GEO — Generative Engine Optimisation — is the practice of making your brand visible and recommended by AI tools that generate responses: primarily ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot. Traditional SEO optimises for ranking in search result pages. GEO optimises for being cited, recommended, or referenced when AI tools generate answers to buyer questions. The signals that drive GEO are different from traditional ranking signals: entity authority in the knowledge graph, structured data completeness, authoritative citations on AI-trusted sources, and the quality and structure of your content as a source for AI models. The two disciplines share some common ground — technical quality, content depth, authority — but GEO requires specific work that traditional SEO doesn't cover.

AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation — is the practice of structuring your content so that AI tools can extract and surface your answers directly. In Google AI Overviews, in Perplexity citations, in voice search responses, in any AI-generated content that draws from external sources — AEO determines whether your content can be extracted and attributed. AEO matters because AI tools increasingly answer questions directly rather than returning lists of links. If your content isn't structured to be extractable — no direct-answer paragraphs, no FAQ schema, no clear entity signals — you are invisible in those answers regardless of how well you rank in traditional search. Strong Google rankings and strong AEO are not the same thing. Many businesses have one without the other.

We test a defined set of category-level and comparative queries across each major AI platform — ChatGPT (GPT-4o), Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, Gemini, and Claude. We use the same queries a real buyer would use: "best [category] tools," "compare [your category] software," "[your brand] vs [competitor]," "what is the best [category] for [specific use case]." We document exactly whether the brand appears, is absent, appears with incorrect information, or is mentioned in a lower-confidence context. We also test competitor brands using the same queries to establish the competitive landscape. This gives a baseline AI visibility score across platforms, a gap map, and a clear picture of which queries have the highest priority for improvement.

Entity authority improvements — structured data implementation, consistent brand signals, knowledge graph corrections — typically produce measurable AI visibility improvement within 8–12 weeks of implementation. AEO content improvements, where new direct-answer content is indexed and evaluated by AI models, take 10–16 weeks to influence citation patterns. Citation signal building — earning authoritative mentions across G2, Capterra, industry publications, and analyst reports — takes 3–6 months to compound into consistent AI recommendations. We give realistic timelines for each component in the Clarity Report. The short version: expect meaningful AI visibility improvement in 3–4 months if implementation starts promptly, with compounding gains over 6–12 months as entity authority, AEO content, and citations accumulate.

No — AI search optimisation complements traditional SEO rather than replacing it. Traditional SEO drives organic traffic from Google search result pages, which remains the dominant discovery channel for the majority of searches. AI search optimisation drives brand visibility and citations in AI-generated responses, which are increasingly important for the initial shortlist-formation stage of the B2B buyer journey. Most buyers use both: AI tools for initial research and shortlist formation, Google for specific comparison and decision-stage searches. A complete search strategy covers both. And the two disciplines share significant common ground — technical quality, content depth, authority signals — meaning investment in one typically benefits the other.

Priority depends on your audience and industry. For B2B SaaS and professional services, ChatGPT and Perplexity are where buyer shortlist formation most commonly happens — these should be the primary GEO focus. Google AI Overviews matter across all industries because they appear directly in Google search results for an increasing proportion of queries — AEO content optimisation feeds this platform most directly. Bing Copilot is particularly relevant for enterprise buyers in markets where Microsoft products are deeply embedded. Gemini matters for businesses with strong Google Workspace user bases. We audit your current presence across all major platforms and prioritise based on where your specific buyers are most active — not a generic platform-by-platform recommendation that ignores your actual audience.