"Which agency would you recommend in Mallorca?" "Which boutique hotel should I pick in Pollença?" Questions that three years ago went to Google are increasingly being asked of ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini. And the answer is no longer a list of ten blue links: it's a specific recommendation. Either you're in it, or you don't exist for that customer.
What GEO is
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the discipline of getting AI engines to understand who you are, what you do and when it makes sense to recommend you. It's classic SEO's sibling: it shares most of the foundations — useful content, authority, technical signals — with its own twists, because AI doesn't "rank" pages: it cites sources and synthesises answers.
How an AI decides who to recommend
Models combine what they learned in training with real-time searches. To come out well on both fronts you need three things:
- A clear entity — who you are, where you are and what you do, said the same way everywhere: your website, your structured data (schema.org), your Google profile, your listings and directories. Contradictions dilute the model's confidence.
- Citable content — AI cites whoever answers specific questions well. An article that genuinely explains "how much a professional website costs" has far better odds than a generic services page.
- Crawlability — AI bots (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) need to be able to read your site. Blocking them in robots.txt is opting out of the conversation.
Concrete actions that work
1. Serious structured data
Organisation schema with services, address, phone, awards and ratings. It's the native language of machines: what reads as nice copy on your website is a verifiable fact in your schema.
2. Answer real questions, with figures and examples
The content AI cites has a recognisable shape: a title that poses the question, a direct answer in the first paragraphs, concrete data, real examples. Well-written FAQs on service pages are perfect ammunition.
3. Mind the sources AI reads
Models triangulate: your website, Google reviews, industry directories, press mentions and other sites. A solid review profile and consistent mentions weigh as much as your own content.
4. Publish an llms.txt
A file on your domain that summarises in plain text who you are, what you offer and your highlighted projects, designed for AI engines to consume directly. It's an emerging standard: few have it and it's cheap to implement.
What does NOT change
GEO doesn't replace SEO: it extends it. AIs search the same indexes, read the same websites and reward the same underlying virtues — clarity, authority, usefulness. Everything you do well for Google also moves you closer to the AI's recommendation. The difference is that now the winner doesn't get a click: they get the entire recommendation.
At staycreative we treat SEO and GEO as one visibility strategy — on our own website and on our clients'. If you want to know what AI says about your business today (try it, it's revealing), let's talk.
