GEO explained

GEO in 2 minutes.

More and more buyers ask an AI instead of scrolling through links. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the work of making sure that AI names your company in its answer.

01 · Search then and now

Ten links, or one answer.

Then

A page of about ten blue links. The buyer opens a few, compares, and chooses.

Google AI Overview answering the query "what is generative engine optimization"
Now: Google AI Overview, 26 Sep 2026. Query: “what is generative engine optimization”. Real screenshot.

If you are not in the answer, you are not in the choice.

02 · How it works

How an AI answer picks who to name.

  1. A buyer asks

    “Who is the best supplier for this in my city?”

  2. The AI searches

    It reads websites, directories such as Clutch, and review sites.

  3. It compares

    It checks what other sites say about each company.

  4. It names a few

    The ones that sources describe clearly and in the same way.

03 · Why it matters for your revenue

Fewer clicks reach your site.

When the answer sits on the search page, fewer people click through to websites. Two independent measurements:

Clicks on a regular Google result

Share of Google visits with a click on a regular search result: 15% without an AI summary, 8% with one.No AI summary on the page15%AI summary on the page8%
Source: Pew Research Center, 22 July 2025. Browsing data of 900 U.S. adults, March 2025: “Users who encountered an AI summary clicked on a traditional search result link in 8% of all visits.” Without a summary: “15% of visits”.

Google Search traffic to publishers

Google Search traffic to publishers fell 40.2% from July 2025 to July 2026.July 2025 (set to 100)100July 2026−40.2%
Source: Chartbeat 2026 Publisher Playbook, as reported by Search Engine Journal, 24 September 2026: “a 40.2% year-over-year decline for Google Search across its publisher network from July 2025 to July 2026”. Mostly news and media sites. The full report is behind a sign-up form.
04 · Real examples

What this looks like in real answers.

“Best SEO agency in Liverpool”

Perplexity answer to "best SEO agency in Liverpool", naming agencies and citing Clutch as a source
Perplexity, 26 Sep 2026. Query: “best SEO agency in Liverpool”. Real screenshot.

It names 6 agencies. Every reason it gives traces back to other sites: Clutch, directory rankings, review counts. None come from the agencies’ own homepages.

A kitchen equipment retailer: starting point

Perplexity manufacturers table for vacuum bags, listing our client (name blurred)
Perplexity, 26 Sep 2026: a Ukrainian kitchen-equipment retailer we work with appears in the manufacturers table for vacuum bags. Answers vary between runs; we measure repeatedly.

13 Sep 2026: named in 1 of 15 answers

15 buyer questions in Perplexity, before any changes to the site. We ask the same questions again after the work is live.

05 · What we do

Three steps, repeated.

  1. 01

    Measure

    We ask AI engines your buyers’ questions, several times each, and record who gets named.

  2. 02

    Fix what AI reads

    Your pages, and what directories and review sites say about you.

  3. 03

    Measure again

    Same questions, a month later. You see what changed, with the raw answers.

Short answers

How is GEO different from SEO?

SEO works on where your page ranks in a list of links. GEO works on whether an AI answer names you. They share a lot: a site that search engines can read, clear pages, a good reputation on other sites. The difference is the goal and how we measure it. Longer answer.

Do we have to rebuild our website?

Usually no. Most fixes are small: let AI crawlers in, answer common buyer questions plainly on pages you already have, fix wrong facts about you on other sites. You can check the crawler part for free in a minute.

How long until we see a change?

Some changes, like unblocking a crawler, can show within weeks. Changes that depend on other sites, like reviews and directory listings, take months. We re-measure every month, so you see what moved and what did not.

Can you guarantee that AI will name us?

No. The AI company decides what its answer says, and the same question can give a different answer an hour later. Anyone who promises a spot in AI answers cannot control it. We promise the measurement, the raw answers and the work.