FAQ

Understanding GEO

What is GEO (generative engine optimization)?
GEO is the practice of shaping how AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude describe and recommend your brand when customers ask questions. Traditional SEO optimizes for ranking in a list of links. GEO optimizes for inclusion in the single synthesized answer an AI constructs from sources across the web. The tactics overlap. The mechanics and measurement differ.

Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. GEO builds on a strong SEO foundation. SEO helps you rank in traditional search engines, and GEO helps you appear in AI-driven answers that draw on many of the same signals plus new ones. For now, you need both.

Why does AI visibility matter now?
Customers increasingly ask AI platforms for recommendations before they ever see a search results page, and a growing share of those sessions end without a single click to an external site. If AI systems do not mention your brand in those answers, the customer never learns you exist. You lose the sale before your website, your ads, or your sales team enter the picture.

Why do big brands dominate AI answers?
AI models learn from historical web data, and large brands appear in that data far more often than everyone else. The result is a built-in familiarity advantage before any optimization begins. Smaller brands can compete. Doing so requires deliberate work on citations, structured data, and content authority to build enough signal to override that default preference.

Which AI platforms should we care about?
The four with the most customer reach today are ChatGPT, Google Gemini (including AI Overviews and AI Mode in Google Search), Perplexity, and Claude. Each platform retrieves and weighs sources differently, so strong visibility on one does not transfer automatically to the others. We test and optimize across all four.

The Diagnostic

How do I know whether AI platforms mention my brand?
You test. Our diagnostic runs a structured set of real customer questions across the major AI platforms and documents whether you appear, where you appear in the answer, how you are described, and whether the details are accurate. Most brands have never seen this data. The first report is usually a surprise.

ChatGPT already mentions us. Are we done?
A mention and a recommendation are different outcomes. AI platforms can name your brand frequently while describing you in generic terms or placing you fifth behind competitors with detailed, favorable descriptions. The diagnostic separates the two, because a brand that gets named without getting endorsed still loses the customer.

The Work

How does PR connect to GEO?
Directly. AI platforms weigh coverage in credible publications, reviews, and authoritative third-party sources when deciding which brands to cite. Earned media now does double duty: it reaches human readers and it builds the citation authority AI systems use to evaluate trust. That makes PR one of the strongest levers in any GEO program, and the value compounds as coverage accumulates.

Where does our existing SEO program fit?
GEO strategy starts from your SEO foundation rather than replacing it. Crawlability, structured data, content quality, and authoritative links feed both traditional rankings and AI retrieval. We audit what your current program already provides, then add the layers AI systems require: entity clarity, answer-ready content, citation consistency, and machine-readable data.

What does implementation actually involve?
The work falls into four buckets: technical fixes (schema markup, site rendering, structured data), content (answer-first pages built around the questions customers actually ask), citations (consistent, accurate listings and earned coverage across the sources AI platforms trust), and measurement (monthly testing against your baseline). Your action plan sequences these by impact and effort.

Do we need developers involved?
For some recommendations, yes. Schema, technical SEO changes, and structured data work usually touch the website. We collaborate with your dev team or work within your existing CMS and stack where possible, and many of the highest-impact fixes need no engineering at all.

Can GEO work if we are not publishing much content?
Yes, though we usually recommend a focused content plan to support it. The goal is clear, structured, helpful content that AI systems can confidently use to answer real customer questions. A small library of precise pages outperforms a large archive of vague ones.

What if AI recommends us but sends customers somewhere else?
This happens often. An AI answer can describe your business accurately while linking to a third-party marketplace, aggregator, or reseller that takes a margin on the sale. Part of the implementation work is auditing where AI-cited links actually point and strengthening the sources that route customers to you directly.

Working with Us

Can we implement the recommendations ourselves?
Yes. The diagnostic and strategy are designed to stand on their own, with each recommendation specific enough for your internal team to execute. Many clients handle the content and listing work in-house and bring us in for the technical, PR, and measurement pieces. Others hand us the full plan. Both models work.

How long does it take to see impact?
GEO is subject to indexing and model update cycles, so results take time. Most brands see clearer AI visibility and organic improvement within a few months, with benefits that compound from there. The technical and accuracy fixes tend to register first. Authority building pays out over quarters, not weeks.

Can you guarantee our brand will appear in AI answers?
No, and you should be skeptical of anyone who promises it. AI platforms change constantly and do not disclose how they choose what to cite. What we can do is measure your current visibility, fix the problems suppressing it, build the authority signals platforms reward, and show you directional improvement month over month.

Is this a one-time project or an ongoing program?
The diagnostic is a defined engagement with a clear deliverable. What follows depends on what we find. Some brands need a focused round of fixes. Most benefit from ongoing measurement and citation building, because AI visibility behaves like infrastructure rather than a campaign. It compounds when maintained and decays when ignored.