What Is GEO? Difference From SEO, How To Do It

Source: https://oguzerol.com/en/what-is-geo/

GEO / AEO

# What Is GEO: How It Differs From SEO

[Oğuz Erol](https://oguzerol.com/en/about-me/)  |  7 min read  |  Published: 3 August 2026  |  Updated: 13 October 2026

## Quick summary

GEO is the work of getting your content used as a source in ChatGPT and Google AI answers. How it differs from SEO, what Google says, and what to do.

GEO stands for *Generative Engine Optimization* (it has nothing to do with geography): the work of getting a page used and shown as a source in the answers of AI search systems such as ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity or Claude. SEO aims to put a page higher in search results; GEO aims to get that page into the answer an AI system writes.

The honest short answer: **there is no big technical divide between the two.** Google’s own guidance (updated in July 2026) does not treat GEO or AEO as a separate discipline; it describes work for AI search as part of SEO for search ([Google: optimizing for generative AI](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide)). So there is no separate bag of tricks for GEO, and most of what you would do is simply good SEO. The difference lies in **what you measure success by** and **which bots you keep the door open for**.

## How GEO differs from SEO

The same good content serves both; the storefront and the measurement differ:

|  | SEO | GEO |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Goal | Appear as a link high in search results | Be used and shown as a source inside an AI-written answer |
| Success measure | Rankings, impressions, clicks (Search Console) | Being mentioned and linked in an answer; no standard measurement method yet |
| Access requirement | Page is crawlable and indexable | Same, plus the search bots of ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and others need to be able to reach the site |
| How much you control | Limited, but documented for years | Less; each system decides which sources it picks |

For Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode there is no extra technical requirement: the page has to be indexed and eligible to be shown with a snippet in Search, with no special markup or file needed. Being shown is still not guaranteed ([Google: AI features and your website](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ai-features), checked October 2026).

## What you actually do for GEO

1. **Check the basic SEO foundation first.** Is the page indexed, crawlable, eligible for a snippet? Without that there is no reason to expect a place in AI answers.
2. **Allow the search bots in robots.txt, and treat the training bots separately.** These bots do different jobs and should not be handled with one rule. To be listed in ChatGPT search you need to allow OAI-SearchBot; GPTBot is for model training ([OpenAI bots](https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots)). For Claude, Claude-SearchBot supports search indexing, while ClaudeBot is for model development ([Anthropic’s crawler explanation](https://support.claude.com/en/articles/8896518-does-anthropic-crawl-data-from-the-web-and-how-can-site-owners-block-the-crawler)). To appear in Perplexity results, PerplexityBot needs to be allowed ([Perplexity](https://docs.perplexity.ai/docs/resources/perplexity-crawlers)). You can block a training bot and still allow the search bot; which one you want is your business decision. OpenAI says a robots.txt change can take about 24 hours to be reflected in its systems.
3. **Put original, first-hand information on the page.** Google’s guidance recommends an original perspective, first-hand experience, and avoiding “commodity” content anyone could write. If your page has nothing that cannot be found elsewhere (your own test, your own data, a process step), there is little reason for AI systems to choose you as a source either.
4. **Give the answer early.** Google says you do not need special writing for AI; still, an opening paragraph that answers the question is better for readers, so that is how I wrote this page.
5. **Measure, but know the limits.** Clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode are reported in Search Console under the “Web” search type, together with other clicks. There is no standard report for ChatGPT or Perplexity. If you want to measure by hand, ask the same set of questions at regular intervals and record the platform, the date and the sources each time. Do not draw conclusions from a single try.

## Things often recommended that Google does not call necessary

The same Google document lists these as not required: llms.txt and similar special files (Google Search does not use them; other services may), splitting content into chunks for AI, a special writing style for AI, a special schema type to appear in AI answers, and chasing artificial “mentions” (treated as spam). Structured data can still be valuable for ordinary SEO; it is just not a precondition for AI answers. If you want to try llms.txt for other AI services, see [what llms.txt is](https://oguzerol.com/en/what-is-llms-txt-and-how-do-you-build-one/), but do not expect anything from Google visibility.

## What does the research say?

The 2023 academic paper that introduced the term ([GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, KDD 2024](https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735)) reports in its abstract that some GEO methods can raise a source’s visibility in generative engine responses by up to 40%, and says effectiveness varies by domain. That is a result measured in an experimental setting; it is not a promise that your site will see the same lift in real ChatGPT or Google results.

## The limits of GEO

- You cannot decide which source gets picked; each system chooses by its own logic.
- There is no answer to “how many times did I appear in AI Overviews” that is as reliable as Search Console. The “GEO score” or “visibility score” that third-party tools show is an estimate; Google also advises caution with tools that claim access to its internal metrics.
- On many sites most traffic may still come from classic search; check that in your own Search Console and Analytics data, because no general ratio can be given.
- Anyone who says “take these steps and you will definitely appear in ChatGPT” is overselling.

To see how your own site shows up in AI answers, you can run the check in [how your website shows up in ChatGPT](https://oguzerol.com/en/how-your-website-shows-up-in-chatgpt/). The whole topic is in the [GEO Guide](https://oguzerol.com/en/geo-guide/), and I also offer this as a service: [AI search visibility](https://oguzerol.com/en/ai-search-visibility-geo-aeo/).

## You Can Ask Me For This

If you would like someone to check whether your site is open to AI search, and to review your robots.txt and content structure, you can write to me through the [contact](https://oguzerol.com/en/contact/) page. I will send the scope and price in writing separately.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Should I do GEO and SEO at the same time?

You do not need two separate strategies. According to Google’s guidance, work for AI search is part of SEO, so if you do good SEO you are already doing most of GEO. In addition, check that robots.txt allows the search bots of ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity.

### Are GEO, AEO and “AI SEO” the same thing?

Largely yes; all three describe getting content used in AI answers. Google does not treat these terms as a separate discipline. I use GEO in this article.

### How long until I see GEO results?

I cannot give a firm timeframe, and you should be wary of anyone who does. It depends on how quickly the page is indexed, the site’s history, and how competitive the topic is. The only measured time I know of is the roughly 24 hours OpenAI gives for a robots.txt change, and that is about the bot noticing your rule, not about visibility.

### Do I need a separate budget for GEO?

There is no technical setting that needs a large budget. The real work is producing genuinely useful, original content and keeping bot access open. If you are going to buy a GEO service, read Google’s guide on evaluating third-party SEO advice and question what is being promised.

[Back to top ↑](https://oguzerol.com/en/what-is-geo/#icerik)

## You may also find these useful

[GEO vs SEO: Rivals or Complementary?GEO and SEO are not rivals: Google says AI search needs no special work. Learn which AI bot does what, what to measure and how to split your budget.](https://oguzerol.com/en/geo-vs-seo/)[What Is AEO, How Is It Different From GEO — Answer Box vs. Being CitedAEO (Answer Engine Optimization) targets the direct answer box while GEO is broader. I explain the difference and shared techniques from real site audits.](https://oguzerol.com/en/what-is-aeo-how-is-it-different-from-geo/)[GEO Guide: Visibility in AI SearchWhat actually helps with GEO and visibility in AI search, Google's official position, and a reading order for 20 articles: understand, apply, measure.](https://oguzerol.com/en/geo-guide/)

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