Generative Engine Optimisation · UK

Generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity don’t just search the web and pick the top results. They read content from multiple sources, assess which ones are most relevant and trustworthy, synthesise an answer, and then cite the sources they drew from. The factors that influence citation include topical relevance, content clarity, demonstrated expertise, source authority, and corroboration from other credible sources.

Content that leads with clear answers, includes verifiable data, and comes from domains with established topical authority is significantly more likely to be cited. Vague, keyword-stuffed, or surface-level content gets passed over in favour of sources that genuinely answer the question.

AI models build an internal understanding of businesses as entities — what they do, where they operate, how authoritative they are. This understanding comes from aggregating data across the web: your website, Google Business Profile, directories, social media, review platforms, Wikipedia, industry mentions, and structured data markup.

If this data is inconsistent or sparse, the AI’s confidence in your entity is low and it’s less likely to recommend you. Strengthening your entity data — making it consistent, comprehensive, and corroborated across platforms — is one of the most impactful things you can do for GEO.

Traditional SEO optimises for Google’s ranking algorithm — a system that rewards backlinks, keyword relevance, and technical performance. Generative AI tools use fundamentally different criteria. They don’t rank pages in a list; they synthesise answers from multiple sources and cite the ones they drew from.

Good SEO is a helpful foundation because well-ranked, authoritative content is more likely to be in the training data and live indexes these AI tools access. But ranking on Google doesn’t guarantee AI citation. GEO adds the content structure, entity signals, and corroboration that generative engines specifically look for.

These terms describe overlapping but distinct areas of AI search optimisation. GEO (generative engine optimisation) is the broadest — it covers visibility across all generative AI platforms. AEO (answer engine optimisation) specifically targets answer-focused tools like Perplexity. AIO (AI Overview optimisation) targets Google’s AI-generated summaries. LLMO (large language model optimisation) focuses on how LLMs like ChatGPT represent your brand in their training data.

In practice, most businesses benefit from an integrated approach. The core work — clear structure, verifiable expertise, strong entity data — supports visibility across all of them. We help you prioritise based on where your audience is actually searching.

Research from Princeton, Georgia Tech, and the Allen Institute found specific content patterns that significantly improve visibility in generative AI answers. The most impactful are: including relevant statistics and data points (up to 40% improvement), adding citations to credible sources, using quotations from recognised experts, and structuring content with clear, extractable answers rather than burying information in long paragraphs.

This doesn’t mean writing for machines. It means structuring your expertise so the key claims are verifiable, the data is cited, and the answers are easy for an AI to extract and attribute to you. The depth and nuance that builds trust with human readers stays — it just gets better organisation.

Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the practice of optimising your content and online presence so that AI-powered tools — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and others — cite and recommend your business when people ask questions in your industry. It’s SEO for the AI search era. We’ve written a more detailed explanation in What is generative engine optimisation (GEO)? on the blog.

Yes. Traditional SEO focuses on ranking in Google’s list of results. GEO focuses on getting cited in AI-generated answers. The signals that matter are different: AI models weight entity data, content structure, cited sources, and topical authority more heavily than traditional ranking factors. Good SEO helps, but it’s not enough on its own.

GEO targets all major generative AI platforms: ChatGPT (and its search features), Perplexity, Google Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, and emerging tools. The core optimisation principles work across platforms because they all favour the same signals: clear structure, verifiable expertise, and strong entity authority.

Timelines vary by platform. Perplexity and similar real-time search tools can reflect changes within weeks. ChatGPT and models relying on training data take longer — typically two to four months for noticeable improvements. Entity and authority building compounds over three to six months. We’ll give you a realistic timeline based on your situation.

No — and anyone who claims to is overstating their control. AI models are proprietary systems that update regularly. What we can do is make your business the most citable, authoritative source in your space, which significantly increases your chances across every platform. We’ll be upfront about what’s realistic.

It depends on scope — how much content needs restructuring, how strong your current entity data is, and how competitive your space is across AI platforms. We’ll give you a clear quote after an initial assessment. GEO often works best as part of a broader AI SEO strategy.

Because you get the senior specialists doing the work, not an account manager relaying messages. We're a small, senior team: strategy, execution and reporting come from the people who own the result, decisions happen fast, and nothing falls through the gaps between departments. If that sounds like a better fit, get in touch or see how pricing works.