What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Another name for improving how a brand appears in answers generated by AI, often used interchangeably with AEO.

GEO grew out of academic work on how generative search engines choose and cite sources. In practice it overlaps almost entirely with answer engine optimization: both aim to get a brand retrieved, cited and named when a model assembles an answer.

Classic SEO still matters underneath it. A page that cannot be found and understood by search infrastructure is rarely retrieved by an engine that builds on it.

See it at work

• GEO vs SEO: what changes
• GEO tools vs doing the work

Other terms: Answer engine optimization (AEO) · Entity (in AI search)