What is GEO, and how does AI search find your business?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. It's the work of making your business easy for AI tools to understand, trust and mention when someone asks them for a recommendation. It doesn't replace SEO, it sits on top of it.

Why it matters now

A growing number of people skip the list of links entirely. They ask ChatGPT or Google's AI overview "who does X near me" and act on the answer. If your business can't be read and verified, you're not in that answer, and unlike page two of Google, there's no scrolling to find you.

How these tools decide

• +Can they clearly identify what the business does and where?
• +Do the details match across the website, Google and elsewhere?
• +Is there evidence, reviews, mentions, real content?
• +Is the information written plainly enough to be summarised?

What actually helps

• +Specific service pages, not one page covering everything
• +Direct answers to real questions, written in full sentences
• +Consistent business name, address, phone and service area everywhere
• +Structured data so machines can read your services and location
• +Genuine third-party mentions and reviews

What doesn't help

Keyword stuffing, AI-generated filler and vague marketing language. Summarising tools reward clarity, if a human can't get a straight answer from your page in ten seconds, a model can't either.

The honest bit

Nobody can guarantee an AI platform will recommend your business. What you can do is make sure that when it's deciding, everything it finds about you is clear, current and consistent. That's the whole game.