Generative engine optimization: how to get cited by AI assistants

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your business easy for AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot to find, understand and cite when they answer a customer’s question. There is no button that puts you in the answer and no way to buy a recommendation. What works is a combination of three things: a website that is easy to read and quote, consistent information about your business across the web, and mentions in places AI assistants trust.

What is generative engine optimization, and how is it different from SEO?

SEO aims to rank a page in a list of results, while generative engine optimization aims to make your business part of the answer itself. Most of the work overlaps, but there are three important differences.

First, the unit changes. In SEO you compete with pages; in GEO you compete with passages. An assistant lifts a definition, a paragraph or a list from your page and weaves it into its reply. Second, mentions of your business on other websites, even without a link, carry real weight. Third, there is no position one. You are either mentioned or not, and how you are described matters as much as whether you appear.

How do AI assistants decide what to recommend?

They draw on two sources: what the model learned during training, and live web searches. General questions are mostly answered from existing knowledge. Current, local or commercial questions, such as “Which IT support companies in Manchester work with small law firms?”, usually trigger a web search, and the assistant summarises what it finds with links to its sources.

Training knowledge

Models learn from vast amounts of public text. A business that is mentioned often, over time and in a clear context, becomes part of that knowledge. You have little direct control over this, and it is a long game.

Live search

Here you have far more influence. When an assistant searches, it relies on search engine indexes and its own crawlers. ChatGPT, for example, uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot to find pages for its search answers, Gemini draws on Google Search, and Microsoft’s Copilot draws on Bing. If your site is crawlable and indexed, it has a chance of being used.

What makes a source get picked

A page that answers the exact question clearly, from a source that looks reliable, with information that agrees with other sources. In short: the most useful, the clearest and the most consistent.

Generative engine optimization on your own website

Seven changes that make your site easy to cite:

1. A clear About page. Who you are, what you do, who you do it for and where. Real people and real contact details.
2. One page per service, opening with a definition. One sentence that says what the service is and who it is for. For example: “Managed IT support for law firms means one team looks after your computers, email, backups and security, so lawyers never have to chase a fix.”
3. Answers to real questions. Collect the questions that come up on calls, in emails and on WhatsApp, and answer each one briefly and clearly on your site.
4. Information nobody else has. Your process, honest comparisons between options, the mistakes you see clients make, real examples from your work. Assistants look for sources that add something, not another version of the same text.
5. A clean structure. Headings, lists and short paragraphs, with real text rather than pictures of text.
6. Access for crawlers. Check that your robots.txt file does not block Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot. Whether you let GPTBot use your content for training is a separate decision, and according to OpenAI it does not decide whether you can appear in ChatGPT’s search results.
7. Regular updates. A page that changes when your services, hours or process change looks alive. A page nobody has touched in years looks abandoned.

What does a quotable passage look like?

A quotable passage answers one question, stands on its own and includes a specific detail. An assistant can lift it as it is, without guessing what you meant.

Here are two versions of the same information on a hair salon’s website. Version one: “We believe every client deserves a perfect experience, which is why we offer a wide range of professional treatments of the highest standard.” Version two: “A keratin smoothing treatment with us takes around three hours and is suitable for coloured hair. Please arrive with clean, dry hair and no styling products.”

The first sounds nice and says nothing. The second answers three questions customers genuinely ask, which is exactly what an assistant is looking for when someone asks about keratin treatments.

Why do mentions on other websites matter so much?

Because AI assistants cross-check. A business that is described consistently across several trusted sources looks safer to recommend than one that only talks about itself on its own website.

Places worth being mentioned:

• Your Google Business Profile, with genuine and detailed reviews
• Business and industry directories relevant to your field
• Local news sites and trade publications
• Websites of partners, suppliers and professional associations
• Podcasts, talks and events that are documented online
• Open online discussions where people ask about your industry

You do not need to be everywhere. You need to be in the right places, with the same name, description and details. Reviews are a big part of this, so see our guide to getting more Google reviews.

Example: a small IT support company

Imagine a small IT support company. An office manager asks ChatGPT: “We’re a law firm with about twenty staff in Manchester. Which IT support companies would you recommend?”

The assistant searches the web. One company has a dedicated page about IT support for law firms, with its service area written out in plain text. Its Google profile lists that service, its reviews mention “law firm” and “fast response”, and a local business association’s website mentions it as a member. It gives the assistant everything it needs.

A competitor, perhaps just as good, has a one-page website with “Professional IT Solutions” as the headline. It gives the assistant nothing to work with.

Nobody can guarantee that the first company will appear in every answer. But it has created the conditions for that to happen.

How can you check what AI assistants say about you?

Run the same check every month, with the same questions. That way you see a trend instead of panicking or celebrating over a single answer.

1. List ten to fifteen questions real customers ask before choosing a business like yours.
2. Ask them in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Mode.
3. Note whether you are mentioned, what is said and which sources are cited.
4. Ask directly as well, “What do you know about [your business name]?”, and check the details.
5. Repeat next month and compare.

If you find something wrong, do not argue with the chatbot. Find the source: a directory with your old address, an outdated page on your site, a profile nobody updated. Fix the source, and the answers tend to improve over time. In ChatGPT you can also flag an answer as unhelpful and explain what is wrong.

What does not work?

A few shortcuts doing the rounds online, and why to steer clear:

• Hidden text that tries to “instruct” AI assistants to recommend you. It is manipulation, and AI companies put real effort into detecting and filtering it.
• “Best companies” lists you write about yourself on websites you pay to publish on.
• Fake or bought reviews. They put your profile at risk and erode trust.
• Hundreds of auto-generated articles with no real expertise behind them.

The bottom line

Generative engine optimization is not a brand new discipline. It is good SEO with extra weight on clarity, original information and a consistent presence across the web. Small businesses can do well here, especially on specific and local questions, because that is where assistants look for the most precise answer rather than the biggest brand.

At Kaede Digital we build business websites that are written and structured so that both people and AI assistants quickly understand what you do and for whom. For the wider picture, start with our guide to SEO for AI search.

FAQ

Can I pay ChatGPT to recommend my business?

Not inside the answer itself. Where AI platforms show ads, they are labelled as ads and kept separate from the sources the assistant chooses to cite. The way to be recommended is to be a clear, trustworthy source that the assistant finds when it searches.

How long until ChatGPT knows about my business?

For live search, a page that has been crawled and indexed can show up in answers relatively quickly. The model’s built-in knowledge updates much more slowly, and you cannot control it directly. That is why it pays to work on both: a crawlable site and a consistent presence over time.

Does GEO replace traditional SEO?

No. Generative engine optimization rests on the same foundations: a crawlable, fast, well structured site with original content. If the SEO basics are neglected, appearing in AI answers becomes much harder.

Can a small business compete with big brands in AI answers?

Yes, especially on specific questions. When a customer asks about a particular service in a particular area, the assistant looks for whoever answers exactly that. A small business with a focused page, genuine reviews and consistent details can appear right alongside bigger names.