Short definition
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of improving how often and how accurately generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews mention and cite a brand or webpage when they compose answers to users’ questions.
Where the term comes from
The term was popularised by a 2023 research paper by researchers from Princeton University, IIT Delhi and other institutions, which tested how content changes — such as adding statistics, quotations and citations — affected visibility in generative engine responses.
What tends to improve GEO visibility
- Specific, verifiable facts and statistics with sources
- Clear structure that makes passages easy to extract
- Consistent brand descriptions across your site and trusted third-party sites
- Mentions in sources AI systems rely on for your category (reviews, directories, news, forums)
- Crawlable, server-rendered pages and sensible AI crawler access in robots.txt
Common questions
Can GEO guarantee my brand appears in ChatGPT?
No. AI providers control their systems. GEO improves the likelihood and accuracy of mentions by improving the information available about you.