What Is GEO?
Getting recommended by ChatGPT and AI search.
GEO (generative engine optimisation) is making your business easy for AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google's AI Overviews to find, understand and recommend. When someone asks an AI "who's the best plumber near me", GEO is the work that makes your business one of the names it gives.
Why it matters now
More people now ask an AI instead of scrolling through ten blue links. The AI reads the web, picks a few businesses and explains why. It does not show a page of results. If you are not one of the few names it gives, you are not in the conversation at all.
How AI tools choose who to recommend
AI tools lean on sources they trust and content they can quote. They look for clear, specific facts: what you do, where you do it, who it is for, and proof that you are good at it.
Clear facts on your site. Plain sentences such as "We install solar for homes in Perth's northern suburbs" are easy for an AI to quote. Vague slogans are not.
Consistency everywhere. The same name, services and areas on your website, your Google Business Profile, directories and social profiles.
What others say. Reviews, local news, industry sites and real customers mentioning you by name.
What a local business can do this month
Write one page per service that answers the questions customers actually ask, in plain language, with your suburbs named. Add a short FAQ to each. Keep your Google Business Profile complete and active, and ask for reviews that mention the job and the area. Then ask ChatGPT and Google the questions your customers ask, and see who comes up.
Syvex already appears in a Google AI Overview for one of our own pages. It came from doing exactly these things.
Keep reading: What Is SEO? · What Is AEO? · SEO vs GEO vs AEO
Written by Justin Ripley, co-owner of Syvex, a father and son marketing business in Perth's northern suburbs.
Is GEO different from SEO?
It builds on SEO. SEO gets you ranked on Google. GEO makes sure AI tools understand you well enough to recommend you by name. Good SEO is the foundation; GEO adds clear, quotable facts and consistency everywhere.
Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?
No. You cannot buy a spot in an AI's answer. You earn it with clear content, consistent details and a good reputation online.
How do I check if AI recommends my business?
Ask it. Type the questions your customers would ask, such as "best electrician in Joondalup", into ChatGPT, Gemini and Google, and note who gets named. Repeat every month.
Let's get your phone ringing.
No pushy sales. Just a chat to see if we can help, then we move forward from there.