Generative engine optimisation (GEO): what it is, how it works, and what to do about it

GEO is not a replacement for SEO. Google's own AI search guide states that "optimising for generative AI search is optimising for the search experience, and thus still SEO", as Search Engine Journal reported in 2026.

It is still SEO, but that does not make it automatic. GEO builds on the same SEO foundations, then adds a layer on top: structuring your content so AI engines can read, quote, and cite it.

AI-generated answers are changing how people discover brands. Search Engine Journal's 2026 analysis reported click-through rate reductions ranging from 34% to 46% when AI summaries appear on search results pages. If your content is not structured for AI engines to read, quote, and cite, your business will not surface in a growing share of search interactions.

What is generative engine optimisation?

Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the process of making your website content easy for AI systems to find, understand, and quote in their responses. A generative engine, such as Google AI Overviews or Perplexity, pulls information from multiple sources and builds a single answer from them.

A generative engine does not rank links the way traditional search does. It selects sources it trusts and combines them into a response.

GEO is closely related to answer engine optimisation (AEO). Both focus on being the source an AI cites. The terms are used interchangeably in most practitioner contexts. Google's 2026 AI search guide addresses generative AI search directly, while framing the work as part of SEO rather than a separate discipline.

We share that view. In our experience, strong SEO and content fundamentals are the foundation, and AEO and GEO are the layer you build on top of them. The businesses that get cited in AI answers are the ones doing both, not the ones treating AI search as a separate playbook.

How does generative engine optimisation work?

GEO works by shaping your content for how generative engines find and use sources. The AI first finds relevant pages, then combines them into a single answer.

Two things shape whether your content appears in that answer:

1. The engine has to find your page. It must be crawlable and indexed, whether by Google or by an AI tool's own crawler.
2. The AI has to be able to use your page. Clear structure helps it pull out and quote your content accurately, though this is not strictly required.

Traditional SEO handles the first. GEO shapes the second. Neither replaces the other.

Aggarwal et al.'s 2024 paper, published at KDD 2024, found that targeted content adjustments can boost visibility in generative engine responses by up to 40%.

Why does GEO matter for Australian businesses right now?

GEO matters now because AI Overviews have rolled out broadly across search. Pew Research's 2025 study found that around 18% of all Google searches produced an AI summary by March 2025, rising to 53% for searches of ten or more words. With StatCounter's May 2026 data putting Google at 88.02% of Australia's search engine market share, any change to Google's result layout has a direct impact on Australian SME visibility.

At Google I/O in May 2026, Google reported that AI Overviews had reached over 2.5 billion monthly active users. In Australia, Roy Morgan's Single Source survey found 58% of Australians aged 14+ used AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot in an average four-week period in early 2026. The rise has been steep: Google and Ipsos recorded generative AI use climbing to 49% in 2024, up from 38% the year before.

Australian consumers are also changing how they use AI versus traditional search. Search engines remain the first choice for quick look-ups and price comparison.

Fifth Quadrant's 2025 report shows generative AI is now the first choice for explanation, comparison, and decision support, especially in health, finance, and work-related tasks. Those are exactly the queries where your business needs to be visible.

There is also a quality argument. Semrush's 2025 study found that the average AI search visitor is 4.4 times as valuable as the average organic search visitor based on conversion rate. Fewer clicks, but better ones.

GEO vs SEO vs AEO: what is the difference?

GEO, SEO, and AEO are three overlapping practices, not three competing strategies. Each one targets a different layer of how your content gets discovered.

In practice, strong SEO is the foundation for both AEO and GEO, but the link between top rankings and AI citations is loosening. Ahrefs' 2026 data shows that by early 2026 only 38% of AI Overview citations came from top-ten pages, down from 76% a year earlier. Ranking well still helps you get found, but it is no longer a gate.

For the fuller picture on how SEO and AEO diverge and overlap, see our guide to AEO vs SEO.

What generative engine optimisation strategies work?

Effective GEO uses six core strategies: writing non-commodity content, structuring for passage-level extraction, ensuring full crawlability, using structured data in context, building topical depth, and targeting complex queries. Most of these extend good SEO practice rather than replace it.

Write non-commodity content

Non-commodity content draws on real, specific experience rather than generic advice. As Search Engine Journal reported in 2026, Google explicitly contrasts "commodity content" with content built from genuine expertise. A generic "7 tips for first-time homebuyers" article is a clear example of commodity content.

Generative engines pull from many sources. They do not need to cite you if you are saying the same thing as everyone else.

Write from genuine expertise. Use your own data, case studies, and client outcomes, such as a specific result you have produced rather than a generic industry figure. If you serve Australian customers, cover the Australian context specifically: local terminology, regulations, and benchmarks matter because AI systems trained on global data do not always default to Australian perspectives.

Structure content for passage-level extraction

Passage-level extraction means generative engines pull specific paragraphs from pages, not entire articles. Each section of your content should stand alone as a complete, self-contained point. A reader, or an AI, should be able to extract one paragraph and still understand the point.

For example, a paragraph that begins "A technical SEO audit checks whether search engines can crawl and index your site" makes sense on its own. One that begins "We run it at the start of every project" does not, because "it" depends on the paragraph before it.

Use question-style headings that mirror how users phrase queries, and answer the question in the first sentence of each section. For example, a heading like "How much does SEO cost?" matches how people search better than a heading like "Our pricing".

Expand with detail in the paragraphs that follow. This structure makes your content easy to quote accurately.

Ensure your site is fully crawlable

Crawlability means AI engines can reach and read every page that matters. Check that important pages are indexed and that no accidental noindex directives are blocking them.

Make sure your key content, especially answers and FAQ text, sits in the page's HTML rather than being added by JavaScript after the page loads. Many AI crawlers do not run JavaScript, so anything loaded that way can be invisible to them.

As Google's 2026 AI search guide states, pages must be indexed and eligible to appear in search to be candidates for AI Overviews. Crawlability is the entry requirement for GEO, not an optional extra.

Use structured data, but keep it in context

Structured data helps search engines interpret your page, but it is not required for AI Overviews. As Search Engine Journal noted in 2026, there is also no special schema.org markup for generative search, and Ahrefs' 2026 controlled test of 1,885 pages found that adding schema produced no meaningful lift in AI citations. It remains useful hygiene that helps engines parse articles, FAQs, local-business, and product content, but the question-answer content in the body is what gets you cited.

Add the structured data types that fit your content. Do not chase speculative "AI markup" that no major platform has confirmed.

Build topical depth across a content cluster

Topical depth means covering a subject thoroughly across a connected set of pages rather than in a single article. Generative engines favour sources that cover a topic in depth. So build a set of related pages: one main overview page, with separate detailed pages for each part of the topic, all linked together.

Most CMS platforms support this through a content-type or collection structure. Design yours to reflect topic maps: one type for service types, one for locations, one for FAQs, one for case studies. Each page in the cluster becomes a candidate source for a different generative query.

Target complex, multi-step queries

Complex queries are where generative AI is most often used: comparisons, explanations, and "how does X work" questions, such as "do I need both SEO and AEO?". As Fifth Quadrant reported in 2025, Australian consumers use generative AI most for tasks that need explanation and comparison, not simple look-ups. Create content that addresses those complex decisions: comparison guides, step-by-step explanations, and detailed "how does X work" pages.

These content types are more likely to appear in AI Overviews than simple product or service pages.

What you do not need to do for GEO

You do not need llms.txt files, content chunking, keyword variation pages, or AI-generated content to succeed at GEO. Google's official guide clarifies several things that are not required and not helpful.

You do not need an llms.txt file

An llms.txt file does nothing for Google's systems. Google states explicitly that site owners do not need to create llms.txt files or AI text files. As Search Engine Journal reported in 2026, no special machine-readable markup is required to appear in generative AI search.

You do not need to chunk your content

Content chunking, breaking pages into artificially short sections for AI systems, is not required, as Search Engine Journal reported in 2026. It can also backfire: SE Ranking found that sections of 120 to 180 words earn 70% more citations than sections under 50 words, so over-chunking weakens the depth that generative engines value.

You do not need to target every keyword variation

Keyword variation pages are unnecessary because Google's AI systems understand synonyms and general meaning, as Search Engine Journal noted in 2026. Write naturally for your audience. You do not need separate pages for every phrasing of the same query.

You do not need AI-generated content to rank in AI search

AI-generated content is not inherently preferred by generative engines. As Google explained in 2023, it evaluates all content against the same quality criteria, regardless of how it was produced. Thin, repetitive AI content is more likely to be ignored, not rewarded.

How to measure generative engine optimisation performance

You measure GEO performance by tracking AI citation frequency, Search Console impression-click gaps, conversion quality from AI referrals, and on-page engagement signals. Traditional metrics alone do not show whether you are being cited in AI answers.

Start with these four measurement approaches:

Monitor AI citation frequency

AI citation frequency is how often your pages appear as cited sources in generative answers. Search for your key queries manually in Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Bing Copilot. Note which of your pages appear and how often.

Do this across a cluster of related queries, not only one. AI answers vary across sessions, so treat your results as a distribution, not a fixed rank.

Track Google Search Console impressions

Search Console impressions show how often your pages appear in result layouts, including those mediated by AI Overviews. When AI Overviews appear for a query, your impressions may hold steady or increase while clicks decline.

A widening gap between impressions and clicks signals that AI is intercepting those queries. This is a useful proxy for how often your content is appearing in AI-mediated results.

Measure conversion quality from AI referrals

AI referral conversion quality measures how AI-sourced visitors convert compared with other channels. As Semrush found in its 2025 study, AI search visitors convert at higher rates than average organic visitors.

Set up distinct tracking for referral traffic from AI tools where possible. If your AI-referred visitors are converting well, your GEO content is attracting high-intent users.

Review content engagement signals

Engagement signals, such as bounce rate, session length, and return visits, reinforce both traditional SEO and GEO performance. Pages that generative engines cite tend to show strong engagement.

If a page you are optimising for GEO has poor engagement, the content likely needs more depth or specificity. Without this, AI engines are unlikely to trust it as a reliable source.

GEO for Australian SMEs: a realistic roadmap

Most SMEs do not need to build a GEO strategy from scratch. The work falls into two stages: audit and fix what you already have, then run an ongoing content programme on top of it.

Stage one: audit and restructure. Review your existing site against AEO and GEO best practice. Check that key pages are crawlable, indexed, and eligible to appear in search, and find the queries where AI Overviews already show up in your niche. Then restructure your most important service and information pages: question-style headings, a direct answer in the first sentence of each section, and FAQ sections grounded in real user questions.

Stage two: run an ongoing content programme. Treat GEO as part of your regular SEO work, not a one-off project. Use keyword research and clustering to find the questions your audience asks, then write content that answers them clearly and in an AEO-friendly structure. Refresh pages that appear in AI Overviews but are not converting, and keep adding depth around the complex queries where customers increasingly turn to AI.

SEO results from this kind of work are typically visible within three to four months. GEO results, measured by citation frequency and AI-referred conversions, follow a similar timeline as your content builds authority.

FAQ

What is the difference between GEO and AEO?

Generative engine optimisation (GEO) and answer engine optimisation (AEO) are closely related, and the two terms are often used interchangeably. There is no settled industry distinction between them, and practitioners draw the line differently.

A common shorthand frames the three layers like this: SEO gets you ranked, AEO gets you surfaced as the answer, and GEO gets you cited inside an AI's generated response. Where a line is drawn between the two AI terms, GEO leans toward generative, chat-based tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, while AEO leans toward being the chosen answer on surfaces like AI summaries, featured snippets, and voice.

In practice both describe the same goal: making your content the source an AI cites in its response, and the same well-structured, well-sourced content serves both. See our full breakdown of what AEO is for more on how it's measured and applied.

Does GEO replace traditional SEO?

GEO does not replace traditional SEO. Google's own AI search guide states that optimising for generative AI search is still SEO, as Search Engine Journal reported in 2026.

Pages need to be indexed and eligible to be retrieved before they can be cited in AI answers, and strong rankings still help. GEO builds on top of SEO: you keep doing the SEO that earns your visibility, then add the GEO work that shapes how AI reads and cites your content.

How long does it take to see GEO results?

GEO results typically start appearing within weeks of re-indexing and build to consistent citation presence over three to six months. Citation frequency in AI answers varies across queries, sessions, and engines. It does not stabilise the way a keyword ranking does. Building consistent citation presence across a topic cluster takes three to six months of sustained content and SEO work.

Do I need a separate GEO strategy for each AI platform?

A unified approach covers most platforms. Google AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, ChatGPT, and Perplexity all rely on web content quality, clear structure, and topical authority. Platform-specific refinements, such as checking how your brand appears in Bing Copilot's citation panel, are useful additions once your foundational content is strong.

Is GEO relevant for small Australian businesses?

GEO is relevant for any business that relies on organic search for leads. StatCounter's May 2026 data puts Google at 88.02% of Australian search traffic, and AI Overviews are now part of mainstream search for Australian users.

SMEs that depend on informational queries, such as service comparisons, "how does X work" questions, and local service searches, are directly affected by GEO. What matters is whether their content appears in AI-generated answers.

About RankRise

RankRise is a Melbourne-founded SEO and AEO agency, working with businesses since 2020. When a project includes SEO and AEO, we implement them from the first sprint, not as an afterthought after launch.

Our programmatic SEO work has grown ASL Bloom to more than 30,000 monthly organic clicks and 5 million monthly impressions, around 85% from non-branded search, over 15 months. For Evergreen Infrastructure, we reached 1,250+ monthly organic clicks and 150,000+ impressions in 11 months. We have built CMS architectures supporting 150,000+ items, and RankRise offers a free consultation.