GEO: how to get recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants
More clients are asking an AI assistant for a recommendation. Generative engine optimisation is how you show up in that answer.
GEO stands for generative engine optimisation — being visible inside answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI overviews and Copilot. These tools do not rank pages in a list. They read the web, summarise it and name a few businesses.
Three things decide whether you get named.
1. Let the assistants read your site
Some websites quietly block AI crawlers in their robots file, or hide all their text behind scripts. If the assistant cannot read your pages, it cannot recommend you. Allowing crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Google-Extended is a five-minute change.
2. Be described consistently in more than one place
- Your website says what you do and where.
- Your Google Business Profile says the same thing, with the same name, address and phone number.
- Two to four directories or local listings repeat it.
- Your social bios match.
3. Be mentioned by someone other than you
Assistants weigh third-party mentions heavily: a local blog, a vendor list, a podcast, a supplier's partner page. One genuine mention a quarter is plenty for most small businesses.
How to check
Once a month, ask an assistant the question a client would ask — 'Who are the best wedding florists in Boise?' — and note whether you are mentioned. Tracking that one yes-or-no answer over six months shows your progress better than any score.
Want this done for your site, one fix at a time?
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