GEO (generative engine optimization) is the work of making your business easy for AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews to find, understand and mention in their answers. Where SEO aims for a place in a list of blue links, GEO aims for a place inside the answer itself. For an Indian business, it means that when someone asks an AI tool "which company in my city does X?", your name has a fair chance of coming up.
This guide explains what GEO is, where the term came from, how it differs from SEO, and the practical steps a business owner can take, without jargon.
Where did the term "GEO" come from?
The term comes from a research paper titled "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization", first submitted in November 2023 by researchers from Princeton University and IIT Delhi. The paper was presented at the ACM SIGKDD conference in 2024.
The researchers called AI answer tools "generative engines": systems that read many web pages and write one combined answer, with citations. They then tested which changes to a web page made it more likely to be used and cited in those answers.
Their headline finding: GEO methods "can boost visibility by up to 40%" in generative engine responses (arXiv). That is a best-case figure across their tests, not a guarantee, but it showed that the way a page is written affects whether AI tools use it.
Why does GEO matter for Indian businesses now?
More people now ask AI tools for recommendations before they search. In February 2026, OpenAI announced that ChatGPT had reached 900 million weekly active users (TechCrunch).
Google has also built AI into its own results. AI Overviews and AI Mode write a summary at the top of the page and show supporting links, and Google says these features may use "query fan-out", running several related searches across subtopics to build a response (Google Search Central).
For a business owner, this changes the question. It is no longer only "do we rank on page one?" but also "when someone asks an AI tool about our type of business, are we in the answer?" A customer in Ahmedabad asking for a packaging supplier, or an overseas buyer asking for a Gujarat manufacturer, may read the AI answer and never scroll to the links.
How is GEO different from SEO?
GEO is built on SEO, not a replacement for it. Google states that "the best practices for SEO remain relevant for AI features in Google Search" and that there are "no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode" (Google Search Central). The difference is mostly in what you are aiming for and how you measure it.
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank a page high in search results | Be mentioned or cited inside an AI answer |
| Where it shows | List of links on Google or Bing | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| What the user sees | Your title and description | Your brand name, a summary of your content, and sometimes a link |
| Main signals | Relevance, links, technical health, page experience | Same foundations, plus clear facts, sources and answer-ready writing |
| How you measure | Rankings, clicks, impressions | How often AI tools mention or cite you for your key questions |
If your SEO is weak, GEO will be weak too, because many AI tools pull from pages that search engines have already crawled and indexed. Our SEO service covers that foundation.
How do AI tools decide which businesses to mention?
Each tool works differently, and none publishes a full formula. What is public gives a useful picture.
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. To be shown as a supporting link, Google says "a page must be indexed and eligible to be shown in Google Search with a snippet" (Google Search Central). Google also says you do not need special AI text files or special schema markup to appear.
ChatGPT search. OpenAI uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot "to surface websites in search results in ChatGPT's search features", and recommends allowing it in your robots.txt file if you want your site to appear (OpenAI). This is separate from GPTBot, which collects content that may be used for training. Blocking GPTBot does not have to mean blocking OAI-SearchBot.
What the research found. In the Princeton and IIT Delhi tests, adding citations, quotations from relevant sources and statistics were among the most effective changes, while keyword stuffing performed worse than doing nothing (arXiv).
What does GEO work actually involve?
Most GEO work falls into five areas. Here they are in the order we would usually tackle them.
- Make sure AI crawlers can reach your site. Check that robots.txt, your hosting firewall and your CDN are not blocking Googlebot, Bingbot or OAI-SearchBot. Google lists "ensuring that crawling is allowed in robots.txt, and by any CDN or hosting infrastructure" as a basic step (Google Search Central).
- Put key facts in plain text. Your services, location, areas served, contact details and what makes you different should be written as text on the page, not only inside images or PDFs. Google asks site owners to make sure "important content is available in textual form".
- Write pages that answer questions directly. Start each page or section with a one- or two-sentence answer, then give detail. Use question-style headings that match how people ask, such as "How long does a website take to build?"
- Back up claims with sources and numbers. Where you state a fact, cite where it came from. Where you have real figures from your own work, share them. This matches what the GEO research found to be effective.
- Keep your business details consistent everywhere. Your name, address, phone number and services should match across your website, Google Business Profile and directories. Google specifically mentions keeping Business Profile information up to date.
Structured data (schema markup) can still help search engines understand your pages, as long as it matches the visible text. Google notes there is no special AI schema you must add (Google Search Central).
What does GEO look like for a local business in Gujarat?
Take a Rajkot company that makes engineering parts and wants enquiries from buyers in other states and abroad. A typical GEO review would check:
- Whether its product pages state, in plain text, what it makes, materials, sizes and the industries it supplies.
- Whether "about us" and contact pages clearly say it is based in Rajkot, Gujarat, and which regions it ships to.
- Whether its Google Business Profile matches the website.
- Whether it has an FAQ that answers the questions buyers actually ask, such as minimum order quantity or export documentation, in short direct answers.
- Whether AI tools currently mention it when asked relevant questions, and which competitors they mention instead.
None of this is exotic. It is careful, factual writing and good technical housekeeping, aimed at a new kind of reader.
How do you measure GEO results?
GEO is harder to measure than classic SEO because AI tools do not provide ranking reports. A simple approach:
- List 20 to 30 questions your customers might ask an AI tool, such as "best website developer in Rajkot" or "who makes brass fittings in Jamnagar".
- Ask each question in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google (where an AI Overview appears) once a month.
- Record whether your business is mentioned, whether your site is cited, and which competitors appear.
- Track referral visits from AI tools in your analytics, where they can be identified.
Answers change between sessions and users, so look for trends over several months rather than reacting to a single result.
Common GEO mistakes to avoid
- Keyword stuffing. The GEO research found it did worse than no optimization at all (arXiv).
- Blocking AI crawlers by accident. Some security plugins and firewall settings block unfamiliar bots by default.
- Vague marketing copy. Phrases like "best quality" or "world-class service" give an AI tool nothing to quote. Specific facts do.
- Ignoring SEO basics. If a page is not indexed, Google cannot use it as a supporting link in AI features.
- Making claims you cannot support. Claims without evidence give AI tools and real customers little reason to trust them.
Does every business need GEO?
Not every business needs a separate GEO project. If your customers mostly find you through referrals or walk-ins, getting your Google Business Profile and website basics right may be enough for now.
GEO matters more if your customers research before they buy, if you sell to other businesses, if you serve buyers outside your city, or if competitors are already showing up in AI answers. Service businesses, manufacturers, exporters, clinics, schools and software companies often fall into this group.
Automation can help with the routine side, such as following up on the extra enquiries good visibility brings. Our article on how AI automation can save businesses 20+ hours every week covers that. Agencies that want to offer GEO and CRM work to their own clients may also find our guide to white label GoHighLevel useful.
How Mutant Technologies helps with GEO
Mutant Technologies is a Rajkot-based digital agency. Our GEO service starts with an audit of how AI tools currently describe your brand, then moves to content and technical changes, authority building, and regular testing of AI answers for your key questions. We work with businesses across Gujarat and in other countries.
Frequently asked questions
Is GEO the same as AEO or AI SEO?
They overlap heavily. AEO (answer engine optimization) and "AI SEO" are other names people use for making content easy for answer tools to use. GEO is the term from the 2023 research paper (arXiv).
Do I need a special file like llms.txt to appear in AI answers?
For Google, no. Google says you don't need to create new machine-readable files, AI text files or special markup to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode (Google Search Central). Other tools may treat such files differently, but they are not a substitute for clear, crawlable content.
Will blocking GPTBot stop my business appearing in ChatGPT?
Not necessarily. OpenAI uses GPTBot for collecting training content and OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT search results. OpenAI recommends allowing OAI-SearchBot if you want to appear in search results (OpenAI).
How long does GEO take to show results?
It depends on how often your pages are crawled and how much work your site needs. Google notes that crawling "can take anywhere from several days to several months" (Google Search Central). Plan on reviewing results over a few months, not weeks.
Can a small business do GEO itself?
Yes, the basics are within reach: check crawler access, write clear answers on your pages, keep your details consistent and test AI tools monthly. An agency helps when you need a structured audit, technical fixes or content at scale.
Does GEO replace SEO?
No. Google says SEO best practices remain relevant for its AI features, and a page must be indexed to be shown as a supporting link. GEO builds on a solid SEO base.
Find out how AI tools see your business
If you want to know whether ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google's AI Overviews mention your business today, and what to fix if they don't, contact us for a GEO review.