Quick answer: Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your content more likely to be used and cited in answers written by AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. The term comes from a 2023 research paper by Aggarwal and colleagues at Princeton and other institutions. In practice, GEO overlaps heavily with SEO and AEO.
Every few months a consultant asks me some version of the same question: “Do I need GEO now, or is SEO enough?” Usually right after someone on LinkedIn told them SEO is dead.
Generative engine optimization is real, and it’s worth understanding. But most of the confusion comes from three acronyms (SEO, AEO and GEO) being sold as three separate services when they’re closer to three views of the same job. This post explains where the term came from, what the research behind it actually found, how GEO compares with SEO and AEO in a table, and what a solo consultant or small firm should do about it.
If you want the hands on writing side, read our guide to answer engine optimization. For the full checklist of entity, crawler and reputation work, see AI search optimization for consultants. This one is about the differences.
Key takeaways
- GEO was named in a 2023 paper (published at KDD 2024) that tested how content changes affect visibility inside AI generated answers.
- In those tests, adding quotations, statistics and cited sources helped most. Keyword stuffing made things worse.
- Google says optimizing for its generative AI features is still SEO, and it does not need llms.txt files, special schema or content chopped into small pieces.
- What does change: conversational queries, more weight on third party mentions, and new ways to measure visibility.
What is generative engine optimization?
Generative engine optimization is the work of increasing how often, and how prominently, your content shows up in answers that AI systems write. A “generative engine” is any tool that searches for sources and then writes a combined answer instead of handing you a list of links. Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot all fit that description.
The name comes from a specific paper: GEO: Generative Engine Optimization by Pranjal Aggarwal, Vishvak Murahari, Tanmay Rajpurohit, Ashwin Kalyan, Karthik Narasimhan and Ameet Deshpande. It was first posted on arXiv in November 2023, and the final version lists affiliations at Princeton University and IIT Delhi plus two independent researchers in Seattle. It was published at KDD 2024, a major data mining conference.
The authors’ point was simple. Generative engines are great for users, but they leave website owners with very little control over whether their content gets used. So they built a framework for measuring “visibility” inside AI answers, plus a benchmark of queries across many domains, and tested which content changes moved the needle.
What the generative engine optimization research actually found
This is the part most GEO articles skip, and it’s the most useful part.
The researchers took web pages, applied different edits, and measured how much of each page made it into the generated answer. According to the full paper:
- Quotation addition (adding relevant quotes from credible people) performed best.
- Statistics addition (swapping vague claims for numbers) came next.
- Citing sources was close behind.
- The best methods improved visibility by up to about 40% over the unedited baseline.
- Keyword stuffing scored below the baseline. The classic old school SEO trick actively hurt.
- Results varied by domain, so what works for legal topics may differ from what works for history or science.
Read that list again as a consultant. Quotes, numbers and sources are exactly what a real expert has and a content farm doesn’t. That’s encouraging.
Now the caveat. These tests ran on a controlled setup and a research benchmark, not on today’s ChatGPT deciding which HR consultant to recommend. Treat the findings as direction, not a recipe.
A second paper is worth knowing about. In September 2025, Chen and colleagues compared AI search engines with Google and found the AI tools leaned heavily on earned media (independent, authoritative third party sources) over brand owned content. They also flagged a “big brand bias” that can disadvantage niche players. For a small consulting firm, that’s the real headline: what other people publish about you may count more than what you publish about yourself.
GEO vs SEO vs AEO: the differences in one table
Here’s how I explain the three terms to clients. The rows that matter most are the last two.
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where the term came from | The search industry, since the 1990s | SEO practitioners, first for featured snippets and voice assistants | A 2023 academic paper (Aggarwal and others) |
| Main goal | Rank pages in search results and earn clicks | Be the direct answer to a specific question | Be included and cited in answers that blend several sources |
| Where you show up | Blue links, maps, rich results | Featured snippets, AI Overviews, voice and chat answers | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| Unit of success | A ranking page | A quoted passage | A mention or citation inside a generated answer |
| Main levers | Relevance, technical health, links, page experience | Question headings, direct answers, structured content | Evidence (quotes, stats, sources), third party mentions, consistent facts about you |
| How you measure | Rankings, clicks, conversions | Snippet wins, impressions on question queries | Prompt checks, AI referrals, citation tracking, generative AI reports |
| Separate job? | The foundation | A focus within SEO | A focus within SEO, with more weight on reputation |
If you only remember one row, make it the last one. Google says it directly in its guide to optimizing for generative AI search: “optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO.”
GEO vs SEO: what actually changes in practice
Quite a bit changes around the edges, even if the core stays the same. Here’s what we’ve adjusted in our own client work.
Queries got longer. Nobody types “security consultant Texas” into ChatGPT. They type a paragraph with their budget, their building type and their deadline. Google says its AI features may break a question like that into several related searches across subtopics (it calls this query fan out, see AI features and your website). So a service page that covers scope, credentials, timelines and cost factors in separate, clear sections has more ways to be pulled in.
Reputation counts more than it used to. If the Chen paper is right about earned media, a quote in your association’s journal or a podcast appearance may do more for AI visibility than your fifth blog post this quarter. We now put outside mentions into every SEO plan for consultants instead of treating them as a nice extra. Our post on link building for small business covers honest ways to earn them.
Evidence beats adjectives. “Trusted, experienced, results driven” gives a generative engine nothing. “Former Homeland Security leader who founded her firm in 2018” gives it a fact. That second line is real, by the way. It’s how we describe Stacey D. Porter in our Porter Global Security redesign.
Measurement is messier. Rankings are easy to track. Being mentioned in a ChatGPT answer that changes every time someone asks is not. You’ll rely on a mix of prompt checks, referral data and Google’s newer reports (more on that below).
What doesn't change
Here’s where I push back on the “SEO is dead” crowd. Google’s generative AI guide (last updated July 2026) lists several things you don’t need to do:
- No llms.txt or other “AI text files.” Google says you don’t need new machine readable files, markup or Markdown to appear, and that it ignores those files.
- No chopping content into tiny chunks. Google says there’s no requirement to break content into small pieces for AI.
- No special AI writing style and no special schema for generative features.
- Chasing inauthentic mentions “isn’t as helpful as it might seem.”
What still matters is the old list: a site search engines can crawl, pages that load fast, unique expert content written by someone who knows the subject, and a real reputation. Google even says to “Create the content yourself based on what you know about the topic.” If your technical basics are shaky, start with our technical SEO checklist before you spend a minute on GEO.
One honest note. That guide is about Google. ChatGPT and Perplexity run their own crawlers and their own systems, and both say they want sites to allow their search crawlers. But neither has published anything that contradicts the basic picture.
GEO vs AEO: is there a real difference?
Barely. If I had to draw a line, AEO is narrower: one question, one best answer, often a single passage. GEO is broader: being part of a longer answer that blends several sources, compares options and sometimes recommends providers by name.
So AEO is about how you write a page. GEO adds the question of how the wider web talks about you. A consultant asking “who should I hire for a campus safety audit?” triggers a GEO style answer. “How often should a campus safety audit be done?” triggers an AEO style answer. You want to be in both, and the work overlaps almost entirely.
Don’t pay for them as separate projects. A good plan covers both, plus the SEO underneath.
And what does "AI SEO" mean?
“AI SEO” gets used two ways. Some people mean optimizing for AI search, which is just another name for GEO and AEO. Others mean using AI tools to do SEO work faster, like drafting outlines or clustering keywords. When someone pitches you “AI SEO,” ask which one they mean. The first is a strategy. The second is a workflow, and on its own it won’t get you recommended by anything.
A simple generative engine optimization plan for consultants
This is the plan I’d give a solo consultant or a small expert firm with a few hours a month. It assumes your site is already in decent technical shape. If you want the reasoning behind each step, our SEO for consultants guide covers the foundation.
Take a baseline
Write ten questions a real buyer would ask. Run them in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google. Note who gets named and which sources are cited.
Fix your facts and access
Make your name, services and location identical on your site, LinkedIn and Google Business Profile, and check robots.txt is not blocking AI search crawlers.
Add evidence to your top three pages
Rewrite the opening of each section so it answers first, then add the things the GEO research rewarded: specific numbers, quotes from clients or credible people, and links to sources.
Publish what only you know
One article a month built on your own cases, patterns and opinions. Generic explainers add nothing an AI does not already have.
Earn two outside mentions a quarter
A guest article, a podcast, a quote in a trade publication, a conference speaker page. Make sure each one describes you the way your site does.
Measure monthly
Repeat the baseline prompts, check AI referrals in GA4 and look at Search Console, including the generative AI report if your property has it.
On measurement: OpenAI says ChatGPT adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to referral links (OpenAI publishers FAQ), so those visits are easy to spot in GA4. Google began rolling out a Search generative AI performance report in Search Console in June 2026, starting with a subset of sites, and it shows impressions by page rather than clicks or queries. We walk through the GA4 setup in our answer engine optimization guide.
For step four, our guide to thought leadership content has a process for turning client work into articles without giving away confidential details.
Frequently asked questions
What is generative engine optimization in simple terms?
It means making your content easy for AI tools to find, trust and quote when they write an answer. If ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews answers a question in your field, GEO is the work that raises the odds your site or your name is part of that answer.
Who coined the term generative engine optimization?
The term comes from the paper "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization" by Pranjal Aggarwal and colleagues, first posted on arXiv in November 2023 and published at KDD 2024. The authors are affiliated with Princeton University, IIT Delhi and independent research.
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. AI tools still find content through search, and Google says optimizing for its generative AI features is still SEO. GEO adds emphasis on evidence, reputation and new ways of measuring. It sits on top of SEO rather than replacing it.
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
AEO focuses on being the direct answer to a specific question, often one passage. GEO is broader and covers being included in longer AI answers that blend sources and recommend providers. The tactics overlap heavily, so most firms should treat them as one plan.
What is AI SEO?
AI SEO usually means optimizing your site to appear in AI search tools, which is the same idea as GEO and AEO. Some people also use it to mean using AI tools to do SEO tasks. Ask which one a provider means before you hire them.
Can anyone guarantee my firm will appear in ChatGPT?
No. AI answers change from one question to the next, and no outside agency controls them. Google also warns against tools that promise ranking success. What you can do is make your site and reputation the strongest candidate in your niche.
Do I need an llms.txt file for GEO?
Not for Google, which says it ignores these files and does not need them to show your content in generative AI features. Adding one does no harm, but better pages and outside mentions are a far better use of your time.
Getting started with generative engine optimization
Generative engine optimization is a useful name for something good consultants already do: being specific, backing claims with evidence and getting other credible people to talk about your work. The research rewards that. So does Google. So do clients reading your site at eleven at night before a board meeting.
If you want help putting a plan together, our SEO services include GEO and AEO alongside classic search, built around your real expertise. Contact us and we’ll run your name through the main AI tools and show you where you stand.
