Getting cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity — GEO explained plainly
In short
GEO is about making your site citable by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. Three actions cover most of it — explicitly allow AI crawlers in robots.txt, structure pages as direct answers rather than arguments, and make your facts verifiable. The first is technical and takes ten minutes; the other two are editorial work.
A growing share of searches never reaches a results page. Someone asks an assistant, it answers, and it cites two or three sources. Being one of those sources is a different problem from ranking first on Google.
What changes compared to classic SEO
SEO aims for the click. GEO aims for the citation. The practical consequence is that format matters as much as substance.
A generative engine does not "read" your page like a visitor. It extracts claims, compares them against other sources, and keeps the ones it can restate safely. A page stating plainly that "a marketing website costs between €4,000 and €12,000" is citable. A page explaining across eight paragraphs that "price depends on many factors" is not.
The other difference: these engines favour sources that commit to verifiable facts. Numbers, ranges, dates and explicit methods get picked up. Marketing vocabulary is ignored.
Action 1 — check you are not blocking yourself
This is the first thing to verify, and it is frequently the problem.
Open yoursite.com/robots.txt and look for GPTBot, ClaudeBot,
PerplexityBot, Google-Extended. Many security plugins and hosting services
block them by default, sometimes without telling you.
If you want to be found, allow them explicitly:
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
User-agent: ClaudeBot
Allow: /
User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /
User-agent: Google-Extended
Allow: /
The reasoning is the same as it was for Googlebot twenty years ago. Blocking is defensible when your content is the product you sell. For a business site looking for customers, being invisible to assistants is an expensive choice.
Also check that your content exists in the HTML the server sends. These crawlers do not execute JavaScript like a browser: text that only appears after a script runs is, to them, absent.
Action 2 — write answers, not arguments
Three habits, easy to adopt:
Answer in the first paragraph. Put a two-to-four sentence summary at the top of each page giving the answer. It is the block assistants quote most readily, and it improves human reading too.
Phrase headings as questions. "How much does a website cost?" is a better H2 than "Our pricing". It matches how questions are actually asked.
Add an FAQ at the end, with the questions your customers really ask — not
the convenient ones. Mark it up as FAQPage so the structure is explicit.
Action 3 — give verifiable facts
Generative engines arbitrate between competing sources. What tips the balance is the material they can verify or cross-reference.
In practice: publish price ranges rather than "on request". Date your articles and show the update date. Sign what you publish. Explain your method rather than announcing a result. Cite your sources with links.
A mention from a credible third party — a press article, a serious professional directory, a complete company listing — also carries weight, because it enables cross-referencing.
How to measure whether it works
No reliable tracking tool exists yet, so the method stays manual, and it is enough.
List the five questions your customers really ask before buying. Ask them monthly to ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude. Note who is cited. Within three months you will either see your site appear, or the same competitors every time — in which case, go and read the pages they cite.
What to take away
GEO is not a separate discipline replacing SEO. Generative engines lean heavily on existing search indexes: a site absent from Google has little chance of being cited by an AI.
It is an extra layer of format and credibility on classic foundations. The good news is that the work it demands — being clear, precise and verifiable — also makes the site better for the humans reading it.
Frequently asked questions
What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?
GEO covers the practices that get your site cited by generative answer engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews. It complements classic SEO rather than replacing it- the same technical foundations serve both, but content format and credibility signals matter more.
Should I block or allow AI crawlers?
If your goal is to be found, allow them. Many sites block GPTBot or ClaudeBot by default, often unknowingly, then wonder why no assistant mentions them. Blocking makes sense for a site whose content is the product being sold, not for a business site looking for customers.
How do I know whether ChatGPT cites my site?
Ask each assistant the five questions your customers actually ask, and see who gets cited. Repeat monthly. It is manual, but no tracking tool is reliable here yet, and you will immediately see which competitors hold the ground.
Does GEO replace SEO?
No. Generative engines lean heavily on existing search indexes, so a site invisible on Google has little chance of being cited by an AI. GEO adds a layer of format and credibility on top of sound SEO foundations.