Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing your brand's visibility in generative AI platforms - the large language models that power ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.
GEO is a subset of AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). While AEO covers all AI-powered answer systems, GEO focuses specifically on how LLMs generate responses and what influences their recommendations.
Why GEO needs its own playbook
LLMs don't work like search engines. Understanding the mechanics changes how you optimize.
Training data shapes the baseline
LLMs form their understanding of your brand from the data they were trained on - billions of web pages, articles, reviews, and discussions. If your brand was well-represented in positive, authoritative sources at training time, the model has a built-in familiarity with you. If not, you're starting from a weaker position.
This means historical brand building matters. A brand with years of press coverage, industry recognition, and community discussion has structural advantages that can't be replicated overnight.
RAG brings in real-time signals
Most modern LLMs don't rely on training data alone. They use Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) - searching the web in real-time to supplement their knowledge before generating a response.
This is where things get actionable. Your current web presence directly influences what RAG-enabled platforms say about you. Perplexity is heavily RAG-based. ChatGPT uses a hybrid approach. This means fresh content, recent reviews, and current press coverage all matter right now - not just at the next model training cycle.
Each model behaves differently
Different LLMs have different tendencies:
- ChatGPT leans toward well-known brands and provides detailed, conversational recommendations
- Perplexity relies heavily on real-time web content and explicitly cites sources
- Claude tends toward nuanced, balanced recommendations with more diverse suggestions
- Gemini leverages Google's search index and knowledge graph
- Grok incorporates real-time social data from X
A brand that dominates ChatGPT recommendations might barely appear on Perplexity, and vice versa. This is why platform-specific tracking matters.
What actually works for GEO
Make your content citable
LLMs need content they can extract clear information from. What works:
- Specific claims over vague statements. "Our platform processes 50,000 queries per second" beats "Our platform is fast and reliable."
- Clear Q&A structure. Headers phrased as questions with direct answers underneath.
- Original data. Benchmarks, research findings, and proprietary statistics that AI can reference as authoritative sources.
Strengthen signals beyond your website
AI doesn't evaluate you based on your website alone. It synthesizes signals from everywhere:
- Reviews on G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot
- Media coverage in industry publications
- Discussions on Reddit, forums, and communities
- Expert mentions and analyst reports
- Social media presence and engagement
Your website is one input among many. Often not even the most important one.
Keep information current and consistent
Outdated or contradictory information about your brand confuses AI models. If your website says one thing, your G2 profile says another, and a 2024 press article says a third, the model's confidence in recommending you drops.
Audit your brand's information across the web. Ensure pricing, features, positioning, and messaging are consistent and current.
Measuring GEO performance
Track these metrics across each AI platform individually:
- Visibility rate - Percentage of relevant prompts where you appear
- Position - Where you're mentioned in the response (first, second, last)
- Sentiment - How positively or negatively AI describes you
- Citation rate - How often AI links to your content as a source (especially on Perplexity)
- Competitive gap - Your visibility vs. top competitors per platform
AEOscope tracks all of these daily across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Grok.
Track your GEO performance across every major AI platform. AEOscope gives you the data to optimize your generative engine visibility.
