Generative engine optimisation: get your business cited by AI
The signals that drove Google rankings for 20 years don't drive AI citations. GEO is the discipline built for the system that replaced them.
START WITH A FREE AUDITAhrefs, 75,000 brands, 2025
Generative engine optimisation: get your business cited by AI
The signals that drove Google rankings for 20 years don't drive AI citations. GEO is the discipline built for the system that replaced them.
Start with a free auditWhat is generative engine optimisation?
Generative engine optimisation is the practice of building the signals that make AI platforms cite and recommend your business. Not Google's algorithm.
The answer generation systems inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. The signals are different from traditional SEO. The discipline is built for the system that replaced ranked results.
Web mentions correlate 0.664 with AI visibility. Backlinks correlate 0.218 (Ahrefs, 75,000 brands, 2025). That single data point explains why traditional SEO agencies are struggling with AI search. The ranking factor that mattered most for 20 years, backlinks, is now the weaker signal. The factor that barely registered, being mentioned in credible third-party contexts, is three times more predictive.
Generative AI is now the single most cited meaningful interaction for B2B purchase research (Forrester, Buyers' Journey Survey 2025, 18,000 global buyers). In the UK, 66% of senior decision-makers use AI tools specifically for supplier research (Magenta Associates, 2025). The channel has changed. GEO is the discipline built for the channel that exists now, not the one that existed five years ago.
What is generative engine optimisation?
Generative engine optimisation is the practice of building the signals that make AI platforms cite and recommend your business. Not Google's algorithm.
The answer generation systems inside ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. The signals are different from traditional SEO.
Web mentions correlate 0.664 with AI visibility. Backlinks correlate 0.218 (Ahrefs, 75,000 brands, 2025). The ranking factor that mattered most for 20 years is now the weaker signal.
Generative AI is now the single most cited meaningful interaction for B2B purchase research (Forrester, Buyers' Journey Survey 2025, 18,000 global buyers). In the UK, 66% of senior decision-makers use AI tools specifically for supplier research (Magenta Associates, 2025). The channel has changed.
How does GEO differ from traditional SEO?
Traditional SEO optimises for crawlers: backlinks, keyword density, domain authority, page ranking in Google's index. GEO optimises for citation selection in AI-generated responses. The pages AI platforms choose to cite are not the ones SEO says are authoritative. They are the ones that answer questions clearly and carry the right signals.
High-ranking businesses can be completely invisible to AI search. Mid-sized companies with modest SEO metrics get cited consistently across all six platforms. Rankings alone tell you nothing.
This is the question we get on every first call. The conflation leads to bad strategy. SEO is the foundation. It is not the ceiling. AI search requires deep SEO knowledge applied to different platforms, different indexes, and different signals. GEO measures and builds the ones that matter now, across all six platforms.
How does GEO differ from traditional SEO?
Traditional SEO optimises for crawlers: backlinks, keyword density, domain authority, page ranking in Google's index. GEO optimises for citation selection in AI-generated responses.
High-ranking businesses can be completely invisible to AI search. Mid-sized companies with modest SEO metrics get cited consistently across all six platforms.
This is the question we get on every first call. SEO is the foundation. It is not the ceiling. GEO measures and builds the signals that matter now, across all six platforms.
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
AEO (answer engine optimisation) is the older term. It emerged from voice search and featured snippets when search engines started extracting direct answers from pages. GEO is the broader term. It covers generative AI platforms that construct answers from multiple sources rather than extract a single snippet. The underlying work is largely the same. The terminology differs by era.
Answer extraction era
- Answer boxes and featured snippets
- Voice search optimisation
- Single snippet extraction from one page
Answer generation era
- ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, AI Overviews
- Multi-source answer construction
- Cross-platform citation mechanics
In practice, the strategy overlaps: clear structure, direct answers, schema markup, entity authority, third-party mentions, and structured content that AI systems can parse and attribute. 1DOT covers both under GEO because it reflects the full scope of what we do across all six AI platforms.
If you came here looking for AEO services or an AEO agency, you are in the right place.
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
AEO (answer engine optimisation) is the older term. It emerged from voice search and featured snippets. GEO is the broader term covering generative AI platforms. The underlying work is largely the same. The terminology differs by era.
Answer extraction era
Answer boxes, voice search, featured snippets. Single snippet extraction from one page.
Answer generation era
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, Gemini, AI Overviews. Multi-source answer construction across six platforms.
In practice, the strategy overlaps. 1DOT covers both under GEO because it reflects the full scope of what we do across all six AI platforms.
If you came here looking for AEO services or an AEO agency, you are in the right place.
15 minutes. No payment details required.
15 minutes. No payment details required.
How does GEO work across AI platforms?
AI platforms do not cite randomly. They extract from pages they can parse, trust sources they have seen referenced elsewhere, and favour content structured for extraction. Four mechanisms drive citation selection across platforms: content structure, schema markup, entity authority and earned media, and distribution breadth.
No AI platform publishes its complete selection criteria. The signals shift. That is what makes this work a continuous discipline, not a one-time checklist.
Content structure
Logical H2/H3 heading hierarchies produce 2.8x higher citation likelihood (ZipTie.dev, 2025). Question-based headers matching buyer queries are the most extractable format. If your content is written as marketing copy rather than citable answers, AI platforms will take the answer from someone who structured theirs differently.
ZipTie.dev, 2025Schema markup
Structured data tells AI platforms what your content means, not just what it says. Service schema, FAQ schema, and BreadcrumbList are the starting point for any B2B site.
Entity authority and earned media
Brands are 6.5x more likely to be cited via third-party sources than their own domains (AirOps, 21,311 brand mentions, October 2025). 82% of AI citations come from earned media (Muck Rack, 1M+ links, December 2025). Not link building. Mention building.
AirOps, 21,311 mentions, Oct 2025 / Muck Rack, Dec 2025Distribution breadth
Multi-publication distribution increases AI citations by 239% (Stacker/Scrunch, 87 stories, March 2026). The companies cited consistently are the ones talked about in multiple places, not the ones with the most backlinks.
Stacker/Scrunch, 87 stories, Mar 2026We have dedicated pages for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews because each platform has specific mechanics. The shared signals above are the highest-impact starting point.
How does GEO work across AI platforms?
AI platforms do not cite randomly. They extract from pages they can parse, trust sources they have seen referenced elsewhere, and favour content structured for extraction. Four mechanisms drive citation selection across platforms.
No AI platform publishes its complete selection criteria. The signals shift.
Content structure
Logical H2/H3 heading hierarchies produce 2.8x higher citation likelihood (ZipTie.dev, 2025). Question-based headers matching buyer queries are the most extractable format. If your content is written as marketing copy rather than citable answers, AI platforms will take the answer from someone who structured theirs differently.
Schema markup
Structured data tells AI platforms what your content means, not just what it says. Service schema, FAQ schema, and BreadcrumbList are the starting point for any B2B site.
Entity authority and earned media
Brands are 6.5x more likely to be cited via third-party sources than their own domains (AirOps, 21,311 brand mentions, October 2025). 82% of AI citations come from earned media (Muck Rack, 1M+ links, December 2025). Not link building. Mention building.
Distribution breadth
Multi-publication distribution increases AI citations by 239% (Stacker/Scrunch, 87 stories, March 2026). The companies cited consistently are the ones talked about in multiple places, not the ones with the most backlinks.
We have dedicated pages for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews because each platform has specific mechanics.
What does a GEO audit cover?
The AI visibility audit tests how all six AI platforms see your business today. We run 12 to 15 real buyer queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. You see exactly where you are cited, where you are absent, and which competitors are capturing the recommendations.
The audit is free. It establishes a baseline across seven scored categories: AI share of voice, content extractability, crawler access, brand entity coherence, third-party presence, technical foundation, and content quality.
From the audit, we build a prioritised action plan:
If you want help closing the gaps, we discuss a 90-day programme on the walkthrough call.
GEO and AEO programmes built and run by Mo Walji across six AI platforms for B2B companies in the UK and US.
15 minutes. No payment details required.
What does a GEO audit cover?
The AI visibility audit tests how all six AI platforms see your business today. We run 12 to 15 real buyer queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. You see exactly where you are cited, where you are absent, and which competitors are capturing the recommendations.
The audit is free. It establishes a baseline across seven scored categories.
From the audit, we build a prioritised action plan:
If you want help closing the gaps, we discuss a 90-day programme on the walkthrough call.
GEO and AEO programmes built and run by Mo Walji across six AI platforms for B2B companies in the UK and US.
Book your free audit15 minutes. No payment details required.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
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Find out where you stand. Start with a free audit.
We test your business across all six AI platforms using the queries your buyers actually ask. You see the evidence, the gap against competitors, and the specific actions that would close it.
The companies being cited now are building compounding authority. The ones that wait will be paying to displace them. The window is open. Move first.
GET YOUR FREE AUDIT15-minute call. No payment details required.
Find out where you stand. Start with a free audit.
We test your business across all six AI platforms using the queries your buyers actually ask. You see the evidence, the gap against competitors, and the specific actions that would close it.
The companies being cited now are building compounding authority. The ones that wait will be paying to displace them. The window is open. Move first.
15-minute call. No payment details required.