Generative engine optimisation (GEO): how to get your business cited by ChatGPT and Google's AI answers

More people now ask an AI assistant a question instead of scrolling through ten blue links. When the answer cites sources, the businesses named in it get the visit. When it doesn't name you, you may never know the search happened.

That's led to a new label — GEO, or generative engine optimisation — and a lot of confident advice about it. This guide sticks to what's well understood, flags what isn't, and focuses on changes a small business can actually make to its own website.

How do AI search tools decide what to cite?

The details differ between tools and change often, and none of them publish exactly how they choose sources. But the broad process is similar:

1. Retrieve. The tool searches an index of web pages for content related to the question — either its own index or one from a search provider.
2. Read. It reads the most relevant pages, or parts of them.
3. Write. The AI model writes an answer that combines what it read.
4. Cite. It links to the pages that supported specific parts of the answer.

So to be cited, your page first has to be in the index, then has to be retrieved as relevant, and then has to contain a clear, specific statement the AI can use. Each step suggests something you can do.

Step 1: make sure AI search crawlers can reach your site

If a crawler can't access your page, nothing else matters. Check three things:

• Your robots.txt file — the file at yourdomain.com/robots.txt that tells crawlers what they may access. Make sure it isn't blocking search crawlers you want to be found by. Some website builders and security plugins block unfamiliar bots by default.
• Search versus training crawlers. Several AI companies run separate crawlers for search (finding pages to cite) and for training their models. You can make different choices for each. Check each provider's documentation for the current crawler names — they change.
• Your content is in the HTML. If key text only appears after JavaScript runs, or sits inside images and PDFs, some crawlers may not see it. Important information should be plain text on the page.

Also make sure your site is indexed by both Google and Bing. Submit your sitemap in Google Search Console (opens in a new tab) and Bing Webmaster Tools (opens in a new tab). Bing's index is used by several other search products, so it's worth the ten minutes.

Step 2: answer the question directly

AI tools look for passages that answer the question clearly. Pages that take four paragraphs to get to the point are harder to quote than pages that answer in the first two sentences and then explain.

• Put a short, direct answer near the top of each important page or article — two or three sentences that would make sense on their own.
• Use questions as headings where it's natural: "How long does it take?", "What does it include?", "Who is it for?".
• Keep each section focused on one idea, so a passage can be quoted without needing the rest of the page.
• Add an FAQ section with the questions customers actually ask you — on the phone, by email, in sales calls.

Every article on this blog, including this one, starts with a short answer for exactly this reason.

Step 3: be specific, not promotional

"We deliver innovative, world-class solutions" gives an AI nothing to cite. "We build workflow automation for accountancy firms in the UK, USA and Australia, with a fixed one-time price agreed before work starts" does.

• Say what you do, for whom and where in plain language.
• State the facts customers compare on: services, locations served, how the process works, what's included, what isn't.
• Use real examples — named projects, real outcomes where you can verify them — instead of generic claims.
• Avoid invented statistics. If you cite a number, link to where it came from. Vague or unsupported claims are less likely to be trusted, by AI tools or by people.

Step 4: add structured data

Structured data (schema markup) is code that tells search engines what a page is about in a machine-readable way: this is an organisation, this is an article with this date, these are frequently asked questions, this is a service offered in these areas.

Structured data doesn't guarantee citations, and search engines decide how much to use it. But it removes ambiguity about basic facts, and it's used for regular search features too, so it's worth adding. Useful types for a small business include Organization, LocalBusiness, Service, Article and FAQPage. You can test yours with Google's Rich Results Test.

Step 5: build signals beyond your own site

AI tools, like search engines, tend to trust businesses that other sources mention. You can't control this directly, but you can influence it:

• Keep your business details consistent across your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories — the same name, description and contact details.
• Earn genuine mentions: client websites that credit you, industry directories, local press, podcasts, guest articles.
• Collect reviews on platforms your customers already use.
• Publish useful content that others want to link to — guides, checklists, comparisons — rather than thin posts written only for keywords.

Step 6: keep content up to date

AI answers about fast-moving topics favour current information. Show the published date — and an "updated" date when you revise something materially. Remove or update pages with old prices, discontinued services or outdated advice, because an AI tool may quote them confidently.

What about llms.txt?

You may have seen advice to add an llms.txt file — a plain-text summary of your site written for AI models. It's a proposed convention, and adding one is harmless. But at the time of writing, the major AI search providers haven't clearly confirmed that they use it for choosing citations, so treat it as optional rather than as a priority over the steps above.

How do you know if it's working?

Measurement is still immature. Some practical options:

• Ask the tools yourself. Search for the questions your customers ask in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, and note whether your site is cited. Repeat monthly — answers vary from one search to the next.
• Check your analytics for referrals from AI tools. Visits from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and similar domains show up as referral traffic in most analytics tools.
• Watch Google Search Console. Google counts clicks and impressions from AI Overviews in Search Console's performance report, though they aren't shown separately from regular results.
• Ask new enquiries how they found you. Add "an AI assistant" as an option on your contact form or in your first call.

A one-hour GEO checklist for small businesses

GEO is mostly good SEO

There's no secret trick. The websites that get cited are the ones that are accessible, clear, specific, current and mentioned by others. Those are the same qualities that help regular search rankings and, more importantly, help the people who visit your site decide to get in touch.

If your website makes these things hard — slow pages, vague copy, missing structure — our website design service builds sites with fast performance, clear structure and search basics in place from the start. If you'd like a second opinion on your current site, book a discovery call.