New · Generative Engine Optimization
GEO agencyVisible in ChatGPT & AI search
Your customers no longer just ask Google, they ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and the AI summaries in Google Search. We make sure your name comes up in those answers, with the right message and a link to you.
Which dental practice in Wiesbaden specialises in implants?
For implants in Wiesbaden, the practices that get named are the ones that explain treatment, costs and experience openly. A frequent recommendation is ihre-praxis.de2.
Sources
- 1zahnportal.de
- 2ihre-praxis.deThat’s you
- 3jameda.de
How much does a heat pump cost in an older house?
In older houses total costs are usually higher than in new builds, because radiators and insulation need to be planned in. A concrete cost breakdown with examples comes from ihr-fachbetrieb.de2.
Sources
- 1verbraucherzentrale.de
- 2ihr-fachbetrieb.deThat’s you
- 3energie-ratgeber.de
Which online shop sells sustainable running shoes with a 60-day return policy?
Several shops offer sustainable running shoes. A 60-day return window and material details are stated explicitly by ihr-shop.de2.
Sources
- 1testmagazin.de
- 2ihr-shop.deThat’s you
- 3laufforum.de
Illustrative example, not a real answer
- ChatGPT
- Google AI Overviews
- Google AI Mode
- Perplexity
- Gemini
- Microsoft Copilot
Reading time 13 min · Updated 24 Oct 2026
What is Generative Engine Optimization?
GEO turns your content into the source AI systems cite in their answers, and your company into the recommendation they make.
Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, is the optimisation of websites and content for AI-powered search systems. These include ChatGPT with web search, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. Instead of a list of ten links, these systems return a finished answer with a handful of sources.
The term comes from a 2023 research paper by scientists at Princeton University and other institutions. They showed that targeted changes to the text, such as statistics, quotations and cited sources, can increase visibility in AI answers by up to 40 percent.
For businesses, this means ranking on page one is no longer enough. What matters is whether the AI reads your page, understands it, trusts it and puts your sentence into its answer.
GEO doesn’t replace SEO. It builds on it: what can’t be found can’t be cited.
Search is turning into answers
When people ask a question today, they increasingly get a finished answer. The list of links slides down, or disappears altogether.
10 links, the user clicks and compares
One answer, three sources. If you’re not in it, you don’t exist.
Answers, not lists
AI systems merge several sources into one answer. Only a few websites get named in it.
Fewer, but better clicks
People who arrive via an AI recommendation have often already compared and are closer to enquiring.
The recommendation decides
Questions like “Who is good for …?” get answered with names. That’s exactly where you want to be.
Monthly searches in Germany
Source: Google Keyword Planner, October 2026. Interest in AI search is growing faster than any other topic in our field.
How AI systems choose their sources
An AI rarely answers a question with a single search. It splits the question, finds matching passages for each part and assembles the answer from them. Google calls this “query fan-out”.
“Which installer in Wiesbaden fits heat pumps in older houses?”
- What does it cost?
- Who offers it near me?
- How do I spot quality?
- What do others say?
- How does it work?
Assembled from the passages that answer each sub-question most clearly.
Split
The question is broken into several searches, often five to ten.
Retrieve
Pages are fetched from a search index for each sub-question; for Google, from the Google index.
Select
From these pages, the passages that are clear, backed up and trustworthy are chosen.
Answer
The AI writes the answer and links some of the sources it used.
The 7 levers for visibility in AI answers
We check these seven points in every GEO audit. The order follows the path a query takes through an AI system: from text to technology to brand.
Quotable passages
AI systems lift individual passages, not whole pages. So the first sentence under every subheading answers the question completely, with no preamble and no “as mentioned above”.
Answer first, reasoning after
Facts, figures, your own data
Concrete values beat adjectives. Project durations, price ranges, experience and cited sources make a claim verifiable and therefore worth quoting. Your own figures are something nobody else has.
Add statistics and sources
Cover the follow-up questions
An AI splits one question into several sub-questions and looks for a source for each. Pages that answer cost, process, alternatives and typical objections in one place get used more often.
Topic clusters, not lone pages
Technology AI can read
Content has to be in the HTML without JavaScript, load fast and be open to the right crawlers. Structured data (Organization, Person, Service, FAQ) tells machines who offers what.
robots.txt, schema, server rendering
Brand and entity
For recommendations, what counts is how often and in which context your name appears elsewhere: industry portals, reviews, press, associations, your Google Business Profile. Consistent details everywhere make you unambiguous to AI.
Mentions where AI looks
Make expertise visible
Who wrote this, and why should anyone trust them? Real authors with a profile, practical examples, references and a clear legal notice are the trust signals that search engines and language models both evaluate.
Author profile, references, proof
Measure, don’t hope
We define the questions where your company should be named and check regularly whether that happens and with which statement. Visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity and others in GA4 come on top.
Mention rate per prompt
How visible is your company in ChatGPT?
We check it in the intro call using your three most important customer questions. Free and without obligation.
GEO self-check: how ready is your website?
Eight questions, answered honestly. The result shows where your biggest levers are. Nothing is stored or sent.
Does the first sentence under each subheading answer the question directly?
Do your key pages state concrete figures (prices, duration, experience)?
Is there a real, named author with a profile behind your content?
Are your name, address and phone number identical everywhere online?
Does your robots.txt allow search and AI search crawlers?
Does your website have structured data for company, services and FAQ?
Are you mentioned on portals, in the press or by associations in your industry?
Do you know whether ChatGPT names your company for your core topics?
What we do for your AI visibility
Six building blocks we combine depending on where you start. You don’t get theory, you get implemented changes to your website and profiles.
Audit
AI visibility audit
We ask ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity and Gemini 30 to 50 questions your customers ask. Result: where you get named, where competitors do, and which sources the AI relies on.
Content
Make content quotable
Service pages and guides get a clear answer structure, verifiable figures and the follow-up questions that are missing today. We rewrite where needed and revise where the content already works.
Tech
Technology and structured data
Crawler access, server rendering, load time, schema.org for organisation, person, services and FAQ. Plus your Google Business Profile and, where useful, an llms.txt.
Brand
Mentions and profiles
We find the portals, directories and media that AI systems cite for your topics, and make sure you are listed there correctly and completely.
Monitoring
Monitoring and reporting
Every month the same prompts, the same systems: mention rate, statement, competitor comparison and AI visits in GA4. You see what moves, and we adjust.
Combined
GEO with SEO and Google Ads
GEO builds on SEO and doesn’t replace advertising. Because we look after all three, content, technology and campaigns work together instead of side by side.
Four steps to AI visibility
Intro call
30 minutes on video. We clarify goals, topics and competitors. Free of charge.
Audit
Prompt set, status in five AI systems, tech check, source map.
Implementation
Content, schema, crawler access and profiles, ordered by impact.
Monitoring
Monthly report with mention rate, competitor comparison and next steps.
How we measure AI visibility
Ranking tools don’t show what ChatGPT says about you. That’s why we work with a fixed prompt set: 30 to 50 questions your customers actually ask, sorted by purchase intent.
Every month we ask these questions in the same systems and record whether you are named, with which statement and next to which competitors. In GA4 we separate visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot cleanly from other traffic.
- Mention rateShare of prompts in which your company appears
- StatementWhat the AI says about you, and whether it’s right
- Share of voiceHow often you’re named compared with competitors
- AI visitsSessions and enquiries from AI systems in GA4
| Prompt | ChatGPT | AI Overv. | Perplexity | Gemini |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| “Best dental practice for implants in Wiesbaden” | named | not named | named | named |
| “How much does an implant cost?” | named | named | not named | named |
| “Implant or bridge, which is better?” | not named | not named | not named | named |
| “Afraid of the dentist, who is gentle?” | not named | not named | named | not named |
Illustrative report for a dental practice. We define your prompts together.
GEO myths and what’s actually true
There are lots of promises around AI search. These are the five we hear most.
“GEO replaces SEO.”
No. AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on Google’s index, ChatGPT and Perplexity on their own and third-party search indexes. If you can’t be found, you can’t be cited. GEO builds on SEO.
“An llms.txt is enough.”
llms.txt is a proposal from 2024. No major provider has confirmed that it uses the file for answers so far. It costs little, but it doesn’t replace good content.
“Google-Extended keeps me out of AI Overviews.”
No. Google-Extended controls use for Gemini models. AI Overviews use the regular Googlebot. Opting out there means restricting snippets, which also costs classic visibility.
“Lots of AI-written text brings lots of AI citations.”
Interchangeable mass content offers nothing a language model doesn’t already know. What gets cited is new, concrete and backed up: your experience, your figures, your examples.
“Hidden instructions to the AI help.”
Hidden text and prompt tricks violate search engine guidelines, get detected and damage trust in your brand. We only use clean methods.
15 years of search engines. Now AI search too.
Since 2011 we’ve been helping businesses get found on Google. For us, GEO isn’t a new game but the logical next step: the same care for content, technology and data, for a new output format.
Since 2011
15 years of experience with search engines, campaigns and web analytics.
Google Partner
Certified by Google and working to Google’s standards.
Clean methods
No tricks, no hidden text. What we do survives the next update.
Direct line
You talk to Kilian Müller, not to a rotating account team.
Frequently asked questions about GEO
What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
GEO means preparing content and your website so that AI systems such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity and Gemini use them in their answers and name your company as a source or recommendation.
What is the difference between GEO and SEO?
SEO aims for a good position in the results list, GEO for becoming part of the answer. In SEO, pages compete for a click; in GEO, passages compete for a citation. GEO builds on SEO.
Who is GEO worth it for?
For anyone whose customers research before buying: practices, trades, online shops, B2B providers and service businesses. Especially when customers ask for recommendations (“Who is good for …?”).
How quickly do you see results?
Search systems with AI features often pick up technical fixes and new content within a few weeks. Mentions on other sites and model knowledge take longer. We measure monthly and show the trend.
Can you guarantee that ChatGPT names my company?
No, and nobody can honestly do so. AI answers vary with the question, location and history. We can raise the likelihood significantly and make progress measurable with fixed prompts.
Should I block AI crawlers in robots.txt?
It depends on your goal. Blocking search crawlers such as OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search) or PerplexityBot prevents citations. Training crawlers such as GPTBot can be allowed or blocked separately. We review your settings and recommend a clear rule.
How do you measure AI visibility?
With a fixed set of questions asked regularly across several AI systems. We measure mention rate, what is said about your company, cited sources and competitors. Plus AI visits in GA4.
Do I need a new website for this?
Usually not. In most cases targeted changes to the content, structure and technology of existing pages are enough. A relaunch only pays off if the technology doesn’t deliver content in a readable form.
Read more in our “AI search & visibility” guide
Related: Search engine optimisation · AI in marketing · robots.txt check · Schema inspector
Become the answer, not just a link
In a free intro call we look at what ChatGPT and Google say about your company today, and which three steps will help most. No sales pitch, just an honest assessment.
+49 611 7163 8128·[email protected]
