Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) describes work intended to improve whether a business is named, cited and accurately represented in AI answers. The product and question matter: a ChatGPT conversation, an AI Overview in Google Search and a Gemini-app answer are different observations. Record business mentions, links to the business’s website and factual accuracy separately.
Why measure AI answers alongside search?
An AI answer may introduce a business, compare services or explain a problem. It can include several options and source links, or ask for clarification. A business missing from one answer may still be found through other questions, products or routes. The useful question is whether the answers relevant to your customers contain accurate, helpful information.
Our 5 September own-site study includes repeated local answers, mistaken business identities and unavailable answers. A name appearing is not proof that the business was understood correctly. The dated register shows what was observed and what remains unassessed; it is not evidence of client results or improvement caused by our work.
How do AI engines build their answers?
Google describes its generative Search features using relevant pages from the Search index to support answers, sometimes issuing related searches to explore the question. That describes Google Search, not every response from every AI product. Record the actual product, mode and visible sources rather than assuming how an answer was assembled.
Start with the answer and its sources, then check the relevant website facts and access conditions. Our published methodology explains the question panel, evidence checks and measurement limits.
What website work is useful?
Access and clarity. Check that important information is available to visitors and legitimate crawlers. For a supporting link in Google’s AI features, the page must be indexed and eligible for a search snippet; eligibility does not guarantee inclusion. Use readable headings, explanations and navigation to help people understand the service.
Accurate business facts. Explain who provides the service, what is included and how qualifications or experience can be checked. Keep your own pages and genuine public profiles current. Relevant professional registers can help a reader verify credentials; a listing does not prove that an AI product verified or recommended the business.
Useful evidence. Publish information you can substantiate: an original investigation, a practical process or a worked example. Google prioritises useful, distinctive content and says there is no special AI file or schema requirement for generative Search. Keep any structured data consistent with what visitors can read.
What does the work actually involve?
The GEO work, in six moves
- Baseline. Agree the customer questions and record actual product and session conditions. Assess names, owned-site links and accuracy separately; unavailable answers stay unknown.
- Access. Check important URLs using native inspection reports and relevant crawl controls. Keep live accessibility, indexing and observed citations as separate findings.
- Entity. Check names, services, people and fees against the business’s current facts. Correct discrepancies in visible copy and any supporting structured data.
- On-page. Answer the buyer’s real questions using information the business can support. Use a layout that helps the reader compare scope, evidence and next steps.
- Authority. Keep genuine public profiles accurate and consider relevant editorial contributions. Publication and source selection remain with other organisations and platforms.
- Measurement. Repeat the agreed questions and disclose changes in conditions. Report visits, enquiries and won business separately; a change in an answer does not establish its cause.
Is GEO different from AEO?
AEO and GEO are overlapping labels for work on visibility in answer-led and generative experiences. Google treats optimisation for its generative Search features as SEO. Answari adds direct observation of agreed AI products, with separate measures for mentions, sources and accuracy. Our GEO vs SEO guide explains the practical comparison.
What should a business do first?
Choose one service and one question a prospective client might ask without naming your business. Use the free scorecard to record the answer, inspected sources and unknowns. Investigate an observed problem before choosing a change. For a wider review, see the audit scope or request a free visibility check.
A practical starting point for law firms
For a concrete example, inspect the conveyancing fee-page review, then see how an AI visibility audit for solicitors adds captured answers and a prioritised plan. Clear page information and actual AI visibility are recorded as separate findings.