What is GEO, and what does AI search mean for your business?

1. The answer can appear before the website visit

A person researching a supplier can ask an AI service a detailed question, compare options inside the response and visit only a few supporting websites. Your business information may therefore influence a decision before a visitor reaches your homepage. That creates a reason to make the public explanation of your services accurate, specific and useful.

Google’s generative-AI optimisation guide recognises GEO and AEO as terms used for this work, while treating optimisation for its own AI search experiences as SEO. Providers differ, so a claim about Google should not automatically become a claim about every AI assistant.

2. Know which outcome you are looking at

An AI response can mention a business without linking to it. It can cite a useful article without recommending the business that published it. A citation can generate no recorded visit, and a visit can produce no enquiry. These are different observations, with different commercial significance.

For an owner, the practical question is where the response takes a suitable reader next. If an answer quotes a useful comparison from your site, the destination should help that reader evaluate your service. If it misstates your scope, first check whether your own pages provide a clear and consistent account.

• Mention: the business or page is named.
• Citation: the answer links to a supporting source.
• Referral: a visit reaches the website from the service.
• Enquiry: a person contacts the business and can be assessed for fit.

Keep readingCompare SEO and AI-search priorities

3. Answer a decision your customer actually faces

Hypothetical example: an Australian business owner asks whether they need a full website rebuild or a landing page for one campaign. A useful source explains when each option fits, what existing assets can be retained, how the enquiry journey works and which costs need separate scoping. A page repeating that the agency is innovative offers little material for that decision.

Your contribution might be a comparison based on your actual delivery process, an original checklist or a clearly labelled hypothetical budget model. You do not need to manufacture a case study to be useful. Explain the assumptions and the boundary of the advice so a reader can decide whether it applies.

Keep readingMake your business easier to understand

4. Check the foundations and the provider

Google’s AI-features documentation says pages need to be indexed and eligible for a search snippet to appear as supporting links. It identifies no additional technical requirements. That is a useful starting point for Google-specific work, and it still does not guarantee inclusion.

For other services, have the technical owner check that provider’s current documentation. OpenAI distinguishes its search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, from GPTBot, which concerns model training. Search access and training access are separate choices. Do not make broad access changes on the assumption that every bot serves the same purpose.

Alongside technical access, review the material itself. Can a reader tell who provides the service, what is included and what evidence supports the claims? Is current information easy to find in readable text? Those questions create practical improvements even before AI referrals become measurable.

5. Treat observations as a starting point

Record the question, provider, date and cited pages when reviewing AI answers. Repeat a consistent sample over time. One screenshot is an example of one response, not a stable ranking or proof that an edit caused inclusion. Compare those observations with available referrals and genuine customer enquiries.

Demandify covers AI-search visibility within evidence-led SEO work. The starting discussion should be about your customers, services and current website, followed by the content and technical priorities that can be supported. Guaranteed mentions, secret submission methods or a promised share of AI answers are not a sound basis for a business decision.

Keep readingCheck whether AI search is mentioning your business