From SEO to GEO: how to get your site cited by AIs

What changed in the way people search

According to Pew Research Center's 2026 survey, about half of U.S. adults now use AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot — up from a third in 2024. A growing share of everyday questions that used to start with a Google search now start with a conversation on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or in AI Overviews, the AI-generated answers Google itself shows at the top of the page.

The difference is huge: in a list of results, the user chooses among 10 links. In a generated answer, they receive a ready-made text that cites few sources — sometimes none. Whoever isn't cited simply doesn't exist in that answer.

SEO and GEO: what each one is

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the work of getting a site to rank well in search results. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the work of getting a site used as a source and recommended in AI-generated answers.

One doesn't replace the other. AIs consult the web to build answers and favor sources that are already easy to find, understand and trust. In practice, GEO is built on top of a well-done SEO foundation — just with higher demands for clarity and authority.

What makes an AI cite a website

• Clarity about who the business is: what it does, for whom, where it operates. If the site itself is vague, the AI has nothing to repeat.
• Direct answers: pages that answer a specific question right at the start, without beating around the bush, are easy to use in a generated answer.
• Structured data: markup describing the organization, services, products and FAQ in a format machines can read without guessing.
• Consistency beyond the site: the same name, address, phone number and description on the website, the Google Business Profile and social media.
• Authority signals: reviews, mentions on other sites, cases and proprietary data that confirm the business is real and relevant.
• Technical access: fast, indexable pages with no unnecessary blocks for crawlers.

What this demands from a business

GEO doesn't depend on a trick or a specific tool. AIs tend to cite businesses that make clear what they do, for whom and where they operate, that keep the same information across every channel and that publish knowledge of their own, which can't be found anywhere else.

On most websites, what's missing isn't content but clarity and consistency: pages that say a lot without saying what matters, different information on each channel and few signals confirming the business's authority. These are the same foundations that make a site get found on Google, held to a higher standard.