GEO: why Google alone is no longer enough

For a long time things were simple: if you were looking for something, you typed a few keywords into Google and clicked through the results. Whoever ranked near the top got found. Today a growing share of that research starts somewhere else, in the chat window of an AI assistant. That changes what visibility means for a business.

From a list of links to a finished answer

A search engine returns a list of links. Choosing, comparing and judging is left to the person. An AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude or Perplexity goes one step further: it writes a finished answer. Ask it for a good tax adviser in Graz, a carpenter near Zurich or a software partner in Munich, and it will often name a few businesses straight away, describe them briefly and make a recommendation.

For the user that is convenient. For businesses it is a new situation. If you are not in that answer, you are not even considered. And if you are, you are presented the way the model describes you, with every gap and error that description may contain.

What GEO is

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It means working to make sure that generative AI systems know a company, describe it correctly and mention it when a relevant question is asked. You will also see the terms AI visibility, LLMO or GAIO. At heart they all mean the same thing: visibility in AI answers, not just in search results.

GEO does not replace classic search engine optimization. It adds a layer that has so far received little attention.

How GEO differs from SEO

SEO is about positions in a list of results. You optimise pages for search terms, earn links from other websites and measure rankings and clicks. The outcome is easy to check: you can see where you rank.

With GEO the outcome is an answer in natural language. That leads to some fundamental differences:

• There is no fixed ranking. The same question can be answered differently depending on the model, the wording and the moment.
• What matters is not only whether a company is mentioned, but what is said about it: services, location, prices, how it differs from others.
• Many models answer from their training data rather than a live search. What they know about a company may be months old.
• Models with web search do use current sources, but they decide for themselves which ones to use and how to summarise them.
• A click through to your website is no longer a given. Often the research ends with the answer.

Why a good Google ranking does not guarantee a mention

Many businesses assume that ranking well on Google automatically makes them visible in AI answers too. It is an obvious assumption, but an unreliable one.

First, AI models work differently from a search engine. They do not weigh individual pages by search term; they build an overall picture from many sources. A company whose own website is well optimised but which is barely mentioned anywhere else can remain faint in that picture.

Second, AI systems have to be able to read the content at all. Websites whose text only loads via JavaScript, or which block AI crawlers, are hard or impossible for some systems to access. The site may work well for Google and still not for an AI crawler.

Third, clarity matters. If name, address, services and prices are given differently in different places, a model assembles a contradictory picture. How quickly that can lead to being mixed up with other companies is something we described from our own experience in the first episode of this series.

Fourth, the competition is different. A results page has room for many. An AI answer often names only a few providers. If you are not among them, you are invisible at that moment, even if you rank highly on Google.

What this means for businesses in the DACH region

Businesses in Germany, Austria and Switzerland face a few extra factors. Many models are heavily shaped by English-language sources. German-language offerings, regional providers and smaller firms are often less present in the training data than international brands. On top of that come details that models easily confuse: different legal forms, prices in euros or Swiss francs, towns with the same name in different countries.

That does not mean smaller firms have no chance. On the contrary: those who provide their information clearly, consistently and in machine-readable form stand out precisely where many competitors have not yet noticed the topic.

First steps worth taking

• Ask several AI assistants who they recommend in your industry and region, and check whether your company is mentioned.
• Ask directly about your company and compare the answer with your actual details.
• Check whether your website allows AI crawlers and whether the key content is readable without JavaScript.
• Keep name, address, contact details, services and prices consistent everywhere: on your website, in directories and on profiles.
• Also provide your core facts in machine-readable form, for example with structured data and an LLM file.
• Treat GEO as a complement to your existing SEO work, not a replacement.

Where does your company stand?

Our free Quick Check shows you in moments whether AI crawlers can read your website and whether an LLM file and structured data are in place. It also gives you a short sample of what an AI model knows about your company.

In the next episode of this series we explain what an LLM file is, what belongs in it and what effect you can realistically expect.