What is GEO, and how does it work?

GEO, or generative engine optimization, is the work of getting your business named in the answers that AI assistants write. When someone asks ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini “Which accountant in Gothenburg is good for freelancers?”, the assistant replies with a short answer and two or three names. GEO is about being one of them.

The name comes from a 2023 research paper that called AI assistants generative engines: search tools that don't just list pages, but generate an answer from them. Optimizing for that answer is GEO.

GEO in one sentence

SEO gets your page ranked in a list of links. GEO gets your business named inside the answer. The two are linked, because the assistants find their information with search — but being found is not the same as being recommended.

How GEO works: what happens when someone asks AI

To optimize for an AI answer, it helps to know how one is made. Roughly, four things happen:

1. The assistant searches

For questions about businesses, products and places, the assistant needs current information, so it searches the web. Gemini uses Google Search; ChatGPT and Claude run their own web searches and show the sources they used. If your pages don't show up in those searches — or block AI crawlers in robots.txt — you're out before the answer is written.

2. It reads the pages it found

The assistant reads a handful of pages, and it reads text. A homepage built from a slogan and three photos gives it very little. A page that says plainly what you do, for whom, where and at what price gives it everything it needs.

3. It picks the names it trusts

An answer has room for a few names. The assistant chooses the businesses it can describe with confidence — the ones whose facts are clear and consistent, and that other sources (directories, review sites, comparison lists, local news) mention too.

4. It writes the answer

Finally, it writes a short reply, often quoting or closely paraphrasing a sentence from a page it read. Pages with short, direct answers to the exact question are much easier to quote than long, vague ones.

What GEO looks like in practice

• Let the AI crawlers in. Check that GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended aren't blocked.
• Write one clear sentence about your business — what, for whom, where — and put it near the top of your homepage.
• Answer customer questions directly in 40–60 word answer blocks, with the question as the heading.
• Add structured data so machines read your name, address, services and FAQs without guessing. See our structured data tutorial.
• Get mentioned elsewhere: directories, reviews, partners and press.
• Measure how often you're named, across several assistants, over time.

How to know if GEO is working

AI answers change from day to day and person to person, so one test proves little. Write down 10–20 questions your customers really ask — without your business name in them — and ask ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini regularly. Track how often you're named, and who is named instead.

That's exactly what SEO Joe does: he checks your SEO basics, asks the AI assistants your customers' questions, and gives you a short list of what to fix first. Want to know why this is becoming urgent? Read why GEO is getting more important than SEO, or how GEO differs from AEO.