What GEO means
The term Generative Engine Optimization was formalized in academic research published at KDD 2024 by researchers from Princeton and other institutions.
The work studied how certain content modifications could affect visibility inside generative-engine responses and created a specific benchmark to evaluate those changes.
Within that experimental environment, the authors reported visibility improvements of up to 40% for certain strategies and domains.
The figure needs clear limits.
It does not mean 40% more traffic or sales, nor does it guarantee an equivalent improvement in Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or any current system. It is a result within the study’s benchmark and experimental configuration.
Its more important contribution is different: it shows that the way a source presents and supports information can affect its use in a generative answer.
Google does not consider GEO a replacement for SEO
In May 2026, Google published specific guidance for optimizing sites for generative AI features in Search.
Its official answer to “Is SEO still relevant?” is explicit: yes.
Google explains that AI Overviews, AI Mode, and other experiences use its core ranking and quality systems to retrieve pages from the index. It also describes mechanisms such as retrieval-augmented generation and query fan-out, in which the system generates related queries to find additional information.
From Google’s perspective, optimizing for generative search still depends on fundamentals including:
- clear technical structure;
- useful, original content;
- crawlability and indexation;
- internal links;
- trustworthy information;
- content that contributes more than generic knowledge.
The company also warns against tactics presented as AEO/GEO tricks that do not actually improve site quality or usefulness.
ChatGPT Search also needs access to content
OpenAI establishes a comparable technical condition.
Any public site can appear in ChatGPT Search, but to help content be discovered, shown, cited, and linked, a publisher should allow access by OAI-SearchBot.
OpenAI also clarifies that there is no way to guarantee prominent placement.
This avoids another common oversimplification: there is no single instruction that forces an AI engine to cite a company.
The work is to improve the conditions under which a source can be found and evaluated, not to promise an outcome that depends on external systems.
What changes from traditional SEO
SEO has always included much more than keywords and backlinks.
In generative search, however, certain attributes become especially visible because systems need to use information inside an answer.
A strong source needs to state precisely:
- which entity it describes;
- which facts it supports;
- where the data comes from;
- when it was updated;
- what limits apply to the claim;
- how it relates to other pages and entities.
Semantic clarity and evidence also improve the human experience. That convergence matters: content that is easier for a person to verify is often a less ambiguous source for retrieval systems as well.
GEO should not become a new factory for generic content
The ease of generating text can produce the opposite of the desired effect.
Google explicitly recommends unique, useful, trustworthy, people-first content and discourages artificial tactics that provide no real value.
This particularly favors companies able to produce primary information:
- proprietary data;
- operational experience;
- technical explanations;
- original research;
- process evidence;
- local context;
- documentation of decisions and changes.
A manufacturer does not need to become a news outlet to compete for visibility. It can build authority by accurately documenting what it knows better than a generic source: its operation, industry, and real market conditions.
Measurement is also changing
In June 2026, Google announced new Search Console performance reports for generative AI features, initially in a limited rollout.
The signal matters: visibility within generative experiences is beginning to gain more specific measurement tools.
But the metric should not be reduced to “did an AI cite us?”
A mature strategy can observe:
- impressions;
- referral traffic;
- queries;
- discovered pages;
- cited sources;
- brand consistency;
- leads and subsequent behavior.
GEO adds a new layer of observation. It does not eliminate the need to build a solid, crawlable, and useful web source.
Frequently asked questions
Does GEO replace SEO?
No. Google explicitly states that its recommended SEO practices remain relevant to Search’s generative AI features.
Do I need special schema to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode?
Google says there are no additional requirements or mandatory special optimizations for appearing in those features. Structured data should continue to represent visible content correctly.
How can a site facilitate appearing in ChatGPT Search?
OpenAI recommends not blocking OAI-SearchBot and allowing the host or CDN to accept traffic from its published IP addresses. This facilitates inclusion but does not guarantee ranking or citation.
Does the original GEO study guarantee a 40% improvement in real-world visibility?
No. “Up to 40%” refers to the study’s experimental environment and benchmark. It should not be transferred as a universal performance promise for current platforms.
Sources
- Google Search Central. “Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search.” Guide published in 2026; documented update in July 2026. https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
- Google Search Central. “A new resource for optimizing for generative AI in Google Search.” May 15, 2026. https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/05/a-new-resource-for-optimizing
- Google Search Central. “Introducing Search Generative AI performance reports in Search Console.” June 3, 2026. https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/06/gen-ai-performance-reports
- OpenAI Help Center. “Publishers and Developers — FAQ.” Crawl and discovery rules for ChatGPT Search. https://help.openai.com/en/articles/12627856-publishers-and-developers-faq
- OpenAI Help Center. “ChatGPT Search.” Availability and inclusion requirements. https://help.openai.com/en/articles/9237897-chatgpt-search
- Aggarwal, Pranjal et al. “GEO: Generative Engine Optimization.” KDD 2024 / Princeton University. https://collaborate.princeton.edu/en/publications/geo-generative-engine-optimization/