More people now get answers straight from AI: Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Copilot. Often they never click a blue link. Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your content easy for these systems to find, trust and cite. The good news: most of it builds on solid SEO you may already be doing.
How AI search picks its sources
AI search tools retrieve pages from a search index, read them and write an answer, usually with links to the sources they relied on. They favour content that answers the question directly, is clearly structured, comes from a credible source and is up to date.
If your page is slow, hidden behind scripts or vague about what it offers, it is less likely to be picked up.
Write for answers, not just keywords
Open each page or section with a direct, one or two sentence answer to the question it targets. Follow with detail, examples and evidence. Use question-style headings that match how people actually ask.
Add specifics AI systems can quote: numbers, steps, comparisons, definitions and named sources. Generic marketing copy is rarely cited.
Show experience and trust
Name your authors and show their expertise. Publish case studies with real outcomes. Keep an accurate About page, contact details and business information consistent across the web, including your Google Business Profile and directories.
Mentions on reputable third-party sites, such as industry publications, partner directories and review platforms, also help AI systems recognise your brand.
Technical checklist for WordPress
Make sure search engine crawlers can reach your pages. Check that robots.txt is not blocking them, unless you have decided to opt out of AI training crawlers.
Add structured data with an SEO plugin such as Rank Math: Organization, Service, FAQ, Article and Breadcrumb schema.
Keep pages fast. Use good hosting, caching, optimised images and minimal plugins. Aim for passing Core Web Vitals.
Make key content available as plain HTML text, not only inside images, sliders or tabs that load late.
Keep an up-to-date XML sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools. Bing feeds several AI assistants.
Measure what you can
AI referrals are still hard to track. Watch referral traffic from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai and copilot.microsoft.com in your analytics. Search your brand and core services in the main AI tools each month and note whether you are cited. Track branded search volume, which often rises when AI tools mention you.
Raamello builds fast, schema-rich WordPress sites and runs SEO and GEO audits. Request a free website audit to see how your site looks to AI search.