GEO Explained
What is a GEO agency, and do you actually need one?
GEO, Generative Engine Optimisation, is the work of making your business more likely to be read and cited by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. Here is what the work actually involves, what to ask before hiring anyone, and how to decide between a generalist agency and a specialist consultant.
What a GEO agency actually does
A GEO agency works on the same four things regardless of size: whether AI crawlers can technically access your site, whether your structured data and entity signals give AI systems enough to identify and verify who you are, whether your content is structured so an AI system can extract a clean answer from it, and which third-party sources these systems already cite in your market and whether you appear among them.
The deliverable, whatever it is called, should be a measured baseline of your current AI visibility, a clear explanation of the gaps, and a prioritised plan. Anything that skips straight to a headline score without showing the underlying checks is not a full GEO audit.
GEO is not a replacement for SEO
GEO sits on top of SEO rather than instead of it. If Google or AI crawlers cannot index your pages in the first place, none of the entity and content work matters. Any agency or consultant proposing GEO work without first confirming your technical SEO foundation is skipping a step.
Where GEO adds a genuinely separate layer is in content structure for answer extraction, entity and schema depth, and the third-party citation landscape AI systems draw from, none of which classic keyword-ranking SEO addresses directly.
What to ask before hiring a GEO agency
These five questions separate providers who understand how generative engines actually select sources from providers repackaging SEO reporting under a new label.
- How do you measure AI visibility, and do you report variance across repeated runs or just a single score?
- Can you show your own AI citation results, not only client claims I cannot verify?
- What specifically will you change on my site, and how does that map to how AI systems select sources?
- Do you report ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews separately, or as one blended number?
- What happens to classic SEO rankings while this work is underway?
Specialist consultant or generalist agency?
Generalist GEO agencies
Team capacity for high-volume work across many clients at once. Often applies existing SEO reporting frameworks to AI search with limited adjustment, and you work through an account manager rather than the person doing the analysis.
Specialist consultant
Direct access to the person measuring your AI visibility and writing your plan, with a methodology built specifically for how generative engines select and cite sources, not retrofitted from classic SEO.
Neither is automatically the right answer. A business needing high-volume content production across many markets may need agency capacity. A business needing a defensible, board-ready view of exactly where it stands and why usually gets there faster with a specialist who does the measurement personally.
How this work is measured here
AI answers change between runs, so a single-run score is not a reliable basis for a business decision. Measurement in this work uses repeated runs and reports the variance, using sources whose terms actually permit that kind of measurement, rather than quoting one favourable result.
Original research published in this space includes an audit of widely repeated AI-search statistics checked against their primary sources. Most did not hold up under that check. Every number used in client work is held to the same standard: sourced, dated and reproducible.
The offer
Most businesses start with the AI Visibility Audit: fixed fee, measured across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI Overviews, delivered in 2 weeks with a competitor benchmark and a plan you can implement yourself or hand to a fractional engagement. Read more about the consulting approach on the AI visibility consultant page, or start with a free AI visibility check if you are not ready to commit yet.
Frequently asked questions
What is a GEO agency?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation: the practice of making a website and brand more likely to be read, verified and cited by AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI Overviews. A GEO agency is a provider that runs this work, usually covering AI crawler access, structured data and entity signals, content restructuring for answer extraction, and measurement of citation frequency.
Is GEO different from SEO?
GEO builds on SEO rather than replacing it. Classic SEO still governs whether your pages get crawled and indexed at all. GEO adds the layer on top: whether AI systems, once they can read your content, choose to cite it. The technical foundations overlap heavily, but the content structure, entity signals and third-party citation work needed for GEO are a distinct skill set.
Is a GEO agency the same as an AEO agency?
In practice, yes. AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) describe the same goal: getting your brand included and cited in AI-generated answers. Some providers use AEO to emphasise answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity, and GEO to emphasise the generative layer in Google's AI Overviews, but a competent provider covers both under one methodology. Judge the work, not the acronym.
What should I ask before hiring a GEO agency or consultant?
Ask how they measure AI visibility (a single-run score is a red flag, since AI answers vary between runs), whether they can show their own results in this space rather than only client claims, what specifically they will change on your site and why, and whether their reporting distinguishes AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Copilot rather than lumping them into one number.
Why would a specialist consultant beat a generalist agency for this work?
GEO is new enough that most agencies are applying classic SEO reporting to it without adjusting the methodology. A specialist who has built and measured this work directly, on their own sites as well as client sites, is more likely to catch the details that decide whether AI systems cite you or a competitor. You also get the person doing the analysis on the call, not a summary relayed by an account manager.
Do I need a full GEO agency retainer, or can I start smaller?
Most businesses do not need an open-ended retainer to start. A fixed-fee audit that measures your current AI visibility, benchmarks you against competitors and hands over a prioritised plan is usually the better first step. You can then implement independently or bring in fractional support for execution.
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Talk Through Your AI Visibility
Tell me your company website and the market you compete in. I will come prepared with an initial view of how you currently appear to AI assistants.
- Review your current rankings and identify quick wins
- Audit your biggest technical and content gaps
- Outline a clear 90-day action plan
- Answer any SEO questions you have
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