Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is often presented as a new discipline with a separate set of tricks. For most businesses, the practical work overlaps with sound SEO: publish useful information, make it accessible to crawlers, explain who is responsible for it and support important claims with evidence. Google’s guide to generative AI features in Search says its existing SEO practices remain relevant. GEO does not guarantee that a page or brand will be cited by an AI system.
What GEO means in practice
GEO describes work intended to make an organisation’s information easier for generative answer systems to find, interpret and cite. Systems differ in their sources and retrieval methods, so no single page format or markup guarantees inclusion. Traditional search visibility, AI citations, site visits and enquiries are separate outcomes and should be measured separately.
A practical approach
1. Keep the technical foundation sound
Make important pages publicly accessible, return the intended HTTP status and expose their main content in crawlable HTML. Check internal links, canonicals, robots rules and rendering. Follow Google’s documentation for Google Search features; other answer platforms may use different crawlers and controls.
2. Make the subject and source clear
State the organisation, author, service, location and date where relevant. Use consistent names and explain relationships in ordinary language. Add structured data only when it accurately describes visible page content and follows the relevant platform guidelines. Markup helps express page meaning in a more organised, machine-readable form. It does not create missing evidence or guarantee citations.
3. Answer the reader’s real question
Put the direct answer near the relevant heading, then explain the process, limits and exceptions. Use examples, original observations, data or named sources where they genuinely support the point. Avoid repeating generic advice across many pages. If information can become outdated, assign an owner and a review date.
4. Measure what changed
Track organic impressions, clicks and conversions in search and analytics tools. Google now provides a generative AI performance report in Search Console for eligible Search and Discover features. Other AI citations can be sampled separately: record where and when the brand or source appears, the query tested and whether the citation is accurate. Manual samples are directional, not a complete measurement of every user or answer. Compare them with business outcomes rather than claiming that GEO caused a result without evidence.
Questions
Does GEO replace SEO?
No. Search fundamentals remain useful across Google’s generative features. Other AI systems have their own discovery and citation behaviour, so visibility varies.
Does schema markup increase AI citations?
There is no reliable guarantee. Use structured data to describe the page accurately and support eligible search features. Keep every marked-up fact consistent with what users can see.
Should a business allow every AI crawler?
That depends on the organisation’s content rights, access policy and infrastructure. Review each crawler’s published controls and decide what content it may access. Do not assume that allowing a crawler guarantees a citation.