Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of writing and structuring web content so that generative search engines, such as AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT search, cite it in their answers. Unlike classic SEO, which aims for a high ranking link, GEO aims to be quoted inside the AI-generated response.
Classic SEO optimizes to rank as a blue link that a user clicks. GEO optimizes to be retrieved and then cited inside an AI answer. A page can be cited without ranking first, and content that reads well for people is not automatically what a generative engine quotes.
Generative engines tend to cite pages that answer the question directly and early, use clear question-style headings, and support claims with concrete, verifiable facts and named sources. Self-contained sections that fully answer one sub-question are easier to quote.
A page can only be cited if it is first retrieved into the engine's candidate set. Heavy content-only edits that strip out relevant keywords can push a page out of retrieval, so GEO works as a funnel: stay retrievable, then be worth quoting.
No. SEO targets ranked links; GEO targets being cited inside an AI-generated answer. They can overlap, but the tactics that win citations are not always the tactics that win rankings.
No. Adding real, sourced facts helps, but inventing numbers is dishonest and risky; faithful, verifiable content is the sustainable approach.
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