Is GEO just SEO with a new name?

No. SEO earns rankings in a list of links. GEO earns a mention inside the AI answer that now sits above that list. They share some groundwork, like clean structure, but GEO adds entity building and quotable content aimed at the model, not the results page.

Which AI tools should I optimize for?

Start with the tools your buyers already use. For most businesses that means ChatGPT and Perplexity, plus Google AI Overviews. Voice assistants matter if your category gets asked aloud. Pick the two or three your buyers actually open, optimize for those, and measure before adding more.

Some of it. You can audit yourself by asking the tools and counting, and you can fix obvious gaps like schema and an FAQ. The slower part is building citations across sources models trust, which takes outreach and steady content. Most owners run the audit, then hand off the build.

Do you show up when buyers ask ChatGPT? A GEO primer

A plain primer on GEO: how to check if AI names your business, why it differs from SEO, and what actually moves the answer.

Sample content. This post illustrates the Journal format end to end; it is not a published article.

What is GEO, in plain terms?

Generative engine optimization is the work that gets your business named and cited inside AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI. When a buyer asks the model for the best option in your category, GEO is what makes your name part of the response instead of a competitor’s.

It is a different job from running ads or chasing rankings. The target is the answer itself, and the answer is now where the buyer decides.

How is GEO different from SEO?

SEO ranks your page in a list of blue links. GEO gets you into the single answer the model gives above that list. You can sit on page one of Google and still go unnamed when a buyer asks ChatGPT, because the model cites sources and entities, not your keyword rankings.

So the two overlap on basics like clean structure, then split. SEO optimizes for the results page. GEO optimizes for what the model says out loud.

How do I know if I show up when buyers ask ChatGPT?

Ask it. Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI, type the questions your buyers actually use, like “best [category] in [city]”, and count how often your name appears across the answers. In most audits we run, a new client is named in 0 of the first 24 answers we check.

Their competitors usually show up in most of them. That gap is the whole problem, and it is invisible until you go looking. The free AI-visibility audit does exactly this count for you.

What actually moves the answer?

Three things, in order. First, a citable entity: a clear, consistent profile across the sources models read. Second, content written to be quoted: comparisons, definitions, and question-led pages. Third, structure the model can parse, like schema, clean headings, and an llms.txt file. Reviews and third-party mentions compound all three.

None of this is a trick. It is the same idea as being the obvious recommendation, written so a model can repeat it.

How long does it take?

First movement usually shows in 4 to 8 weeks, as the models recrawl the sources you have changed and added. It is not instant, and anyone promising same-week results is guessing. We track your visibility score monthly, so the change is a number you can watch instead of a promise you have to trust.