Glossary
What is GEO (generative engine optimisation)?
GEO stands for generative engine optimisation. It is work on content visibility in the answers AI systems generate, rather than in lists of links.
What GEO means
GEO stands for generative engine optimisation. A generative engine is a system that writes a new answer to each question, often drawing on web pages as it goes. GEO is work on how your content and your business come across in those answers.
Visibility in a generated answer has several parts. A mention is an answer naming your business. A citation is a source link attached to an answer. A description is what the answer says you do, where and for whom.
How generated answers are built
A prompt is the question or instruction a person sends to an assistant. Anthropic says Claude decides when to search the web based on the prompt. It says the response then includes citations for sources drawn from search results.
Google says AI Overviews may use query fan-out, which means issuing several related searches across subtopics to build one response. It says AI Overviews may use different models, so the links they give vary.
Some answers do not rest on a fresh search at all. Google says some Gemini responses are grounded on Search results, which means others are not. An answer without a search draws on what the model learned in training.
What GEO work involves
GEO work starts with the sources answers draw on. Read the pages that answers link to for your questions. Note which of them are yours and which belong to others.
Access matters as well. OpenAI says its search uses a crawler called OAI-SearchBot. Sites that opt out of it are not shown in ChatGPT search answers, apart from navigational links.
How Carqo relates to GEO
Carqo's source analytics are built for the evidence side of GEO. A tracked prompt is a question chosen for repeated checks. For your tracked prompts, you see which websites and pages answers link to, counted out of the answers read.
Any page you then plan is yours to review and publish. A new page does not mean an AI answer will link to it.
In practice
- Choose your questions Write down the customer questions that matter, in their words. Include some that name your business and some that do not, and keep the wording fixed while you compare.
- Save the answers Collect answers from the assistants you care about, with the date, place and collection method. Keep the full text, not a cropped screenshot.
- Compare over time Repeat the same questions later under the same rules. Compare the saved records, and note anything else that changed.
Common questions
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
The terms overlap and the market does not agree on exact boundaries. AEO, or answer engine optimisation, is often used for direct answers of every kind. GEO focuses on generated answers, including mentions, source links and descriptions.
Is GEO a replacement for SEO?
No. Google says its SEO best practices remain relevant for AI Overviews. OpenAI also describes a search crawler that needs access to a site through robots.txt. GEO builds on those foundations rather than starting again.
Who decides what a generated answer says?
The company that builds the assistant decides. It chooses the model, the sources and how answers are written. GEO work can make your own information clearer and easier to read, but it cannot control another company's system.
What is the difference between GEO and AEO?
The terms overlap and the market does not agree on exact boundaries. AEO, or answer engine optimisation, is often used for direct answers of every kind. GEO focuses on generated answers, including mentions, source links and descriptions.
Is GEO a replacement for SEO?
No. Google says its SEO best practices remain relevant for AI Overviews. OpenAI also describes a search crawler that needs access to a site through robots.txt. GEO builds on those foundations rather than starting again.
Who decides what a generated answer says?
The company that builds the assistant decides. It chooses the model, the sources and how answers are written. GEO work can make your own information clearer and easier to read, but it cannot control another company's system.
Sources
- Google Search Central, AI features and your website Link checked 29 October 2026
- Anthropic, Web search tool Link checked 29 October 2026
- OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers Link checked 29 October 2026
- Google, Gemini Apps Privacy Hub Link checked 29 October 2026