What is GEO? How to get your brand cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity
October 19, 2026 · 2 min read · fernando.samith
GEO, or Generative Engine Optimisation, is the practice of improving how often and how accurately AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews mention your brand when people ask questions in your category. It builds on SEO, but the goal is to be quoted in an answer rather than ranked in a list.
Why GEO matters now
More buyers start their research by asking an AI assistant. These tools summarise what they find across the web, so brands with clear, consistent and well-cited information are the ones that get named.
How AI tools decide who to mention
- Clear facts: pages that state who you are, where you are, what you offer and what it costs.
- Consistency: the same name, description and details across your site, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories.
- Third-party mentions: reviews, listings, press and community posts that reference you.
- Quotable content: original data, specific numbers and direct answers.
Five steps to start
- Test 20–50 real questions in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini and note who gets mentioned.
- Publish a clear facts page and make your service pages answer questions in the first 50 words.
- Add structured data (Organization, Service, FAQ) and an llms.txt file.
- Fix inconsistent profiles across directories and social platforms.
- Publish one genuinely useful guide a month with real numbers, and track citations monthly.
GEO vs SEO vs AEO
SEO gets your pages ranked, AEO gets your answers featured in snippets and voice results, and GEO gets your brand cited by AI assistants. The strongest results come from doing all three together.