Reach the new generation of searchers with Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Search behavior is changing. The way your content shows up for your audience should too. Enter Generative Engine Optimization: The science of earning visibility and citations in generative engines like ChatGPT, Google Gemini/AIO, and Perplexity. From auditing and research to execution and reporting, our content experts help you carve out a GEO strategy that drives brand visibility on emerging AI platforms. So the next time you’re asked “what’s our AI search strategy?”, you can point to tangible results.

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Content visibility in an AI world: It’s no longer (just) about optimizing for 10 blue links

SEO isn’t dead — but search itself is changing

For more than 20 years, Google has been synonymous with information retrieval online. But for searchers, it’s no longer the only game in town. Gartner predicts brands stand to lose up to 50% of organic search traffic to Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT by 2028. 

The front door to the internet is changing. The good news? Combining traditional SEO tactics with a dedicated GEO strategy can help brands adapt to ensure their content is referenced by AI models — wherever their audience is searching.

What is Generative Engine Optimization?

Generative Engine Optimization — or GEO for short — is the process of optimizing content visibility for AI-driven search engines and experiences, like those offered by ChatGPT, Claude, Google GSE, and other generative engines. It emphasizes context, relevance, and conversational content structures over traditional SEO factors, like keyword ranking and backlinks. With GEO, the ultimate goal is earning references and citations for your content wherever users are searching, including LLMs.

Many SEO best practices, like ensuring content is high quality and answers your audience’s questions, also apply to GEO. So why do brands need a GEO strategy in addition to SEO? Consider: 

  • AI search engines and LLMs synthesize information from a variety of sources in response to a query. This enables them to dynamically respond to specific search intent with highly contextual information and even visual and interactive elements. 
  • Search interactions with AI chatbots like ChatGPT make generative searches feel more conversational in nature than traditional search experiences. 
  • Generative search experiences make it possible for users to get the answers they’re looking for without interacting directly with your brand or website. 

The bottom line: Generative search experiences are different from their traditional search counterparts. Unlike SEO, GEO addresses generative search experiences head-on to: 

  • Align content with AI’s understanding of intent 
  • Build brands’ topical authority for generative search 
  • Optimize both information and writing style for AI citation and reference
generative engine optimization

OUR PROCESS

At Tuff, we launch GEO strategies crafted and executed specifically for your brand

Research

We start with an extensive AI search audit, benchmarking how AI models like ChatGPT, Google AIO, and Perplexity interpret your industry’s core topics. Our detailed analysis identifies critical gaps and insights, highlighting opportunities where your content can stand out and be referenced by generative AI engines.

Strategy

Next, we build a tailored GEO strategy focused on optimizing content structure, enhancing topical authority, and aligning content with AI preferences. This involves semantic structuring, clearly defined content hierarchies, concise summaries, and targeted, structured responses to position your brand effectively within AI-generated results.

Execution

Our execution phase involves building AI-favored authority signals, carefully sourcing credible references, and optimizing brand mentions within generative AI responses. By publishing strategically formatted content, we can help your brand become a trusted resource for generative engines — securing sustained visibility and engagement.

Structured Data

Brief, Informative Summaries

Well-Structured Headings

Conversational Queries

Prompt-Style Content

Brand Presence in Content

LLM Visibility Audit

AEO Strategy Development

Navigation and Sitemaps

AI Search Performance Monitoring

Site Speed Optimizations

Content

Continuous learning and application

GEO is a highly dynamic area of marketing. In addition to comprehensive reporting to document your brand’s growth, we continuously educate ourselves on the evolving nature of generative engines to apply those learnings to your content. The old playbook is fading fast. Our experienced strategists will ensure your brand stays on the cutting edge of the fast-changing search landscape.

Case Studies

Learn why companies love Tuff

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CPA

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Download a Sample SEO Audit

With an initial SEO audit, we identify and prioritize technical and on-page issues that can affect your website’s search engine rankings, user experience, and overall organic performance. Download a sample SEO audit to get a sneak peek at what an initial audit looks like from Tuff.

“I view our partnership with Tuff as more like an extension of my team.

We strategize together, ask tough questions, examine the results, optimize – and it just keeps getting better. Exactly what I was looking for.”

Brad Veach
VP of Marketing at THNKS

WHAT WE DO

Our full-stack GEO experts cover your needs from A-Z

We optimize and provide reporting for Google’s AI Overviews (AIO), ChatGPT (and Bing Chat), Perplexity, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini, addressing Technical SEO, On-Page optimization, Content strategy, and platform-specific nuances for each.

Technical GEO

We audit and optimize site structure, metadata, and structured data (schema markup) to enhance AI indexing and content discoverability — ensuring no technical missteps hinder brand visibility in generative engines.

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GEO & AEO Content

We use semantic structuring and conversational writing techniques to develop content that resonates with AI engines like ChatGPT, Bard, and Perplexity. This includes writing concise summaries, deploying structured headings, and anticipating generative engine prompts with clear, authoritative answers.

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AI Brand Visibility Reporting

We go beyond traditional organic search metrics to provide detailed analytics on AI-driven visibility — highlighting where and how your brand appears in generative search results and how many visitors LLM referrers send to your site.

Our reporting framework helps you track progress, identify opportunities, and refine strategies based on real-time performance metrics and AI citation growth. Our reporting framework helps you track progress, identify opportunities, and refine strategies based on real-time performance metrics and AI citation growth.

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Consider us your AEO experts

Technical

Whether you’re refining your site’s architecture, implementing structured data, or resolving technical issues, we’re here to provide the expertise and support you need to ensure your website is optimized for generative engine visibility.

Content Writers

No in-house writers? No sweat. We have experts on hand to whip up content that creates visibility while representing your brand voice.

CRO Experts

Our teams love a joint effort. We keep our eyes out for conversion friction and broken journies to make sure we pull in the right experts at the right time.

generative engine optimization team

FAQs

GEO optimizes your content specifically for AI-generated search experiences like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity, focusing on relevance, structured responses, and conversational clarity. In contrast, traditional search engine optimization (SEO) targets visibility in standard search engine results by emphasizing keywords, backlinks, and algorithmic ranking factors.

No. GEO complements traditional SEO rather than replacing it. Combining both ensures your content is visible across all search experiences, whether in traditional search engine formats or AI-driven generative platforms.

Timelines vary, but most businesses will begin seeing improved visibility in generative search platforms within weeks to months of deployment. Leading indicators often include increased brand mentions, improved content positioning in AI responses, and incremental traffic lift from users coming from AI-driven search platforms.

Understanding user intent allows you to create content tailored precisely to the information users seek. Generative answer engines rely on natural language processing to interpret user queries, meaning content closely aligned with user intent is more likely to be selected by AI as a reliable answer source.

Terms like GEO, AEO, and even LLM SEO are often used interchangeably. But we would argue they convey subtle differences in approach. 

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) focuses on enhancing content for AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity AI, ensuring accurate representation and citation in AI-generated responses. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), on the other hand, aims to optimize content for direct extraction from AI tools to answer user queries. This can include optimizing for results like featured snippets, knowledge panels, and voice search results — whether on Google Search or voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. 

While both strategies enhance visibility, GEO targets AI synthesis while AEO focuses on direct answer delivery to user queries.

Gaining visibility on certain platforms requires a hybrid approach of both GEO and AEO. For example, Perplexity AI is an AI-powered answer engine that searches the web, identifies trusted sources, and synthesizes information into clear, up-to-date responses. While it shares characteristics with both generative AI platforms and traditional search engines, Perplexity’s approach involves directly answering user queries with synthesized information, often including citations. 

Therefore, optimizing content for Perplexity involves strategies from both Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), ensuring content is authoritative, well-structured, and directly addresses user queries to enhance visibility across various AI-driven platforms.

Knowledge Base

Proof? We got it.

Link to: How Performance Creative Generates Bold, Actionable Results for Growth Marketing

How Performance Creative Generates Bold, Actionable Results for Growth Marketing

Link to: 14 Ready-to-Go Growth Marketing Spreadsheets Startups Can Use to Boost Productivity

14 Ready-to-Go Growth Marketing Spreadsheets Startups Can Use to Boost Productivity

Link to: Level up your growth marketing strategies with ChatGPT: how to write AI prompts to get the best results

Level up your growth marketing strategies with ChatGPT: how to write AI prompts to get the best results

Search is changing. We’ll help you create content for the AI age.

We like to share how we help businesses grow organically. But, a great partnership is also about people. Let’s chat.

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