Generative engine optimisation

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) Services for UK Businesses

More customers now ask AI tools — Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot — which business to use. Generative engine optimisation makes your business easy for those tools to find, understand, trust and cite, alongside the SEO work that keeps you visible in normal search results.

What is generative engine optimisation?

Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the practice of improving how often, and how accurately, AI search tools mention and cite your business in the answers they write. Traditional SEO aims for a place in a list of links; GEO aims for a place inside the answer itself.

The term comes from a 2023 research paper by researchers at Princeton University and IIT Delhi, published at the KDD 2024 conference. In their tests, adding quotations, statistics and citations to sources made content noticeably more visible in AI-generated answers, while keyword stuffing performed worse than doing nothing. Results also varied by subject — which is why GEO needs a plan for your sector, not a template. Read our full guide: What is generative engine optimisation?

How they fit together

GEO vs AEO vs SEO

	SEO	AEO	GEO
Goal	Rank in the list of search results	Be the direct answer to a question	Be found, trusted and cited in AI-written answers
Where it shows	Google and Bing results pages, Google Maps	Featured snippets, voice assistants, “People also ask”	Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot
What matters most	Crawlable pages, relevance, links, speed	Question headings and short, direct answers	Clear facts about your business, sourced claims, trusted mentions elsewhere

The three overlap. Google says there are no extra technical requirements to appear in AI Overviews beyond being indexed and eligible for a snippet, so strong SEO is the foundation. GEO adds the clarity, evidence and third-party trust that AI tools rely on when they choose which businesses to mention.

What we offer

What our GEO service includes

AI visibility check

We ask the main AI tools the questions your customers ask and record whether, and how accurately, they describe your business.

Crawler access

We check robots.txt and your hosting’s bot protection so search crawlers — including Googlebot, Bingbot and OpenAI’s OAI-SearchBot — can actually reach your pages.

Entity clarity

Consistent business name, address and phone number, a clear About page and accurate structured data, so AI tools can tell exactly who you are and what you do.

Answer-ready content

Question-led headings, direct first-sentence answers, and facts backed by named sources — the patterns the research found AI tools favour.

Trusted mentions

Complete profiles on reputable directories, a Google Business Profile and reviews from real customers. No fake reviews or paid-for fake mentions.

Monitoring

We track visits from AI tools in your analytics and repeat the AI visibility check regularly, so you can see what is changing.

What GEO can and can’t do

No one controls AI answers. AI tools change how they choose sources, and the same question can get different answers. We will never guarantee that your business appears.
There is no magic file. Google states that no special AI text files, llms.txt or extra schema are needed for its AI features. We focus on what helps: crawlable pages, clear facts and genuine authority.
GEO builds on SEO. Most AI tools find sources through a search index, so pages that are not indexed are unlikely to be cited.

How it works

Our GEO process

Check

We record how AI tools currently answer your customers’ key questions.

Fix access

We make sure search and AI crawlers can reach and index your pages.

Clarify and strengthen

We improve entity details, content and structured data, and build genuine third-party trust.

Measure

We track AI referrals and repeat the checks, reporting what changed.

FAQs

GEO questions answered

Is GEO different from SEO?

Yes, but they overlap. SEO aims to rank your pages in search results; GEO aims to get your business mentioned and cited inside AI-written answers. Because most AI tools find sources through search indexes, good SEO is the foundation of GEO. See our SEO service.

Do I need an llms.txt file?

Not for Google. Google says no special AI text files are needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode. An llms.txt file does no harm, but it is not a substitute for crawlable, clear and trustworthy pages.

How do I know if ChatGPT mentions my business?

Ask it the questions your customers ask, with search turned on, and note whether your business appears and whether the details are right. Also check your analytics for visits from AI tools such as chatgpt.com and perplexity.ai. We do both as part of our service.

How long does GEO take?

Access and content fixes can be done in weeks, but AI tools update what they use at different speeds, and building genuine trust signals takes months. We report progress from real checks rather than promising dates.

Can you guarantee my business will appear in AI answers?

No. Nobody can honestly guarantee that. We can make your business easier to find, understand and trust, and show you the evidence of what changes.