What is generative engine optimisation, in one paragraph?
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of setting up your website and online presence so that AI tools — like ChatGPT, Google's AI answers, Perplexity and Gemini — recommend and cite your business when someone asks them a question. If traditional SEO is about ranking on Google's list of links, GEO is about becoming part of the answer the AI gives directly. You're no longer just trying to be found. You're trying to be the business the AI names.
Why does this matter for my business now?
Because the way people search is changing fast. Instead of typing "electrician Adelaide" into Google and scrolling through results, more people now ask an AI assistant a plain question — "who's a good electrician near me in Adelaide?" — and get one or two names back. No list. No scrolling. Just an answer.
If your business is one of those names, you win the job before your competitors are even in the conversation. If you're not, you're invisible in that moment — no matter how good your old-school Google ranking is.
How does an AI decide which business to recommend?
It's not magic, and it's not random. When you ask an AI a question, roughly three things happen behind the scenes:
It breaks your question into smaller ones
Ask "who's the best plumber in Adelaide for emergency work?" and the AI quietly splits that into smaller searches — "emergency plumber Adelaide," "24 hour plumber reviews," and so on. It's hunting for the best source to answer each piece.
It pulls in pages that clearly answer those pieces
The AI gathers content from across the web that directly, clearly answers those smaller questions. Vague, waffly, or hard-to-read pages get skipped. Clear, well-structured ones get pulled in.
It picks the most trustworthy sources to cite
From everything it gathered, the AI only cites a small handful — the sources that look the most credible, consistent and authoritative. That's the shortlist your business needs to be on.
So the goal is simple to say (if not always simple to do): be clear enough to get pulled in, and trusted enough to get chosen.
What actually makes AI more likely to recommend you?
Based on how these tools work in 2026, a handful of things genuinely move the needle:
- Clear, direct answersContent that answers real customer questions plainly and up-front, not buried in fluff. AI lifts the clear bits.
- Being mentioned around the webWhen trusted sites, directories and reviews mention your business, AI treats you as more credible. Third-party mentions matter enormously.
- Strong, consistent reviewsAI leans heavily on reputation. Genuine reviews and a consistent presence tell it you're a safe recommendation.
- Consistent business info everywhereSame name, address, services and details across every site. Mixed signals make AI unsure, and unsure means uncited.
- Fresh, dated contentAI favours content that's clearly current. A page updated this year beats one that looks abandoned.
- Solid traditional SEO underneathGEO builds on SEO, it doesn't replace it. Good SEO foundations make you easier for AI to find and trust.
Is GEO the same as SEO?
Not quite — but they're close cousins, and they work best together. Traditional SEO is about ranking your page in Google's list of blue links, mostly through keywords and links. GEO is about getting your business quoted inside an AI's answer, through clarity, trust and reputation.
The good news: most of what makes GEO work also strengthens your normal SEO. You're not choosing between them. Strong SEO is the foundation; GEO is the layer on top that gets you ready for how people search next.
The honest truth about GEO in 2026.
Nobody has AI search completely figured out — it's genuinely early, and anyone promising guaranteed "get cited by ChatGPT" results is guessing. The tools change constantly, and each one (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google) picks its sources a little differently.
But here's what we do know: the things that make AI recommend you are, at their core, the same things that have always built trust online — clear answers, real authority, genuine reviews, consistent information. Do those now, and you're not gambling on a trend. You're building foundations that pay off however AI search develops — while getting a head start on being the answer before your competitors even know the game changed.
Generative engine optimisation: quick questions.
Generative Engine Optimisation — optimising your online presence so AI tools cite and recommend your business in their answers.
The main ones are ChatGPT, Google's AI answers, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude. Each chooses sources slightly differently, so the goal is to be trusted across all of them.
GEO builds on SEO rather than replacing it. If your SEO is strong, you're well-placed — GEO is the additional layer that gets you cited in AI answers, not just ranked in Google.
It's early, which is exactly the advantage. The businesses building AI visibility now are establishing authority before most competitors have started.
Ask it. Open ChatGPT or Perplexity and ask "who's the best [your service] in [your area]?" and see whether you appear. That's the simplest starting point.