What is GEO?
GEO (generative engine optimization) is the practice of preparing website content so that AI-powered search tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity cite it as a source in their answers. It does not replace SEO; it builds on it, rewarding clear definitions, verifiable facts and well-structured pages.
Definition
GEO (generative engine optimization) is the practice of preparing website content so that AI-powered search tools such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity cite it as a source in their answers.
How does GEO work?
When an AI search tool writes an answer, it finds relevant pages on the web and grounds the answer in them. In effect, this is RAG at search-engine scale. GEO aims to make your page a likely pick in that selection. The tools do not fully disclose how they choose sources, but clear, current and verifiable pages appear to be favoured. The term gained currency through an academic paper published in 2023.
What matters for GEO?
The first sentence of a page should answer its question directly. Definitions are one sentence long and follow a recognisable pattern. Claims carry sources, and unsourced statistics are avoided. Headings reflect the reader’s real questions. Structured data (schema.org) and an FAQ section make content easier to extract and quote. Showing an updated date and naming the organisation as author also help. This glossary is written to the same principles.
GEO for multilingual markets
In languages such as Turkish, there is less high-quality source material for AI tools to draw on than in English. That is an opportunity for companies that publish well in both languages. Keep Turkish and English pages consistent and link them with hreflang. The same content can also power the chatbot on your own site. To understand the models underneath, see LLM.
Related terms
- LLM (Large Language Model)An LLM (large language model) is an AI model trained on very large amounts of text that answers questions, summarises, translates and writes by predicting what text should come next.
- RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) is an AI architecture that lets a language model retrieve relevant passages from a chosen document collection, such as a company's own documents, and use them as context before it writes an answer.
- ChatbotA chatbot is software that converses with users in text or voice on channels such as a website, WhatsApp or in-app messaging, answering questions and handling simple tasks.
Frequently asked questions
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. AI search tools still rely largely on pages that can be crawled, indexed and trusted. Technical SEO and good content are the foundation of GEO; GEO adds the goal of being quotable in an answer.
How do you measure GEO?
There is no standard metric yet. A practical start is to ask your target questions in AI search tools regularly, record whether your site is cited, and track referral traffic from those tools separately in analytics.
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