Customers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for recommendations. Generative Engine Optimisation is how you show up in those answers.
Search used to mean ten blue links. Today, many buyers type a full question into an AI assistant — 'which agency in Bengaluru builds WooCommerce stores with GST invoicing?' — and get a short answer naming a handful of businesses. If you're not in that answer, you're not in the shortlist.
How AI assistants decide who to mention
AI search tools retrieve information from the web, then summarise it. They favour sources that are clear, consistent and corroborated: your own site, but also directories, reviews, community discussions and other sites that mention you.
Four levers you control
- Be retrievable — a fast, crawlable website with proper titles, headings and structured data.
- Be consistent — the same business name, address, phone and description everywhere online.
- Be quotable — pages that answer specific questions in plain, factual sentences with real details.
- Be mentioned — reviews, directory profiles, partner pages and genuine community participation.
A simple GEO audit you can run today
Ask three or four AI assistants the questions your customers ask. Note whether you appear, what they say about you, and which sources they cite. Inaccurate descriptions usually trace back to outdated or conflicting information somewhere on the web — fix that source first.
What not to do
Don't stuff pages with keywords, publish fake reviews or create thin pages for every possible phrase. AI systems are increasingly good at spotting low-quality content, and the reputational cost of being caught is high.
GEO isn't a replacement for SEO — it's built on it. Fix the foundations, keep your facts consistent, and publish genuinely useful answers. The visibility compounds.