What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and How Is It Different from SEO and AEO?

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your content easy for AI search tools such as ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews to find, understand and cite when they write an answer. It builds on SEO rather than replacing it: crawlable, helpful, well-structured pages still do most of the work.

We have run SEO for businesses since 2017, and more of the questions we hear now are about AI answers. This guide explains what GEO means, how it compares with SEO and answer engine optimization (AEO), and what a Mumbai business can do about it, using only what Google, OpenAI and Perplexity publish.

What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

GEO is the work of improving how often, and how accurately, your business and content appear in answers written by generative AI search engines. Classic SEO aims for a ranked link. GEO aims for a mention or a cited source inside the AI-written answer, so clear facts, specific claims and trustworthy sources matter most.

You will also see it spelt generative engine optimisation, or called AI SEO. The idea is the same: when someone asks an AI tool a question, you want your page to be one of the sources it reads and links to.

Where does the term GEO come from?

The term comes from a research paper, GEO: Generative Engine Optimization by Pranjal Aggarwal and co-authors, first submitted in November 2023 and accepted to the KDD 2024 conference. The authors describe generative engines as systems that gather information from several sources and summarise it with large language models. They report that the methods they tested could boost visibility by up to 40% in generative engine responses. That figure was measured on the authors’ own benchmark, not on real businesses, so treat it as a research finding rather than a result you should expect.

Which AI tools count as generative engines?

Any search tool that writes an answer from several sources counts. Today that includes ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. Each one uses its own systems to choose sources, so being visible in one doesn’t mean you are visible in the others.

How is GEO different from SEO?

SEO helps a page rank in a list of search results, while GEO helps your content get used inside an AI-written answer. The foundations overlap heavily, and Google says the same SEO best practices apply to its AI features. The difference is the goal and the measure: a citation or mention rather than a position.

Almost everything you do for SEO carries over. Pages still need to be crawlable and indexed, content still needs to be helpful and original, and internal links still help. Our page on SEO services in Mumbai covers how we approach those foundations.

What’s new is that more crawlers need access to your site, answers come first, and measurement is less precise.

How is GEO different from AEO?

Answer engine optimization (AEO) is about giving direct, well-structured answers that search features and assistants can lift, such as featured snippets, voice answers and AI responses. GEO is narrower and newer. It focuses on generative engines that combine several sources into one written answer. In practice both use the same methods, and many marketers use the terms interchangeably.

Put simply:

• SEO aims to rank a page in the list of results, and success is visibility and clicks.
• AEO aims to be the direct answer to a question, in a snippet, a voice reply or an AI response.
• GEO aims to be one of the sources inside an AI-written answer, and success is being mentioned or cited.

We explain what answer engine optimization (AEO) is in a separate guide, so we won’t repeat it here.

What does Google say about optimising for AI Overviews and AI Mode?

Google says there are no additional requirements or special optimisations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A page must be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet, and normal SEO best practices apply. Google adds that you don’t need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special schema markup for these features.

Google’s page on AI features and your website is worth reading in full. A few points stand out:

• AI Overviews and AI Mode may use a “query fan-out” technique, running several related searches across subtopics to build a response.
• Google’s best-practice list includes allowing crawling in robots.txt and by any CDN or hosting infrastructure, making pages easy to find through internal links, keeping important content in text form, and making sure structured data matches the visible text.
• It also tells site owners to keep their Merchant Center and Business Profile information up to date.
• Meeting every requirement doesn’t mean Google will crawl, index or show a page. Indexing and serving aren’t guaranteed.

How do ChatGPT and Perplexity find the pages they cite?

Both run their own crawlers. OpenAI says OAI-SearchBot surfaces websites in ChatGPT search results, while GPTBot collects content that may be used to train its models, and the two can be allowed or blocked separately. Perplexity says PerplexityBot surfaces and links websites in its results. If robots.txt or a firewall blocks them, they can’t read your pages.

According to OpenAI’s crawler documentation, sites that opt out of OAI-SearchBot won’t be shown in ChatGPT search answers, although they can still appear as navigational links. OpenAI also notes that a robots.txt change can take about 24 hours to affect search results. A separate agent, ChatGPT-User, handles visits that a user triggers.

Perplexity’s crawler documentation says PerplexityBot is not used to crawl content for AI foundation models. Its Perplexity-User agent handles pages a user asks about and generally ignores robots.txt rules. Perplexity also asks sites behind a web application firewall to allow its published IP ranges.

So robots.txt is only half the check: a hosting firewall, CDN or security plugin can block these crawlers even when robots.txt allows them.

What can a business do to improve its chances of being cited?

Start with crawlable, people-first pages that answer real customer questions in the first lines. Use question-style headings, specific facts such as what you do, where you work and since when, and structured data that matches the visible text. Keep your Google Business Profile and directory listings accurate, and earn genuine reviews and mentions on trusted sites.

Why does your Google Business Profile matter for AI answers?

Google’s guidance for its AI features specifically tells businesses to keep Business Profile information up to date. Your profile holds the facts AI tools need for local questions, such as your address, hours, categories and reviews. Run our free Google Business Profile check to see which fields are missing, and read our guide on how to rank higher on Google Maps in Mumbai for the profile basics.

How should you write for AI search?

Write for people first, as Google’s guide to creating helpful, reliable, people-first content recommends. In practice:

• Open each page and section with a direct answer, then add the detail.
• Keep one idea per section and use short paragraphs.
• State specific, checkable facts, and link to your sources.
• Show when a page was last updated, and keep it current.
• Avoid keyword stuffing and vague marketing claims, which give an AI tool nothing to quote.

Are AI crawlers allowed on your site?

Check your robots.txt for rules that block OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot or Googlebot, then ask your developer or host whether the firewall or CDN challenges or blocks them. Decide separately whether you want to allow training crawlers such as GPTBot.

How do you measure GEO?

There is no single GEO ranking report. Google counts AI Overviews and AI Mode traffic in Search Console’s Performance report under the Web search type. For other engines, watch referral visits from sites such as chatgpt.com and perplexity.ai in Google Analytics, and check a fixed list of customer questions in each AI tool every month. Our free checker does this for 5 questions in ChatGPT (live web search) and Gemini (AI knowledge, no live search).

AI answers vary between people and sessions, so treat manual checks as a trend rather than a ranking. Referral data only counts visits where the referring site is passed on, so it undercounts. Keep the same question list each month and note which sources each tool cites.

Where should a business in Mumbai start with GEO?

Begin with the basics that help every engine. Fix crawl and indexing issues, make sure AI crawlers aren’t blocked, rewrite key service pages so each opens with a direct answer, and complete your Google Business Profile. Then check progress monthly. If you’d like help, our team can review your site and listings in a free consultation.

You can read about our answer engine optimization and GEO services, or book a free consultation with our Goregaon team. We work Monday to Saturday, 10:00 to 19:00 IST.