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Generative engine optimisation:
how to get named by AI search

A glass prism splitting a single beam of light on a charcoal surface

Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the work of getting your business named and cited when people ask AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews who to trust.

It builds on SEO. The difference is the goal: not a blue link on page one, but being the answer.

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Founders now ask AI the questions they used to type into Google. Which agency should I hire. What does equipment finance cost. Who runs the best party bus on the Gold Coast.

The AI answers with a short list of names. If your business is not on that list, you are not in the conversation, however well you rank underneath it.

AI engines do not rank pages. They summarise sources they trust and name the brands those sources agree on. GEO is the work of becoming one of those sources.

How AI search chooses who to name

Every AI answer is built from sources it can read, trust and quote.

What AI engines look for

Clear, direct answers to the question asked
Facts and numbers they can quote
A business described the same way everywhere
Mentions on sites they already trust
Pages they can crawl and read easily

A lighthouse beam reaching across a calm grey sea at dusk

What gets left out

Vague pages that never answer the question
Claims with no evidence behind them
Brands described differently on every profile
Content locked inside images or scripts
Businesses nobody else mentions

The pattern is consistent: the brands that get named are the easiest to understand and the most often confirmed by others.

GEO and SEO

Is GEO different from SEO?

Yes and no. GEO stands on the same foundations as SEO: a fast, crawlable site, useful content and authority earned from other sites. What changes is what you optimise for.

SEO optimises for rankings. The measure is position and clicks.
GEO optimises for citations. The measure is how often AI names you, and in what context.
SEO rewards pages. GEO rewards entities: a business that is clearly defined and consistently confirmed.

You do not choose between them. Strong SEO is the entry ticket for GEO, because most AI answers draw on pages that already rank. We explain the shift in traditional SEO vs AI driven SEO, and what it does to traffic in how Google’s AI search is changing clicks.

The method

Five steps to get named by AI search

The work we run for clients, in order of impact.

In order of impact

01.

Define the entity. One description of the business, used word for word on the site, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and every directory.

02.

Answer first. Open every key page and section with a direct one or two sentence answer AI can quote.

03.

Publish citable facts. Real numbers, named methods and dated data give AI something worth repeating.

04.

Earn mentions. Reviews, directories, press and partner sites confirm the business to AI engines.

05.

Mark it up. Organisation, service, article and FAQ schema make every page easy for machines to read.

Proof: a finance broker named by ChatGPT and Gemini

Millard Financial, a Gold Coast equipment finance broker, went from fewer than 10 indexed pages to more than 3,280 keyword rankings by building precise pages for more than 20 equipment niches. The same pages now get Millard recommended inside ChatGPT and Gemini.

Read the Millard Financial case study

Side by side

SEO compared with GEO

The same foundations, measured in different places.

SEO/Goal: rank on page one/Unit: the page/Measure: positions and clicks/Signals: keywords, links and technical health/Result: a visit to your site

GEO/Goal: be named in the answer/Unit: the business/Measure: citations and mentions/Signals: clarity, consistency and third party confirmation/Result: a recommendation before the click

Most businesses only measure the first column.

The second column is where more buying decisions now start.

Measurement

How to measure GEO

Rankings alone no longer tell the whole story.

Track your share of answers

Run the same set of buyer questions through ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Mode every month. Record whether you are named, where, and how you are described. That is your baseline, and the number to move.

Watch the signals that feed it

Branded searches, referral traffic from AI tools, review volume and mentions on trusted sites all move before citations do. In Search Console, impressions holding while clicks fall is a sign AI answers are already taking the click.

GEO is measured in months, not weeks. The businesses that start now become the sources AI learns from.

Self check

Is your business ready for AI search?

Run these checks against your own site and profiles.

Signs you are visible/AI tools describe your business accurately/Key pages answer the question in two sentences/Your name, address and services match everywhere/Other sites mention you by name/Your pages carry structured data

Signs you are invisible/AI tools name competitors but not you/Key pages open with slogans, not answers/Your profiles describe you differently/Nobody outside your site mentions you/Your site has no schema markup

If the second list fits better, the fix starts with the foundations, not with more content.

The decision

A lone lighthouse shining across a calm grey sea at dusk

Start before AI decides without you

Generative engine optimisation is not a replacement for SEO. Most AI answers draw on pages that already rank, so strong SEO is the foundation and GEO is what turns rankings into recommendations.

The early work moves fast. Technical fixes and structured data can change how AI describes a business within weeks. Being named consistently takes longer, usually three to six months, because it depends on mentions building across sites AI already trusts. Nobody can pay to be named in an organic answer.

That is what makes it worth starting now. The businesses AI learns to trust today are the ones it keeps recommending.

Want your business named when buyers ask AI?

Tell us where the business is heading and we will map what a connected marketing system looks like for it.

Start a project

Generative engine optimisation: how to get named by AI search