GEO: Being found by AI search engines

Attention through AI quotes

Many searches now run via AI applications: While some people ask their questions directly via ChatGPT & Co, others rely on AI-generated summaries, e.g. from Google AIO right at the top of the search results list.

The aim of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the optimization of pages for AI searches, is to be cited in the AI answers and named as a source. The top priority to achieve this: Prepare your content so that it is meaningful and easy to cite. This increases the chances that AI applications will include it in their answers.

How do I get quoted?

SEO as a basis

The basis for GEO are measures from the field of search engine optimization (SEO): Content as well as the page structure should be technically and editorially clean and well structured; this makes it readable for crawlers that index the content automatically.

FAQ areas: Clear answers to W questions

Clear and direct answers to possible user questions are the most important thing for good citeability in order to "make it easy" for the AI. FAQ sections, for example, are a good tool: they can be helpful because they clearly structure concise answers and are therefore often used by AI applications.

Expertise, originality and authenticity

The text area should be divided into paragraphs, each of which deals with its own aspects, and present the respective topic in a detailed and generally understandable way. You can include your own experiences as well as data and facts.
In any case, it is important to avoid technical gobbledygook and marketing jargon. The aim is to present even complex contexts authentically, make them easy to read and understand and thus prove your knowledge ("topical authority") - because it is precisely texts like this that often form the basis for AI responses.

Show your own relevance outside of your own website

If brands, companies or organisations also appear outside of your own website, this increases their relevance for AI. Business profiles such as Google Business or industry and regional overviews offer you the opportunity to anchor yourself externally and maintain up-to-date address data or opening hours.
You should also keep an eye on earned media: Mentions and reviews on external sites and social media are analysed by LLMs and can be used for AI responses.

Structured data as an aid for AI applications

LLMs - large language models that work with natural language - can categorise content better if it is presented to them in a structured way. The use of organisation and website/webpage markup from schema.org serves this purpose: labelling people, places, things and terms (i.e. everything that is considered an entity) helps LLMs with machine interpretability.

Measure and refine successes

Tools such as Sistrix AI or AI Performance in Bing Webmaster Tools translate into figures how often or how positively your own content appears in AI responses. This makes it possible to measure the success of GEO measures and refine them if necessary.

GEO success - what does that mean?

Appearing in AI answers or being cited does not primarily result in a good ranking or immediate traffic to your own website. However, good GEO increases your own brand presence and reputation as an expert in the respective field.

Not as many users click on an AI source as on a well-listed search result. However, these clicks usually come from people who are genuinely interested and have even more specific queries.

This puts you in contact with potential customers - which can have a positive impact.