The Ultimate Guide to GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)

Search is no longer a list of blue links — it’s a single answer.

When a buyer asks Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity about the best tools for employee engagement, project management, or financial compliance, they don’t see a results page. They see one trusted recommendation. And if that recommendation isn’t you, you’ve effectively disappeared from the conversation.

This is the reality of today’s search landscape. For years, SEO has been about ranking pages in SERPs, optimising keywords, and earning backlinks. That world still matters — but it’s no longer enough. Generative engines have rewritten the rules, shifting discovery from “who ranks highest” to “who is trusted most.”

That’s where Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) comes in.

In this guide, we’ll break down exactly what GEO is, how AI engines decide who to cite, and the practical steps your brand can take to become the answer inside generative search results. Whether you’re a B2B SaaS scale-up or an enterprise brand, GEO will be critical to keeping your pipeline visible, credible, and competitive in the years ahead.

1. What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is the practice of optimising your brand to be cited, surfaced, and trusted in AI-generated answers. Unlike SEO, which focuses on ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs), GEO is about ensuring large language models (LLMs) choose your brand when users ask them questions.

• SEO = Blue links.

• GEO = Being the answer.

Think of GEO as the natural evolution of search optimisation. As generative engines become the front door for buyer research, GEO is the strategy that ensures your brand doesn’t get left behind.

2. Why GEO Matters Now

Search behaviour has changed — and quickly.

• Generative engines are taking clicks from Google. AI overviews already answer millions of queries without requiring users to click a single link.

• Trust is central. AI engines rely on structured data, knowledge graphs, and authoritative mentions — not just backlinks — to decide who gets cited.

• Pipeline risk. If competitors are cited in AI answers while your brand is invisible, your inbound funnel shrinks.

• First-mover advantage. Just like PageRank in the early 2000s, the brands that optimise early for AI will compound authority and become much harder to displace.

For B2B and SaaS brands, where decisions are research-heavy and trust-led, being absent from generative results is not just a missed opportunity — it’s a competitive risk.

3. How Generative Engines Decide Who to Cite

Generative engines don’t just crawl — they interpret. They summarise data, triangulate trust, and synthesise answers. The factors influencing which brands are cited include:

• Structured Data & Schema: LLMs pull from cleanly marked-up content (FAQs, product data, organisational info).

• Entity Recognition: Brands that exist in the knowledge graph (Wikipedia, Wikidata, Crunchbase, LinkedIn) are easier for AI to identify and cite.

• Semantic Clarity: Content that’s concise, factual, and structured for machine readability is more likely to be summarised.

• Authority Signals: Mentions across trusted domains, high-value links, and digital PR reinforce brand trust.

Example: If a buyer asks, “What’s the best HR platform for SMEs?” — the AI will pull from structured content, entity knowledge, and authority mentions. The brand with the strongest signals becomes the recommended answer.

4. The Four Pillars of GEO

At Serpho, we structure GEO around four pillars that combine technical, content, and authority strategies.

1. Structured Foundations

To be chosen, your site must first be understood. We optimise semantic HTML, schema markup, site structure, and internal linking to make your brand machine-readable. From Core Web Vitals to Crunchbase profiles, these are the “ingredients” LLMs rely on.

2. LLM-Optimised Content

Generative engines don’t read like humans — they extract and summarise. We create content designed for AI ingestion: fact-first writing, FAQs, tables, and prompt-aligned assets that map to buyer questions.

3. Authority & Entity Signals

Citations are earned by trust. We strengthen authority through knowledge graph alignment, third-party citations, expert profiles, and digital PR. The goal: make your brand part of the dataset LLMs draw from.

4. Visibility Intelligence

What gets measured gets improved. We track citations in SGE, ChatGPT, Perplexity and more — benchmarking against competitors and refining strategy to keep your brand surfaced where it matters.

5. GEO vs Traditional SEO

SEOGEOOptimises for rankings in Google SERPsOptimises for citations in generative enginesKeywords & backlinksEntities, schema, authority signalsTraffic measured in clicksVisibility measured in AI citationsFocus: page rankFocus: brand trust

Bottom line: SEO gets you ranked. GEO gets you recommended. The two complement each other — but only GEO ensures visibility in AI-first discovery.

6. How to Implement GEO: A Step-by-Step Framework

1. Audit – Benchmark your current AI visibility, entity presence, and structured data.

2. Technical Setup – Implement schema, fix crawlability, align web entities.

3. Entity Optimisation – Strengthen Wikipedia, Wikidata, Crunchbase, LinkedIn.

4. Content Restructuring – Create AI-friendly assets (FAQs, definitions, summaries).

5. Authority Building – Secure digital PR, high-value links, and forum mentions.

6. Monitoring – Track monthly AI citations and adjust strategy as engines evolve.

For more information, view our GEO Service here, which goes into further detail.

7. Tools & Tech Stack for GEO

• Schema & Data: Schema App, InLinks, WordLift

• Entity Management: Kalicube Pro, Crunchbase, Wikidata tools

• Visibility Tracking: SGE monitoring, custom scraping, AI citation trackers

• Content Optimisation: SurferSEO, Clearscope

8. Case Study Snapshot

One SaaS client came to us ranking well in Google SERPs but absent from AI engines. Within 3 months of implementing GEO:

• +128% increase in Google AI Overview citations

• +74% uplift in qualified SQLs

• 23 high-value mentions in ChatGPT & Perplexity

The difference was visibility not just in search, but in the answers their buyers relied on.

9. The Future of GEO

Generative search is just beginning. Expect:

• Greater AI adoption → deeper visibility gaps.

• Monetisation of generative results.

• Early GEO adopters compounding authority.

Like early SEO, the brands that move now will enjoy outsized advantages for years.

Conclusion

Generative search is rewriting discovery. If your brand isn’t cited, it isn’t seen.

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is how B2B and SaaS brands ensure they remain the trusted source for buyers in the AI era.