What GEO is, and how to check if AI answers mention your business

GEO stands for generative engine optimisation. It is a name for the work of making your business easy for AI answer tools to find, understand and mention. It is a practice name with no official standard behind it. The simplest way to start is to ask the questions your buyers ask, write down who the AI tools name, and fix your own pages so the honest answer is easy to find.

Sunita runs a bridal boutique in Hyderabad. This is an illustrative example. She is a made up character, used to show the steps.

Her brides used to find her through Instagram and word of mouth. Lately, some of them started their search with an AI tool. “Which boutique in Hyderabad does good lehenga fittings?” Sunita had no idea if she appeared in those answers. She could not check her own rankings with a simple search, so she tried a different way.

This article shows what GEO means, the steps to check your own visibility, and the mistakes that waste time.

What GEO means, in plain words

Search used to mean a list of links. Now many people also ask an AI tool and get a written answer, often with a few sources or names. GEO is the work of making sure your business is one of the names in that answer, and that the facts about you are right.

The term came out of research, and the field has no single agreed definition. Some people use it for the same work as search optimisation. Others use it for something narrower. So treat it as a practice you can test.

The research that gave the term its early shape is a 2023 academic paper, GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, from a team of researchers. In its own benchmark, certain content methods raised how often sources were shown in generative answers, by up to 40%. That is a research result under the paper's test conditions. It is not a promise for your business, and it is not a number you can copy.

Step by step: how Sunita checked her visibility

1. Write ten questions in your buyers' words. Sunita used the questions brides had sent her in DMs and reviews. She wrote them exactly as people typed them.
2. Ask the same ten questions in five AI tools. Use a clean chat each time. Do it on the same day, so the answers are comparable. Copy each answer word for word, and write the date beside it.
3. Record who gets named. For each answer, note whether your business is named, which other businesses are named, and what facts are given about each one.
4. Find out where the facts come from. Some answers cite pages. Check which pages are yours, which are other sites, and which are old directory listings with wrong details.
5. Fix your own pages. Put a clear answer at the top of each key page. Use plain facts: your location, your services, the prices you are happy to publish, your hours, and your contact. Make sure directory listings match the same facts.
6. Run the same ten questions a month later. Note the changes. Do not chase small daily changes, because AI answers can vary from one run to the next.

Last, keep one sheet. It holds the date, the question, the tool, whether you were named, the facts given, the pages cited, and what you changed. After three months, the sheet shows what works for your business.

In this illustrative example, Sunita found two directory listings with old opening hours and one page of hers with no clear location. She fixed all three. Her next check showed more accurate answers, though no tool named her in every question. The sheet gave her a clear view of what to do next. She also began to watch for questions about services she did not offer. When a bride asked about a service Sunita did not provide, she wrote one plain line about it on her site, so the honest answer existed. Each new line came from a real question, and none came from a guess about what the tools wanted.

What a good answer page looks like

A page that helps both readers and AI tools usually has these parts. You do not need all of them on every page, but most key pages should have the top three.

1. A plain answer at the top. Two or three lines that answer the question directly.
2. Your location, the service and who it is for, written in ordinary words.
3. The facts a buyer checks before anything else, such as hours, areas, process and contact.
4. One real example from your own work, with the details changed if needed. Label it as an example if it is not a real case.
5. A short list of questions and answers that match how buyers ask them.
6. The date the page was last updated, so readers can see it is current.

Keep the page short enough to read on a phone in one sitting. A long page full of filler is not better for a reader, and it gives a tool less clear material to work from.

A simple 30 day plan

Week one: write the ten questions and run the opening check. Week two: fix the top three pages and the directory listings that disagree with them. Week three: add the plain answer and the example to two more pages. Week four: run the same ten questions again and fill in the sheet.

Keep the plan small. One clear fix a week beats a big rebuild you never finish.

Mistakes that waste time and trust

1. Testing once and panicking. AI answers change. One bad answer on one day is not a verdict.
2. Hunting for a secret file or markup that makes you appear. The search engine's own guidance says you do not need new machine readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in its search results. Many suggested hacks are not supported by how search actually works.
3. Writing fake reviews or hidden text to game the answers. This is a risk to your reputation and can breach search rules. Do not do it.
4. Counting mentions and ignoring sales. Being named is good. Being named for the right service, to the right buyer, is what matters.
5. Treating GEO as a separate job. Most of the work is the same work as good search: clear pages, honest facts and a page that answers a real question.
6. Leaving old directory details alone. Wrong hours or an old address in one listing can spread into many answers.

What the search engine's guidance says

The search engine's guidance on its AI features is clear on one point. You do not need special AI files or hidden markup to appear in its search results. It also warns that many suggested hacks are not effective. The reliable path is to make your pages useful and easy to read.

This matches what Sunita found. The pages that helped her were the plain ones with clear facts. The clever ones did nothing.

Questions people ask about GEO

What should I fix before anything else?

Start with the pages that answer the questions your buyers ask most, and with the directory listings that give the wrong facts. Wrong facts are the easiest to fix, and they can spread into many answers.

What does GEO stand for?

Generative engine optimisation. It is the work of making your business easy for AI answer tools to find, understand and mention accurately.

Is GEO a standard?

No. It is a practice name. Different people use it in different ways. Treat it as a way of working.

Does GEO replace SEO?

No. The search engine's guidance says SEO remains relevant for AI features. Most GEO work is the same as good SEO: clear pages, honest facts and useful answers.

How do I check if AI tools mention my business?

Write ten buyer questions. Ask the same questions in five tools on the same day. Record who is named, what facts are given and which pages are cited. Repeat monthly.

Does the 40% figure mean my site will grow by 40%?

No. It is a result from a research benchmark, under the paper's test conditions. It does not predict your results. Use it as a reason to test.

Do I need a special file for AI tools?

The search engine's guidance says you do not need new machine readable files or AI text files to appear in its search results. Focus on the page itself before anything else.

Keep reading

For a wider view of local businesses and AI search, read AI search for local businesses in the US and UK. For community and search work in India, read community SEO and GEO in India.

Your next step

Sunita's opening step was ten questions and one sheet. You can start the same way this week, then keep the sheet open each month, the way you would check your stock. If you want a person to look at your funnel and pages with you, the funnel audit page explains how that works: see the funnel audit for India.

Sources and checks

1. Aggarwal and colleagues, GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, a 2023 academic paper on arXiv. The 40% figure is a benchmark result from the paper's abstract, under its test conditions.
2. An encyclopedia entry on generative engine optimisation, used for the term's origin and the note that there is no single agreed definition. Used for background.
3. The search engine's official guidance on AI optimisation, which says no new machine readable files or special markup are needed, and that many suggested hacks are not effective.
4. Sunita and her examples are illustrative.
5. Gap: the claim that any GEO method raises visibility for a specific business is not checked here, and no such claim is made in this article.

Madhur Tyagi | Founder, The Human Algorithm. 8+ years, 25+ brands, since 2017.