Generative Engine Optimization is the practice of improving your brand’s visibility and presence inside AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews.

Instead of optimizing only for traditional search rankings, GEO focuses on being cited, mentioned, and linked within responses generated by large language models. The goal is to ensure your content is included and accurately represented when users search for solutions through AI tools.

It is the next evolution of SEO, adapted for how people are beginning to get answers without clicking through search results.

Also, if you want to learn more about GEO and how to build your own GEO strategy, go read our latest article right here.

A GEO audit shows how visible your brand is inside AI-generated answers and where you’re being left out.

It helps you:

• Identify which pages are being cited or ignored by AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews
• Find gaps in your content that prevent inclusion in AI responses
• Understand how your brand is being mentioned or positioned in generative answers
• Improve your chances of being used as a source by AI, which drives visibility and referral traffic

In short, it tells you if the AI-powered internet knows you exist, trusts your content, and uses it to answer real buyer questions.

Not at all. But if you’re only doing traditional SEO, you’re playing an outdated game.

People aren’t just Googling and clicking anymore. They’re asking AI tools for answers directly. That means your content needs to show up in AI responses too.

SEO is now about two things:

• Ranking for high-value keywords that drive pipeline.
• Showing up in generative search results where AI tools pull answers.

GEO doesn’t replace SEO. It expands the scope. Same goals—qualified traffic and revenue—but now across both search engines and AI interfaces. Ignore that, and you’re invisible in half the places your buyers are looking.

SEO focuses on getting your content ranked in search engine results like Google. The goal is to drive organic traffic through clicks on blue links.

GEO focuses on getting your content included in AI-generated answers from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews. The goal is to be mentioned, cited, or linked by large language models.

SEO is about rankings and metadata. GEO is about citations, brand mentions, and how well your content aligns with what AI tools consider credible and useful.

Both aim to bring in qualified traffic, but they operate in different environments and require different strategies.

Same way you always should: pipeline, closed-won deals, ARR. If your GEO efforts aren’t helping move revenue, it’s not a channel. It’s a distraction.

But there are new signals worth tracking while the revenue builds:

• LLM Referral Traffic – Visitors coming from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity? That’s GEO working.
• Brand Mentions in AI Answers – Are you part of the conversation when someone asks about your space?
• AI Citations – If an AI tool links to or credits your content, it’s the new backlink.
• AI Prominence – Being the first brand mentioned in a summary = trust and attention.
• Conversational Engagement – Do users ask about you next or dig deeper after seeing your name in an AI answer?

If SEO gave us clicks and rankings, GEO gives us mentions, citations, and narrative control. And yeah, it should still lead to revenue. Just with a new set of breadcrumbs.

You can learn more about GEO KPIs here in our article. 

Look for an agency that treats GEO like a revenue channel, not a trend.

You want a partner who:

• Understands how AI tools surface and cite content, not just how to rank in Google
• Tracks GEO-specific KPIs like brand mentions in AI, LLM referral traffic, and citation accuracy
• Audits your current content for AI visibility and content fitness
• Builds strategy based on your business model and goals, not just volume
• Can show actual client results from tools like Perplexity, ChatGPT, or Gemini

Avoid anyone who treats it like SEO with a new label. This isn’t about checking boxes. It’s about being part of the AI answers your buyers trust.