GEO is optimizing your content to be cited by AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google's AI overviews. Here is what it means and how it differs from SEO.
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content so that AI generative engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI overviews) cite and surface it in their answers.
As people increasingly get answers from AI assistants instead of clicking blue links, GEO is the discipline of being the source those assistants quote. It overlaps with SEO but optimizes for being synthesized and cited rather than ranked: clear structure, factual accuracy, quotable statements, and strong topical authority. It is closely related to answer engine optimization (AEO) and is a response to the rise of zero-click search.
GEO matters because a growing share of research never reaches a website; the answer is generated and the source is cited, or not. Brands that structure content to be quotable and authoritative get represented in AI answers; those that do not become invisible in the channel that is rapidly growing. It is the SEO of the AI era, and treating it as optional is the same mistake as ignoring search was twenty years ago.