Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, is how we structure content so that AI-driven search engines like Google Gemini and ChatGPT can easily discover, interpret, and cite our information.
Is your website well positioned for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Can AI search tools like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews include your content in search results?
Today’s Generative Engine Optimization is an important part of your website structure.
What is Generative Engine Optimization?
Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, is an extension of SEO with the same foundational tactics.
The focus is getting AI to include your content in search results rather than just trying to be placed in the standard ten blue links.
GEO helps LLMs and AI Search Engines effectively crawl your content and understand the underlying structure.
LLM = Large Language Model
LLMs are a type of advanced artificial intelligence designed to understand, process, and generate human language.
Many popular AI tools that you use daily are powered by LLMs, such as:
- ChatGPT
- Gemini
- Claude
Without these additional enhancements, you may be missing out on traffic since LLMs are rapidly growing as a traffic source.
Identity Schema
Are you formatting proper schema on your site?
Make sure Organization or Person schema are identified on your page.
Because, the absence of Organization or Person schema makes it harder for search engines and LLMs to identify the ownership of a website.
And, it’s harder for them to confidently answer brand, company, or person queries.
Rendered Content (LLM Readability)
Dynamically rendering a lot of page content risks some important information being missed by LLMs. Some LLMs do not read this content.
To make it easier for LLMs, your website should now include a “llms.txt” file.
Make sure Google can find and read a “llms.txt” file on your hosting server.
Your “llms.txt” file serves as a plain-text list or map.
This file points AI models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude directly to your website’s most accurate, up-to-date, and important information.
Evaluate if AI is Including Your Content
Go to Google and search for natural questions and comparisons related to your industry.
- Example: Are there affordable web designers in northern Michigan?
(This a real question people ask about my industry and location.)
For questions relating to your industry:
- Does your website appear in the synthesized answer?
- Are there any citations listed that refer to your business?
The Generative Engine Optimization Focus
To have a solid GEO strategy, you also need good SEO. Both rely on the same core principles to build trust and authority.
Generative Engine Optimization requires a few subtle shifts in how you format information on your website.
Since the focus of GEO is to earn citations in conversational summaries, you should format content with direct, extractable answers at the top of your page headers.
It’s no longer just about trying to own the top spot in Google search results.
It’s about making your brand the most accurate, concise, and trustworthy source.
So, you need to convince LLMs that your content is the right source to cite.
