AEO · GEO · GSO
How to show up in AI search, AI chat, and LLMs
TL;DR — To appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews, you need retrievable pages, clear entity signals, answer-first copy, structured data, third-party consensus, and a measurement model that tracks share of answer — not just rankings. That combined practice is AEO + GEO + GSO, and it's what Citedit runs end to end.
AEO vs GEO vs GSO — what each one does
The three disciplines overlap, but each solves a different problem. You need all three if your category is being researched in both AI answers and classic search.
Answer Engine Optimization
- Focus —
- Win the direct answer in assistants and answer-surface panels.
- Primary surfaces —
- ChatGPT answers, Perplexity snippets, Google AI Overviews, featured snippets.
- Key lever —
- Answer-first copy, schema, entity signals.
Generative Engine Optimization
- Focus —
- Get cited consistently when LLMs synthesize an answer.
- Primary surfaces —
- Generated citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude.
- Key lever —
- Topical depth, third-party consensus, freshness.
Generative Search Optimization
- Focus —
- Unify AI Overviews, assistants, and classic SERPs under one measurement model.
- Primary surfaces —
- All of the above plus classic Google.
- Key lever —
- Measurement, governance, cross-surface coverage.
The 7-step playbook
Run these in order. Skipping step 1 or step 5 is the most common reason programs stall.
- Step 1
Make your pages retrievable
Allow GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended, and the user-facing variants in robots.txt. Serve primary content in the initial server-rendered HTML — JS-only rendering gets skipped. Keep sitemap.xml, rss.xml, and llms.txt up to date.
- Step 2
Lock in entity clarity
Add Organization and Service JSON-LD. Keep the brand name consistent across sameAs references (LinkedIn, Reddit, industry directories). If assistants can't tell you apart from competitors, they won't risk citing either of you.
- Step 3
Rewrite every key page answer-first
The first paragraph under every H1 and H2 should answer the target question in plain language, 40–80 words. Save context and brand storytelling for later. Retrieval systems lift the first extractable paragraph — burying the answer is the single most common reason brands lose the snippet.
- Step 4
Add structured data the models can use
FAQPage, HowTo, Service, DefinedTerm, Review, and BreadcrumbList schema where they fit. Pair with semantic headings, bulleted lists, and explicit definition blocks so content is extractable without paraphrasing.
- Step 5
Earn third-party consensus
The biggest lever most brands underweight. Generative engines use external agreement as a proxy for trustworthiness. Reddit threads, review sites, expert roundups, and industry subreddits all feed retrieval — a brand that publishes only on its own site usually disappears from generative answers in a well-distributed category.
- Step 6
Refresh and date-stamp material
Stale dateModified pushes you behind competitors with recent updates. For fast-moving categories (AI, SaaS, compliance), refresh your top pages quarterly with real substance changes — not just a bumped date. Link to primary sources to reinforce accountability.
- Step 7
Measure share of answer — not just rankings
Track citation share across your target queries, citation frequency per query, and the dispersion across AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. Pair it with UTM tagging and a self-reported source field so AI-assisted pipeline shows up in your CRM.
How long does it take?
Most focused B2B programs see citation share lift within 60–90 days on a targeted 15–30 query set. Share of answer above 25% across a core category typically takes 6–9 months and depends more on distribution than on publishing volume.
Want this run on your brand?
Book a 20-minute call and we'll share a tailored view of your AEO, GEO, and GSO opportunity — including the queries you're losing today and the fastest way to close the gap.