GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the SEO practice of creating and structuring content so AI-driven search experiences (like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews) can find, interpret, and cite your content in their generated answers.
- Goal: show up as a source (mention or citation) inside AI-generated responses.
- Where it shows: AI chat/search answers and AI summaries that include links to publishers.
Does GEO replace SEO?
No - most brands do both: SEO is for rankings (to understand how SEO works) + GEO for AI answer visibility.
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Why is GEO important?
Because AI answers can be a “first stop” that summarizes sources and sends users to selected links. Understanding how GEO works is essential for maintaining visibility in these results.
Where did the term GEO come from?
Researchers formalized “Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)” in work on generative search engines and visibility optimization.
