# GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

> GEO is the optimisation of content and brand so that AI systems such as ChatGPT or Google AI Overviews mention a company or cite it as a source.

Source: https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/geo/
Published: 2026-09-03
May be quoted with attribution and a link to the source.

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GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the work of getting an AI system to mention a company in its answer or to cite its content as a source. This means systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Google AI Overviews. The term sets itself apart from SEO: SEO wants a position in a results list, GEO wants a role in a generated answer.

## How does GEO work?

An AI answer draws on two sources of knowledge. The first is [model knowledge](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/model-knowledge/), meaning what the language model saw during training. The second is web search, which the system triggers when it is not confident in its answer; the results flow into the answer via [grounding](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/grounding/). GEO works on both paths: content must be available in a form that crawlers can capture, it must rank for the relevant search queries, individual passages must hold up in [re-ranking](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/re-ranking/), and the brand must be recognisable as an entity via third-party sites.

A workable formula for this: **AI visibility = (technology + content + off-page) × processes.** Technology gets a page into the race, content decides whether it is cited, the off-page environment decides whether the brand counts as a candidate at all, and without measurement processes every measure remains a one-off action.

## Why does GEO matter for companies?

Anyone looking for a service today increasingly asks an AI first. It usually names a few providers, and whoever is not among them does not feature in the decision. In the CodaAI study "AI Blind Test 2026", which evaluates 7,184 AI answers about 449 mid-sized B2B companies in Germany, the name of the company under review does not come up in 55% of buyer questions; in 47% of questions the AI recommends competitors instead. Traffic on your own website shows none of this, because the decision is made before the click.

## What does GEO mean for your website?

GEO is not a performance marketing channel; it is closer to brand building: it is about presence and a consistent picture in answers, not primarily about clicks. Three questions structure the work: Can the AI read your content (technology)? Are you where the AI gets its evidence (off-page)? Does it cite you because your content answers a question better than others (content)? Measurement is not done with a position but with [mention rate](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/mention-rate/), [citation rate](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/citation-rate/) and [share of AI search](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/share-of-ai-search/) across a fixed [prompt set](https://www.codaai.ai/en/knowledge/geo-glossary/prompt-set/).