Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): A Simple Guide
Generative engine optimisation, or GEO, is the work of helping AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity find, trust and quote your business. These tools do not return a list of links. They build an answer from several sources, so GEO is about making your content the clearest source for each part of that answer.
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How generative engines build an answer
An AI rarely searches once. It breaks a question into smaller questions, looks up each one, then puts the answer together. Each of those smaller questions is a chance for your business to be the source it uses.
A single long page might answer one of those well. A small set of clear pages, each answering one question properly, can be picked up several times in the same answer.
What GEO involves
We work through six stages, in this order, because each one depends on the one before.
| Stage | The question it answers | Typical timescale |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Can AI tools reach your pages at all? | Days |
| Clarity | Can a clear answer be lifted from each page? | Weeks |
| Coverage | Does one page own each customer question, and only one? | Weeks to months |
| Entity | Is it obvious which business you are, everywhere online? | Weeks, then ongoing |
| Corroboration | Do reviews, listings and press back up what you say? | Months |
| Measurement | Can we see what has changed? | Set up once, reviewed monthly |
How to map your customers’ questions
This is the heart of GEO, and you can start it yourself in an afternoon. Gather the questions people ask before they choose you, from four places:
SEARCH CONSOLE
Look for question searches, and pages with views but few clicks.
Your sales calls
Write down what people ask before buying, in their own words.
The AI tools
Ask ChatGPT your main question and note the topics its answer covers.
The worries
Cost, risk, timescales and alternatives. These pages often convert best.
Then give each question one home on your website. Two pages answering the same question end up competing with each other.
GEO, AEO and SEO: how they fit together
- SEO is the foundation. Google’s AI answers draw on the same index as its normal results, so a page that cannot rank is rarely quoted.
- GEO is the whole discipline of being chosen and named by AI tools.
- AEO is the writing craft within it: answer engine optimisation explained.
What GEO is not
- It is not publishing more. Clear, separate answers matter more than volume.
- It is not writing for machines. Every page still needs to be useful to a person.
- It is not a replacement for SEO. It builds on it.
Would you like us to do this for you?
Our AI search and GEO services start with a question map for your main service, and it is yours to keep whether or not you go further with us. Or read our complete guide to AI search visibility.
Frequently asked questions
Is GEO just a new name for SEO?
Mostly it is SEO with a different way of planning. The new part is planning around the smaller questions an AI asks, and measuring mentions rather than rankings.
How many pages does a question map produce?
Usually eight to twenty for one service, and around half often exist already and just need rewriting.
Do we need separate content for AI?
No. You need your existing content structured so a clear answer can be lifted from it. Duplicate pages for machines can harm you.
Can we start without special tools?
Yes. Search Console, your sales questions and an hour with the AI tools will give you most of a useful first map.
Get a GEO question map for your main service
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