How do you get your brand recommended by ChatGPT and other AI assistants?

What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Generative engine optimization, sometimes called answer engine optimization (AEO), is the work of making your brand easy for AI assistants to understand, cite and recommend when someone asks about what you sell. That covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and the AI Overviews Google now shows above its regular results.

GEO doesn't replace SEO. It builds on it. The foundation is the same: a fast, crawlable, genuinely useful site. What changes is how you win. In a search engine you compete for a link in a list; in an assistant you compete to be part of a single answer. That rewards content that answers specific questions, is easy to quote and lines up with what other sources say about you.

Where do ChatGPT and other AI assistants get their information?

Every assistant works a little differently, and their methods change often, but two sources show up again and again. The first is what the model learned during training, which has a cutoff date. The second is live search: when a question calls for it, the assistant searches the web and summarizes what it finds.

ChatGPT search relies on third-party search providers, Bing among them, alongside OpenAI's own crawler. Google's AI Overviews draw on Google's index. In practice, if your site isn't well indexed in the major search engines, an assistant is less likely to find it when it searches live.

• Your own website, as long as crawlers can read it.
• Search indexes such as Bing and Google.
• Mentions in press, blogs, forums and third-party comparisons.
• Reviews and profiles on directories and industry platforms.
• Business listings like your Google Business Profile, plus public databases.

What can you change on your website to help AI understand you?

An assistant doesn't guess. It reads. If your services page says "end-to-end solutions for your business," there's nothing to quote. If it says what you do, who it's for, where you work and how to hire you, there is. These practices also help human visitors make a decision, which is why they're worth doing even if AI search didn't exist.

• Keep the site crawlable: content in HTML that loads without heavy JavaScript, and a robots.txt that doesn't accidentally block Bingbot, Googlebot or OAI-SearchBot.
• Give each service its own page, with a clear title and a direct answer in the first few lines.
• Use question-style headings and FAQ sections with short, complete answers.
• Add structured data (Schema.org) for your organization, services, FAQs, articles and location.
• Get indexed in Bing, not just Google: verify the site in Bing Webmaster Tools and ping updates with IndexNow.
• Publish an llms.txt file that summarizes your site and links to key pages. It's a recent proposal that not every assistant reads, so treat it as a cheap extra, not the fix.

Why do third-party mentions and reviews matter so much?

When someone asks "which nearshore design studio should I hire?", the assistant doesn't just take your word for it. It looks for signs that others know you: articles, roundups, reviews, directory profiles and forum threads. A brand that only exists on its own website is hard to recommend with confidence.

Consistency matters too. If your name, address, services and description vary from one place to another, the assistant can't tell which version is right. Keeping the same information on your website, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn, social profiles and directories helps it recognize you as one entity.

• Ask real customers for real reviews on the platforms your industry uses.
• List your business in relevant directories and associations with the same description.
• Share useful expertise through industry publications, podcasts and events.
• Contribute specific, verifiable answers when people ask about your category in communities.

What doesn't work, or can backfire?

Just like SEO a decade ago, shortcuts promising to get you into ChatGPT are already making the rounds. Most don't work, and some can hurt your reputation or your search rankings.

• Hidden text or embedded instructions meant to "persuade" AI: search engines treat this as manipulation.
• Fake or paid reviews: they break platform rules and your customers' trust.
• Mass-publishing generic AI-written posts: they add little and dilute your site.
• Keyword stuffing, or repeating "the best company for…" on every page.
• Paying anyone who guarantees placement in AI answers: no one controls what an assistant says.

How does Rival Studio build for search engines and AI assistants?

When we design and build a website, we set it up for search engines and AI assistants from day one: service-based structure, direct answers, FAQs, structured data, a sitemap, Google and Bing indexing, IndexNow and llms.txt. We build in English and Spanish, with each version configured for its own market.

We won't promise you'll show up in ChatGPT, because no one can honestly promise that. What we do is make your brand clear, crawlable and consistent so it has the best possible shot. If you'd like us to look at where your site stands today, email tech@soyrival.com and we'll send you a scope and a quote.

Frequently asked questions