How does generative engine optimisation work?
Generative engine optimisation works on the sources AI assistants draw on. We run a fixed set of around 10–20 prompts your customers would really ask across the main assistants, turn the results into a visibility score out of 100, find the sources shaping those answers, then work on being included in them, with one consistent business entity everywhere.
What that work usually covers:
- The sources that shape AI answers in your category: listicles, aggregators, review sites, directories and forums
- Inclusion in "best of" and aggregator articles, usually the biggest single lever
- One consistent business entity: the same name and facts on your Google Business Profile, review platforms and social profiles, linked from your site's schema
- Access: a check that AI crawlers such as GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot aren't blocked
Why does GEO matter for a small business?
GEO matters for a small business because some buyers now ask an AI assistant for recommendations instead of searching, and an assistant usually names only a few businesses in its answer. If your business is missing from the sources it trusts, it's unlikely to be one of them, however good your website is.
Good to know: nobody controls what an assistant says. GEO improves the odds and measures progress; it can't guarantee mentions. Answers also vary from one run to the next, which is why the same prompts are re-run every month.
What does GEO look like in practice?
When a business asks us where it stands, we run its prompt set across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity, score the results out of 100, and list the articles and directories the assistants rely on in its category. We then re-run the same prompts every month to see when mentions start and whether they're accurate.