competing for the click: it is competing to get onto the user’s shortlist at the moment when they are comparing solutions, suppliers or products.
Strengthening the brand’s authority
When an AI system associates the brand with a solution or a problem, it helps define how that brand is perceived. GEO consultancy reduces the risk of that association being left to chance, to incomplete sources or to content produced by competitors.
A lasting competitive advantage
GEO is still an evolving discipline. Building coherent content, entities and signals now increases the likelihood that the brand will be included in the information paths AI systems use to answer future queries.
Protecting the brand
In generative systems, incorrect information can be summarised, reworded and put forward again in different contexts. GEO optimisation makes it possible to identify these distortions before they become part of the account through which users, customers or stakeholders understand the brand.
Our work starts from an analysis of the initial situation: the brand’s presence in the main AI systems, the competitors, the sources cited and the consistency of the information available online. This lets us understand not just how visible the brand is, but also how it is interpreted by generative models.
Where a deeper analysis is needed, we carry out a GEO audit: a complete assessment of the brand’s presence in the main generative AI systems. The analysis covers LLM Listening Audit, competitive framing, risks of semantic exclusion and associations with critical clusters that can limit or distort the brand’s presence in AI answers.
We work on the technical aspects that help generative engines understand the site and its content. The optimisations cover how readable the content is for crawlers, the structure of the site, the organisation of its resources, performance and accessibility.
GEO does not reward complete content alone, but content that AI systems can understand, verify and reuse unambiguously. A structured GEO content strategy turns content into retrievable, reliable resources, working on informational clarity, E-E-A-T signals and structured data.
We monitor the brand’s visibility in generative engines and analyse how it changes over time. We assess the frequency of citations, the quality of the answers, the comparison with competitors and any information gaps. This allows us to see where the brand is already solid and where action is needed instead.
We have worked on digital projects for companies, foundations and national and international bodies, on activity relating to GEO consultancy and optimisation for artificial intelligence.
GEO makes brands and content easier for generative engines to understand and cite. We work on reliable content, the structure of the information, consistent data and authority signals. The aim is to increase the chances of the AI using that information in its answers.
It depends on the starting situation and on the type of company. The first changes generally emerge after a few months. GEO should be seen as ongoing work: AI systems, sources and answers change over time, and the presence of the brand has to be maintained with the same continuity.
No. GEO does not replace SEO; it widens the ground SEO covers. Search engines still rely on the indexed web, on structured content, on authority and on technical findability. Both disciplines remain necessary.
GEO does not call for a reorganisation of the activity already under way. It fits alongside SEO, content marketing, social ads and performance marketing, strengthening the consistency of the brand across every channel. Those who add structured GEO work to these activities obtain stronger signals in AI systems too.
Contact our experts for further details
Get in touch to define the most suitable path together.
We analyse the starting context and identify the strategy geared to your objectives.