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Generative engine optimization: How to appear in AI search engines

Written by
Elly Tedrow

A year ago, the top question clients asked me was: “How do we rank #1 on Google?” 

These days, that question has become: “How do we appear in AI search engines?” or “How do we show up in ChatGPT?”

AI search tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews have forever changed how people search. 

Before, people searched Google, scrolled through the top results, and clicked on a website to find an answer. Now, many get what they need directly from Google’s AI-generated summaries or chatbots—without visiting your site.

The result: Businesses that rely on Google to drive organic traffic to their sites are seeing that traffic drop. 

To reach customers, brands can’t rely solely on traditional search engine optimization (SEO) anymore. The future of search blends SEO with generative engine optimization (GEO). 

I’ll walk through everything you need to know about GEO, including the tactics I’ve used to help my clients appear in traditional and AI search engines.

What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Generative engine optimization focuses on getting AI search engines and chatbots to mention your brand. Examples of these AI search tools include: 

  • ChatGPT
  • Claude
  • Perplexity
  • Google’s AI overviews
  • Gemini
  • DeepSeek

GEO is new and evolving, so you may also see it called Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) or Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO). 

No matter what you call it, the goal is the same: Show up in AI-powered results. 

GEO vs. SEO

I’ve heard for years that SEO is dead. Some see AI as the final nail in its coffin. That’s not quite true. 

AI has changed search, but it hasn’t killed SEO. GEO is an extension of SEO—not a replacement.

The core principles of SEO still matter. To show up in traditional search and AI tools, you need strong, relevant content, an organized site structure, and backlinks that build authority. That hasn’t changed. 

Improving your SEO rankings can even influence AI visibility. Ranking #1 at the top of Google makes brands 25% more likely to appear in AI overviews. 

However, there are differences between GEO vs. SEO. To optimize for AI, these are the most important ones brands should know.

SEO vs GEO Table
SEO GEO (also called AEO or LLMO)
How people search Keywords (often short, under 3-4 word queries) Questions, conversational queries, and prompts (long-tail and specific)
Goal Get your website to appear at the top of search results Optimize your content so your brand appears in AI-generated search responses
Traffic source Traditional search engines (Google, Bing) AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI overviews)
Success metrics Organic rankings
Traffic
Conversions
Revenue		 Brand visibility (mentions and citations)
Sentiment
Referral traffic from AI search engines

Why GEO matters

Whether we like it or not, AI search is here to stay. 

Google has dominated search for over a decade. However, starting in October 2024, its share of the global search market fell from 90% to 89%-87%. 

A 1% drop may not seem like a big deal, but the last time it dropped below 90% was in 2015. Plus, with billions of users, a 1% loss translates to tens of millions of people. 

So, where are those searches going? 

  • Privacy-first browsers (DuckDuckGo, Firefox, and Brave)
  • Social media (TikTok, YouTube, etc.)
  • Fast-growing AI search tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude)

That said, these won’t unseat Google as a top player in search anytime soon. But, Google is changing its search experience to compete with new players.

With features like AI overviews and Gemini, Google is adapting to look and function more like AI chatbots. If brands don’t adapt as well, they’ll be left behind. If that doesn’t convince you, these stats might: 

8 GEO tips: How to rank in AI search

The good news is that many GEO best practices overlap with SEO. For example, these SEO tactics help brands appear in traditional and AI search: 

  • Organizing your content into clusters or content hubs
  • Building domain authority and credibility with high-quality backlinks
  • Optimizing website speed, technical SEO, and user experience

But brands need to go beyond standard SEO tactics. These generative search optimization tips had the most impact on my clients. 

1. Diversify content beyond your website

Generative search tool Profound analyzed over 30 million citations from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. 

The research found that AI chatbots pull information from similar sources. The top sources are: 

  • Wikipedia
  • Question-and-answer platforms (Reddit, Quora)
  • Traditional media and high-authority websites (Business Insider, Forbes, NerdWallet)
  • Social media (YouTube, LinkedIn)
  • Review sites and user-generated content (Yelp, G2)

Nearly half (48%) of ChatGPT’s citations were from Wikipedia, with Reddit following at 11%.

Google AI pulled more heavily from YouTube (19%) and question-and-answer sites like Reddit (21%) and Quora (14%). 

The takeaway: To show up in AI search, brands must show up and stay active in places other than their website.

To do that, start with this AI search visibility checklist: 

  • Check your company's Wikipedia page and make sure it’s up to date.
  • Join conversations on Reddit, Quora, and other relevant online communities.
  • Set up your profile on G2, Capterra, Trustpilot, and other review sites and monitor and respond to reviews.
  • Evaluate your PR and backlink strategy and prioritize placements in high-authority sites that AI often cites.

Also, AI favors brands that have social proof and user-generated content. 

  • What are people saying about your brand on social media? 
  • What press features have you had? 
  • Have you partnered with trusted influencers or other brands? 

If no one is talking about your brand, AI won’t see you as relevant or trusted enough to mention. 

2. Don’t skip keyword research—expand it

SEO isn’t only about keywords and ranking on Google. It’s about understanding your audience and how to reach them. That’s true for GEO as well.

Keyword research is still relevant, but it’s only a starting point for your overall content strategy. 

Once you have a keyword list, search for them in Google, ChatGPT, Claude, or wherever your audience may be. With this, you can: 

  • Find the sources AI tools pull from (which will form your backlink strategy)
  • Identify the types of content you need (video, blogs, landing pages, etc.) 

For example, let’s say you want to appear for “vegan protein powder”. There’s no Google AI overview yet. 

But, if you add “best”, it becomes an informational query, which triggers over 88% of AI overviews. Now an AI overview like this one appears. 

Ranking at the top of Google for “best vegan protein powder” would be difficult, but you could appear in AI search results. To do that, compile a list of sources, reach out, and ask them about mentioning your brand.

Then, repeat the process for ChatGPT and other AI tools with a few tweaks. Search: “What’s the best vegan protein powder?”

If your brand isn’t in the list ChatGPT generates, ask: “Where did you get these recommendations?” It will provide a list so you can reach out. 

Ideally, you want earned media (they cover you organically without payment), but many sites will ask you to pay for a mention. A few paid placements may be worth it. When third-party sources mention you, you’re more likely to show up on Google and AI chatbots.

3. Treat SEO like multi-channel content marketing 

We’re in an attention economy, where time is money. Apps like Google, TikTok, and ChatGPT share the same goal: Keep users on their platform. 

To further that goal, they’re making it easier to discover, research, and buy products without visiting another site. The shift directly impacts SEO, and it’s why brands need to embrace GEO. 

Brands must prepare for a future where searchers don’t click to their website. 

According to Bain & Company, 80% of Google users get answers from AI-generated summaries without clicking any links about 40% of the time. These zero-click searches have caused a 15-25% decline in organic website traffic. 

Traditional SEO metrics like organic traffic matter less. Instead, brands must measure SEO/GEO success by organic brand visibility, conversions, and sales.

Also, SEO must act more like content marketing. That means creating a multi-channel content strategy that meets your audience where they’re searching—whether it’s Google, TikTok, or ChatGPT.

To do that, go beyond blogs and create content strategies that include: 

  • Landing pages
  • Long-form and short-form videos
  • Social posts 
  • Influencer and user content
  • Guides and templates
  • Interactive and AI-assisted tools

Here’s a workflow I follow to turn one topic (often inspired by an SEO keyword) into multiple pieces of content:

  1. Publish a blog (optimized for keywords and audience needs) 
  2. Create 1-3 social posts or image carousels highlighting the main takeaways (for B2B)
  3. Turn the blog into a YouTube video script 
  4. Film and publish the video, and embed it on the blog page
  5. Repost short clips of the video on 1-2 other channels (LinkedIn, TikTok, Reels, etc.)
  6. View each channel’s analytics, identify the posts that performed well, and adjust the content plan. 

You don’t have to be everywhere, just where it counts. You also don’t need to execute on everything alone. Collaborate with your social media and design team, hire freelancers or content creators, and automate what you can with AI tools. 

4. Become an authority in 2-5 areas

Topical authority isn’t a new concept. It’s core to SEO, and now GEO, but for different reasons. 

AI searches are hyperpersonal and specific. Most users don’t prompt AI tools with short queries like “best HR software”. They use long-tail ones like: “I run a remote team of 30 people. What’s the best HR software under $300/month?”

AI tools break these complex queries into smaller parts and pull answers from multiple sources it views as experts. If your site covers everything from crypto to keto, AI tools will struggle to name you an expert in anything. 

Instead, prioritize 2-5 topics that you want to be known for and cover them in-depth. (Hint: For B2B, these are your core services. For D2C, these are your best-selling products.)

Next, organize your content around those topics. SEO experts will know this as building content clusters.

  • Create a main pillar page for each topic. (For example, Veed created a pillar page for “AI video” and used the URL plug: /ai-video.)
  • Build multiple supporting pages that dive into each specific facet in detail. (Example page: /how-to-make-ai-video)
  • Link them together naturally so search engines and AI understand how everything fits.

Lastly—and here’s where it gets unconventional—remove content that doesn’t reflect your expertise and has no engagement.

AI tools reward sites that deeply cover a few areas. Pruning content makes your expertise clear. 

I don’t recommend it to everyone, but those I’ve done it for saw improved technical SEO, search engine rankings, and overall visibility. One client increased organic traffic by 80% after pruning over 500 irrelevant, low-traffic pages.

5. Publish original data and insights 

AI search engines don’t contribute new information. They summarize what already exists. 

If you want AI to cite you, then you need to be a trusted source. Publishing original research is one of the most effective GEO tactics for that, particularly for B2B businesses. 

Google has long rewarded sites that publish fresh insights over ones that repackage what’s already been said. 

Here are some examples of original research content: 

Start small with data you already have or could easily get like:

  • Industry or customer surveys 
  • First-party data (user/customer data) 
  • Case studies
  • Experiments (i.e., test and review tools or processes) 

Original research is an investment, but it pays off. It attracts earned media and high-quality backlinks, improves visibility in traditional and AI search, and positions you as an industry leader. 

I also recommend that clients publish content with original data because it gives them more independence and control. It’s risky to rely only on third-party platforms—whether it’s Google, TikTok, or ChatGPT—to acquire customers and grow your business.

They control what people see, and their algorithms constantly change. One update can tank your reach overnight.

Using GEO to appear in AI search is important, but it shouldn’t be your only goal. Another (and perhaps more valuable) question is: “What can I offer my audience that AI can’t?”

Original data and insights give people (and search engines) a reason to come directly to you.

6. Make products AI discoverable (D2C)

OpenAI is positioning ChatGPT as an alternative to Google Shopping or Amazon.

The AI tool has made its e-commerce ambitions clear by partnering with Shopify and developing an in-chat payment and checkout system. 

It’s also improved how products appear in ChatGPT results. Now, product listings appear in the chat when users ask for recommendations like: “What’s the best running shoe?” or “What’s the best stroller for travel?”.

The listings include: 

  • Product photos
  • Pricing
  • Ratings and reviews
  • Buy buttons (for some Shopify stores)

For D2C brands, ChatGPT could be a promising new acquisition channel—but only if it can find and understand your products. 

Currently, ChatGPT doesn’t offer paid shopping ads (though I expect that will change soon). For now, to appear in ChatGPT shopping recommendations, make sure it can discover your products with these tips. 

  • Use product schema markup - Product schema helps search engines and AI understand your product’s price, availability, rating, and other details.
  • Submit your product to ChatGPT - OpenAI is testing options for brands to submit product feeds directly to ChatGPT. Fill out this form to get notified when submissions open.
  • Sync with Shopify - If you use Shopify, check your structured data and settings so ChatGPT can easily pull from your product pages.

7. Lean into expertise only humans have

Google uses the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) framework to assess content quality and trustworthiness. 

Generative search engines look for similar signals and source content created by people with proven expertise and credibility. 

Highlight your unique experiences and storytelling in your content. It helps you rank in Google search and AI chatbots, and, like original insights, it separates you from AI.

Here are some ways to highlight human expertise: 

  • Author bios - Include detailed author bios on blogs and other content. Bios should show search engines (and visitors) who’s behind the content and why they’re qualified.
  • Behind-the-scenes content - Publish case studies, lessons learned, or personal stories that show how you work and what you’ve done.
  • Social proof - Feature reviews and testimonials from past customers. 
  • Featured experts and press - If you don’t have authority yet, borrow it from your network. Share exclusive interviews, workshops, and other content that features industry experts.

8. Review your robots.txt file

This one’s technical but important. Review your robots.txt file to make sure you allow AI crawlers. You can view yours by going to: https://yourdomain.com/robots.txt.

A robots.txt file tells Google and other crawlers what they can and can’t access on your site. If you disallow crawlers from parts of your website, those parts won’t show up in search or chatbots. 

Some SEO experts suggest adding an llms.txt file. It’s like a robot.txt file for large language models (Claude, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc.). Here’s what Shopify’s llms.txt file looks like:

Unless you’re a large company, I don’t recommend it. AI companies don’t officially support llms.txt files, and only about 1,400 websites have one. If you’d like to experiment, go for it. However, there’s no proof that it improves AI visibility yet.

How to measure AI search

Many SEO and GEO tactics overlap, but how you measure their success is completely different.

For SEO, you track search engine rankings, organic traffic, conversions, and revenue using Google Search Console, GA4, or Looker. GEO is trickier. 

You should still measure traffic, conversions, and revenue, but filter it for AI tools. (Below, I’ve included a Looker template for measuring website and AI traffic via GA4.)

However, GA4 analytics don’t show the full picture for a few reasons:

  • It relies on cookies - Browsers and privacy settings limit GA4’s cookie tracking, which creates attribution gaps and underreports traffic. 
  • App traffic is missing - If someone comes from ChatGPT, Perplexity, or other AI apps, the traffic may not appear. 
  • AI agents can bypass your site entirely - In some cases, AI can complete actions (booking, buying, etc.) without sending the user to your site.

Most importantly, people using AI search don’t always click through to your website. Yet, they may discover your brand and become a customer after seeing you in AI results. So, website analytics alone don’t measure impact.  

Brands must also track these GEO metrics: 

  • Visibility - How often is your brand mentioned or cited in AI search tools? 
  • Sentiment - When you’re mentioned, is your reputation positive, negative, or in between? 

I’ll show you how to track AI traffic on-site and visibility and sentiment metrics off-site.

AI traffic, conversions, and revenue (Looker report)

You can track all your website and AI search analytics in one place by building a custom report in Looker. The easiest and fastest way is to copy my Looker AI traffic report template. With it, you can track website traffic (page 1) and AI traffic (page 2). 

Here’s how: 

  1. Go to the top right of the template and click the three dots for more options.
  2. Choose “Make a copy” from the dropdown menu. 
  3. Click on “New data source” and select the GA4 property you want to track.
  4. Hit “Copy report”. 

Looker will pull from your GA4 data to generate a report. (The example report uses Google’s demo account, so it doesn’t have AI data to show. However, it should when you connect the report to your GA4 property.)

AI Visibility 

To understand the full impact of your GEO efforts, track visibility and sentiment with an AI brand monitoring tool. 

These track AI search engine citations, mentions, and overall sentiment. I’ve reviewed these: 

I prefer Semrush’s AI Toolkit because I already use its other features for SEO. If you’re already using Semrush, it makes sense to add the $99 subscription cost for AI monitoring. 

Otherwise, I’d recommend Peec. It has an easy-to-use dashboard and tracks rankings, sources, prompts, and mentions. (You can also connect Peec to Looker and add it to your AI report.)

Here’s how to track AI visibility in Semrush: 

  1. Go to the “Visibility Overview” tab on the left and enter your domain.
  2. View your AI visibility score—a rating between 0 and 100 that measures how visible you are in LLMs and AI search. 
  1. Use this score as a starting point. Over time, your GEO efforts should increase this number.

Sentiment

Of course, you don’t only want to appear in AI search engines. You want a high sentiment score, which just means AI says nice things about you. 

To measure AI sentiment in Semrush, follow these steps: 

  1. Go to “Perception” in the AI SEO tab. 
  2. Scroll down to “Current Sentiment Analysis”. 
  3. View the “Overall Sentiment” table to see how favorable AI tools depict you.

Below this, you’ll see “Key Sentiment Drivers”. These are summaries of what AI (and people) are saying about you. 

They’re broken down into two sections, and they’re useful beyond GEO. 

  • Brand strength factors - These are your positives or why your customers choose you. Use them in landing pages, ads, and other marketing copy.
  • Areas for improvement - These highlight opportunities to strengthen your product and marketing, and reveal customer hesitations. For example, if your pricing is higher than your competitors, explain why and highlight the value.

When you scroll further, you’ll also see recommendations. Based on your sentiment drivers, Semrush’s AI tries to generate action items to improve your brand.

View them as suggestions, not strict guidelines. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide if it’s right for you.

The future: GEO and AI Search

Generative search optimization is rapidly evolving, and no one has it all figured out yet. 

AI-driven search has changed the rules. People can get answers without ever visiting your site. ChatGPT, Claude, and other AI search tools decide which content to surface and brands to recommend. 

To succeed in this new search landscape, brands must show LLMs they are relevant, trusted, and authoritative. Don’t throw out the SEO playbook. Add GEO to it. Create original content, highlight your unique expertise, and show up where your audiences and AI chatbots are.

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