What is GEO and how do you show up in ChatGPT and Google AI answers?

Customers don’t always type “plumber in Riga” into Google and scroll through ten results any more. More and more often they ask ChatGPT: “which plumber should I pick in Riga?” — and get a finished answer naming two or three companies. If yours isn’t among them, you never even find out the conversation happened. That is what GEO is about.

What is GEO?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is preparing your website so that generative AI tools — ChatGPT, Google AI overviews, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini — understand it, trust it and mention it in their answers.

The difference from ordinary search is simple. Google shows a list of links and lets the person choose. AI writes a single answer and mentions only a few sources. There are fewer spots, and they aren’t handed out by advertising budget — they go to the pages it’s easiest to lift a clear, verifiable fact from.

How is GEO different from SEO?

The fundamentals are the same. A fast site, a clear structure, understandable content — that serves both. A site that isn’t in order for Google almost certainly isn’t in order for AI either.

But the goal is different. SEO fights for the click. GEO fights to be mentioned — even when the person never visits your site at all. That’s why your company name, city, service and price need to be in one place and easy to read, not scattered across images and animations.

And the format is different. AI picks up short paragraphs, lists, tables and question-and-answer blocks far more easily than one long, flowing text with no headings.

How does AI decide what to cite?

Nobody publishes the exact algorithm, but a few principles are already clearly visible.

A direct answer to a specific question. A page with the heading “How much does a website cost” and a concrete number under it is in a much better position than a page where the price is “individually, by agreement”. We publish our own prices openly, for example — from €350 for a starter site.

Facts that can be checked. Name, city, opening hours, list of services, contacts. The less AI has to guess, the better the chance it will use you.

Structured data. schema.org markup tells the machine what here is the business, what is a service and what is a frequently asked question. A visitor never sees it, but AI and Google read it.

Consistency beyond your site. If your Google Business profile, directory listings and your own site all agree, you look trustworthy. If every place has a different phone number or different opening hours — less so.

And technical access. If your content is loaded only by scripts or hidden behind a login form, AI often simply doesn’t see it. An llms.txt file helps too — a simple file that tells AI tools what matters most on your site.

What GEO does not promise

It is not a way to buy yourself a spot in a ChatGPT answer — those spots aren’t for sale. It isn’t a one-time job either: AI models change and re-read the internet. And it doesn’t replace SEO. Both eat from the same plate — a well-organised, honestly written website.

What does this mean for your website?

In the sites we build, the GEO fundamentals — structured data, a clear content structure and llms.txt — are in place from day one, and we do the same for existing sites as part of our SEO and AI optimization service. If you’d like to know what AI currently says about your business and what should change — book a consultation. We’ll review your site, tell you what AI sees about you, and recommend what to change.