What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

What is generative engine optimization?

Generative engine optimization is work that aims to make a website more visible in answers written by AI systems. Google describes GEO as “work specifically focused on improving visibility in AI search experiences” (Google AI guide, updated 10 July 2026).

A research paper first posted in November 2023 introduced the name. It calls a generative engine a search system that gathers information from several sources and summarizes it with a language model (GEO paper, revised 28 June 2024).

What is answer engine optimization?

Answer engine optimization, or AEO, is a second name for the same kind of work. Google gives AEO and GEO one description, and it is the only primary source we found that defines AEO (Google AI guide, updated 10 July 2026).

We found no primary source that separates the two, and none that says who first used the term AEO. If someone sells AEO and GEO as two different services, ask for the source of the difference.

Is GEO different from SEO?

The sources disagree. Google says this work is still SEO, and the paper that named GEO treats it as a separate problem. If you came here after searching “GEO SEO”, both answers are below, each with its date.

• Google, on Google Search: “optimizing for generative AI search is optimizing for the search experience, and thus still SEO” (Google AI guide, updated 10 July 2026). Google describes SEO itself as “helping search engines understand your content” (Google SEO Starter Guide, updated 10 December 2025).
• The GEO paper, 2023 to 2024: “traditional SEO methods are not directly applicable to Generative Engines” (GEO paper, revised 28 June 2024).
• Bing, on Bing and Copilot: it uses both words. It says GEO “focuses on content eligibility for grounding and reference in AI responses”, and also that Bing and Copilot “rely on the same core crawling, indexing, and ranking foundation as traditional search” (Bing guidelines, read 5 November 2026). Grounding means using content as input for an AI answer (Bing AI preferences, read 5 November 2026).

We read these as answers to different questions. Google and Bing describe their own systems today, and the paper tested a research engine and the Perplexity of that time. That reading is ours, and no source states it.

What does “up to 40%” mean in the GEO paper?

It is the top of a range from a controlled test, and it tells you nothing about what your site can expect. The paper says its methods can “boost source visibility by up to 40% in generative engine responses” (GEO paper, revised 28 June 2024). These limits come from the same paper:

• The test engine fetched “only the top 5 sources” from Google and wrote its answers with GPT-3.5 Turbo.
• The test edited a source, then compared that source’s share of the answer. The share was the word count of the sentences that cite the source, adjusted for their position.
• It did not measure whether a business name appeared in the answer.
• On the Perplexity of that time, the best method gained 22% on the same measure, and keyword stuffing did 10% worse than the baseline.
• The authors write that the “methods may need to adapt over time”.

The paper did not test today’s versions of ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Copilot or AI Overviews.

Which AI systems does this apply to?

Each vendor documents only its own system, so advice for one may not hold for another. This is what each one says about the web.

• Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode: both are “rooted in our core Search ranking and quality systems” (Google AI guide, updated 10 July 2026). They “may use different models and techniques, so the set of responses and links they show will vary” (Google AI features, updated 10 December 2025).
• ChatGPT: it “may search the web automatically when your question would benefit from current information” (OpenAI Help, read 5 November 2026). OAI-SearchBot is the crawler behind sites shown in its search features (OpenAI crawlers, read 5 November 2026).
• Gemini: “Sometimes Gemini Apps show you sources and related content” (Gemini Apps Help, read 5 November 2026). A separate setting, Google-Extended, covers training and grounding in Gemini Apps (Google crawlers, updated 30 October 2026).
• Perplexity: PerplexityBot “is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity” (Perplexity crawlers, read 5 November 2026).
• Microsoft Copilot: “For certain conversations where users seek information, Copilot is grounded in web search results” (Microsoft Copilot note, updated 18 August 2026).

Each AI system page says how a scan collects an answer from that system, and the method says how we count.

What should you do with this?

Start with what the vendors document, and ask for proof of anything beyond it. How to get named in AI answers sorts common advice into what has support and what does not.

Apply the same care to any tool or service. Google says “No third-party tool has access to our internal ranking or AI systems” (Google AI guide, updated 10 July 2026), and nameblip is a third party too. We sell a paid scan, so weigh our advice with that in mind.

To see where you stand today, start a free scan. It counts the answers that name your business and shows each answer behind the count.

Sources

We read each source on 5 November 2026. The date on each line is the date on the page, or the day we read it when the page shows none.

• Google Search Central: Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search, updated 10 July 2026.
• Google Search Central: AI features and your website, updated 10 December 2025.
• Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide, updated 10 December 2025.
• Google: Google's common crawlers, updated 30 October 2026.
• Gemini Apps Help: View related sources from Gemini Apps, read 5 November 2026.
• OpenAI: Overview of OpenAI crawlers, read 5 November 2026.
• OpenAI Help Center: Searching the web with ChatGPT, read 5 November 2026.
• Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers, read 5 November 2026.
• Bing Webmaster Guidelines, read 5 November 2026.
• Bing Webmaster Tools: FAQ on the new AI preferences, read 5 November 2026.
• Microsoft: Transparency note for Microsoft Copilot, for individuals, updated 18 August 2026.
• Aggarwal et al.: GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, KDD 2024, revised 28 June 2024.