Generative engine optimisation (GEO)

When someone asks an AI tool who to hire or what to buy, the answer is built from what the model learned and what it can find on the web. Generative engine optimisation is the work of making sure the facts about your business are clear, consistent and well supported across the places those systems look. It is groundwork, not a shortcut.

How generative answers are assembled

Different tools work differently. Some answer from what they learned in training. Others search the web at the time of the question and summarise what they find, often linking sources. Either way, they depend on information being available, consistent and credible.

That is why the underlying work looks familiar: clear pages, accurate facts, authoritative sources that mention you, and a consistent description of what you do. The platforms change often and do not publish full details of how they pick sources, so I avoid claiming to know more than is known.

What I can say with confidence is that confusing, thin or contradictory information makes it harder for any system, or any person, to represent you well.

Starting with a visibility baseline

Before changing anything, I check how you are currently described. I ask a set of questions an ideal customer might ask, across several AI tools, and record what comes back: whether you are named, what is said, which sources are cited, and which competitors appear in your place. I repeat it over time, because answers vary from run to run.

I also check search results for your brand name, your key people and your services, and review profiles on directories or platforms where your business is listed.

This baseline shows what is wrong, which may be an incorrect detail, an outdated description or no presence at all. It also prevents later claims of progress that cannot be checked.

I keep the baseline questions fairly stable over time, adding new ones occasionally, so that comparisons are meaningful. I also save the answers with dates. Models change, and a record of what was said in each month makes it much easier to judge whether a shift came from your work or from an update to the platform.

• Brand and service descriptions in AI answers and search.
• Accuracy of key facts: location, services, team, pricing approach.
• Which sources are cited when your topics come up.
• Gaps where competitors or generic sources dominate.
• Mentions on third-party sites that help or hurt.

Fix the facts and make them consistent

The most practical step is a single, accurate description of the business, used everywhere. Name, what you do, who you serve, where, how long you have been doing it, and who is behind it. I then check that your website, social profiles, business listings and directories all agree.

An About page that states clearly who you are, with real names and experience, is more useful than one full of slogans. The same goes for service pages that say what is and is not included.

Where facts have changed, say a service ended or an address moved, old information left online can keep resurfacing. I list these for cleanup.

Names deserve particular care. If your business is known by two spellings, a former name or an abbreviation, systems may treat them as different entities. I list the variants, decide on a preferred form, and make sure it is used consistently, with brief clarifications on key pages where the older name is still common.

Cover your subject properly

Systems favour sources that cover a topic with depth and accuracy. For each area of expertise, I check whether your site answers the main questions, explains your approach, and shows evidence: specifics, process, credentials, and published work you can stand behind.

I do not recommend publishing large volumes of generic content. A modest set of thorough, well-maintained pages usually does more. I also recommend naming the author and stating when pages were last reviewed, since that helps readers and signals care.

Where original information exists, such as your own data, methods or explanations, it is worth publishing, because it gives others something to cite.

Third-party presence matters too

What others say about you shapes how you are described. Industry publications, professional directories, reviews, interviews and partner pages all contribute. I identify where credible mentions are missing and where they exist but are inaccurate.

I do not buy links or fake mentions, and I advise against it. It is unreliable, can damage trust, and platforms are working to discount it. Real contributions, such as speaking, contributing articles, participating in industry bodies and earning reviews from real customers, take longer but hold up.

This part is slow and depends on what you can honestly show. I tell you where I think it is realistic.

Reviews deserve a specific mention. Genuine reviews from real customers on reputable platforms are valuable, and you can ask for them politely after good work. What I avoid is any scheme that pays for, writes or filters reviews. It breaks platform rules and, more importantly, misleads the people who rely on them.

Measurement and what to expect

I track the baseline questions over time, monitor referral traffic from AI tools where analytics can see it, watch branded search, and note direct enquiries that mention an AI tool. The data is thin and noisy, and I present it with that caveat.

I will not promise citations or placement. Each platform decides independently, and models are updated without notice. What you should expect is cleaner information, stronger pages and a clearer view of how you appear.

I also set expectations on timing. Changes to your own pages can be picked up within days or weeks, while changes in how a model describes you may take much longer, or not happen at all until the model itself is updated. That uneven pace is normal, and it is why I focus on foundations you control rather than watching daily fluctuations.

How GEO relates to AEO and SEO

AEO focuses on structuring direct answers on your pages. GEO is broader, covering how the whole business is represented. Both build on sound SEO: crawlable pages, clear structure, useful content. I plan the three together and avoid duplicating work.

If your SEO foundations are weak, fix them first. They are the common base.

Content that gives others something to cite

Sources get referenced when they contain something worth referencing: a clear definition, an original explanation, a method, a dataset or a well-argued position. I look with you at what you know that is not already widely written, and how to publish it responsibly.

This does not require large research projects. A well-explained process, a plain comparison of options or an honest account of when a service is not suitable can all be genuinely useful. I help structure it so that it is easy to read, easy to quote and attributed to a named author with relevant experience.

AI search tools change quickly: how they retrieve, which sources they favour, how they display citations. I do not treat any single tactic as permanent. I review the baseline questions on a regular schedule and adjust the plan if something clearly shifts.

The principles hold up better than the tactics: accurate facts, consistent descriptions, substantive content and credible third-party mentions. If a platform changes how it works, those foundations still help. I try to spend your budget on foundations and keep experiments small and clearly labelled.

When this is not the right move

If your business is new and has no public footprint yet, the first step is establishing the basics: a clear website, accurate listings and a few genuine mentions. If you want a guaranteed place in AI answers, no ethical provider can offer that.

Be clear, consistent and credible in every place your business is described.