GEO: How to get your business recommended by AI
Customers now ask ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity where to go. Here is what generative engine optimization means and how to make AI recommend you.
For twenty years, getting found online meant ranking on Google. That still matters. But a growing share of customers now skip the list of links and simply ask an AI assistant: "Who's the best family dentist near me?" or "Which accounting firm in Charlotte works with small businesses?"
The assistant answers with a few names. If yours isn't one of them, you never get the chance to compete. Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the work of making sure you are.
What GEO is, in plain English
AI assistants build their answers from what they can find and trust about your business across the web: your website, your Google Business Profile, directories, reviews, articles, and mentions. GEO makes that information accurate, consistent, and easy for AI to understand, so you're the business it feels confident recommending.
How GEO differs from SEO
- SEO helps you rank in a list of results that people scroll and click.
- GEO helps you get mentioned inside a single, written answer.
They share the same foundation, which is why we plan them together. Strong SEO makes GEO easier, and GEO protects your visibility as search habits change.
Six things that help AI recommend you
1. Consistent business information across the web
Your name, address, hours, services, and service areas should match on your website, Google, and every directory. Conflicting details make AI less confident about you.
2. Content that answers real questions
Write clear pages for each service, with direct answers to the questions customers actually ask: what it costs, how long it takes, who it's for. AI tools favor content they can quote.
3. Reviews, and lots of them
Recent, detailed reviews are one of the strongest trust signals for both people and AI. A simple review request after every job or visit adds up quickly.
4. Structured data
Behind the scenes, structured data tells machines exactly what your business is, where it is, and what it offers. It's invisible to visitors and very visible to AI.
5. Mentions beyond your own website
Local news, industry directories, partner sites, and community organizations that mention your business all help AI see you as an established, credible option.
6. A fast, accessible website
If AI crawlers can't read your site easily, they can't use it. Clean code, fast pages, and clear headings matter more than ever.
Where to start
Try it yourself: ask two or three AI assistants to recommend a business like yours in your area. If you don't appear, or the details about you are wrong, that's your starting point. Fix the basics, keep information consistent, and build reviews steadily. We're happy to run that check with you during a free consultation.