Summary
More and more people get answers directly from ChatGPT, Google's AI Overviews and similar tools before they ever visit a website. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the name given to understanding how content and brands appear in those answers. This article explains what the term means, what the original research found, what Google itself says about appearing in its AI features, and what a business can realistically do. The field moves fast; this is accurate as of October 2026. Nobody can guarantee that a brand will appear in an AI engine's answers.
The CEO of a services company asks ChatGPT, "Who are the leading providers in my field?" Her competitors show up. She doesn't. She calls her SEO consultant and finds there's no simple answer. Her site ranks reasonably on Google, yet in answer engines she's close to invisible.
Plenty of businesses are asking the same question. Search no longer ends with a list of links. Sometimes it ends with a paragraph written by an AI engine, citing a few sources or none at all. Whoever is mentioned in that paragraph gets exposure. Whoever isn't, isn't part of the conversation.
Karnaf Studio, active since 2003, works across branding, website design and SEO, and builds AI systems for businesses. Generative Engine Optimization sits right at that intersection, so we follow it closely, carefully and without hype.
What GEO is
The term comes from a research paper by Aggarwal and colleagues, first posted to arXiv in November 2023 and accepted to KDD 2024. The authors define "generative engines" as systems that retrieve information and synthesize it into a single answer using a language model, and propose a framework for how content creators can improve their visibility in those answers.
They built a benchmark of queries called GEO-bench and tested several ways of modifying content. Some methods improved visibility under the study's conditions, and effectiveness varied by domain. In other words, there's no single formula that works everywhere.
Context matters: this is academic research under controlled conditions. Commercial answer engines change constantly, and there's no way to know how well those findings hold for them today.
What Google says about AI Overviews and AI Mode
Google Search Central publishes guidance for site owners on AI features in Search. The core message is simple, and a little surprising to anyone hunting for shortcuts:
- No extra requirements. According to Google, there are no additional requirements or special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Standard SEO best practices still apply.
- Baseline eligibility: to be shown as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet. Even that doesn't guarantee inclusion.
- No special files. Google states you don't need new AI-specific files or special markup to appear in these features.
- Measurement: traffic from AI features is included in the Search Console Performance report.
At least where Google is concerned, the foundation of GEO is good SEO.
What a business can actually do
1. Be clear about who you are
Answer engines need to understand what you do, for whom and where. A detailed About page, clear service descriptions and consistent information wherever the business appears online all help. This is where GEO meets branding: a sharply positioned brand is easier to describe.
2. Answer real questions, in text
Content that clearly answers questions customers actually ask, written as text (not only inside images or video), structured with headings and direct answers.
3. Add what only you can add
Experience, examples, data you've gathered yourself, expert explanations. Generic content is hard to cite because it's everywhere.
4. Get the technical basics right
A crawlable, fast, mobile-friendly site with internal links and structured data that matches what's on the page.
5. Be mentioned in credible places
Answer engines rely on sources. Mentions in articles, professional directories, conferences and industry bodies contribute to the overall picture of a brand, just as in classic PR.
6. Measure with caution
Periodically test relevant questions across a few answer engines and log the results. Answers vary by user, phrasing and day, so a trend over time says more than any single check.
Pros and limitations
| What GEO offers | What to keep in mind |
|---|---|
| Thinking about your brand as AI engines "see" it | There's no way to guarantee inclusion or citation |
| Reinforces clear, expert, useful content | The field changes fast; today's rules may shift |
| Connects branding, content and SEO | Hard to measure accurately and consistently |
| Prepares you for changing search habits | The academic research ran under controlled conditions |
Be wary of promises
Services promising to "get you into ChatGPT" are already appearing. Treat them with skepticism. No outside vendor controls how a language model selects sources, and these systems change over time. What you can do is build a brand and content that are easy to understand, trust and cite.
A basic GEO checklist
- [ ] A clear, current About page and service descriptions.
- [ ] Consistent business information across channels.
- [ ] Text content that answers customer questions.
- [ ] Original content with experience and examples.
- [ ] An indexed, crawlable, technically sound site.
- [ ] Periodic monitoring, documented, with no conclusions from one-off checks.
FAQ
Does GEO replace SEO? No. By Google's own guidance, the foundation for appearing in its AI features is the same foundation as SEO. GEO adds a perspective; it doesn't replace the work.
Can you pay to appear in ChatGPT's answers? As of October 2026 we're not aware of an official source offering this as a service to businesses. Check any such claim against the relevant company's official documentation.
How long until we see results? It can't be predicted. It depends on your field, competition and how these systems update, which is why this is ongoing brand and content work, not a one-off task.
In summary
GEO is a new name for an old question: how do you get people, and now machines, to understand who you are and why they should choose you? The answer still rests on clear branding, useful content and a sound website.
Want to see how your brand comes across online? Explore our branding portfolio, see our websites and UX/UI work or talk to us.
Sources
- Aggarwal, P., Murahari, V., Rajpurohit, T., Kalyan, A., Narasimhan, K., Deshpande, A., GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, arXiv:2311.09735 (KDD 2024) – https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website – https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features
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