What GEO is
Generative Engine Optimization is the work of surfacing inside AI-generated answers: the summaries Perplexity writes, the AI Overviews Google now places above the normal results, and the synthesized responses buyers increasingly read instead of clicking. GEO is a close cousin to AEO. The difference is the surface. AEO is about being named in an assistant's recommendation; GEO is about being pulled into the generated summary that sits on top of search itself.
Why the summary is the new top of the page
When Google puts an AI Overview above the ten blue links, that summary becomes the first thing a buyer reads, and often the only thing. If your business is woven into it, you get the attention. If you are below it, you are competing for whatever scroll is left.
How generative engines read your site
Generative engines build answers from sources they can parse cleanly and trust. They reward:
- Clear, self-contained passages that can be quoted without surrounding context.
- A site whose entity is unambiguous: one consistent name, one clear description of what you do and where.
- Content structured with real headings and direct statements rather than marketing fog.
- Corroboration across the web, so the engine has more than one reason to include you.
What to do
Write so a machine can lift a clean two-sentence answer from your page. State who you are and what you do without hedging. Use structured data. Keep the entity consistent everywhere a search engine might cross-reference you.
GEO is one of four surfaces
GEO is the generative-summary surface. It works alongside SEO, AEO, and the local map pack.
Useful links
- See whether generative search surfaces your brand: free audit
- How we run the work: services
The free audit runs a GEO check against the generative surfaces, so you can see whether you show up in the summary or get left under it.