GEO Explained: Getting Recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews

Someone asks ChatGPT "who's a good plumber near Ipswich" instead of googling it. Or they get a Google AI Overview at the top of their search that names three businesses before the normal results even load. Either way, if your business isn't one of the names mentioned, you've lost that customer before they ever saw a search result page — and this is happening more often every month.

This is what people mean by GEO: Generative Engine Optimisation. It's the newer, less crowded cousin of SEO, and almost nobody in local trade marketing is doing it properly yet.

Why this is different from normal SEO

Traditional SEO optimises for a search engine that returns a ranked list of links. GEO optimises for an AI system that reads across many sources, synthesises an answer, and names a small number of specific businesses inside that answer. It doesn't return ten results — it returns two or three names, confidently, as if it's making a recommendation. Being "ranked 4th" doesn't help you here. You're either named or you're not.

AI systems build their answers from a mix of your own website content, structured data, and what other sources say about you — reviews, directory listings, mentions elsewhere online. If any of that is thin, inconsistent, or missing, the AI has nothing solid to cite you with, and it names a competitor instead.

What actually helps an AI system find and trust you

Structured data (schema markup). This is machine-readable information embedded in your website that explicitly tells any system — Google, an AI crawler, anything — what your business is, where it operates, and how it's rated. A "LocalBusiness" schema block with your name, address, service area, and review data gives AI systems a clean, unambiguous fact to cite. Without it, the AI is guessing from unstructured text, which is far less reliable.

Content that directly answers real questions. AI systems favour content written as clear answers to specific questions over vague marketing copy. A page that says "How much does a boiler service cost in the UK in 2026?" with a direct, specific answer is far more likely to get pulled into an AI response than a page that just says "quality boiler servicing you can trust."

Consistency across the web. The same NAP consistency (name, address, phone) that matters for local SEO matters even more here — AI systems cross-reference multiple sources, and conflicting information across your website, Google profile, and directory listings makes you a less reliable source to cite.

Genuine expertise signals. Detailed, specific content — real numbers, real processes, real examples — reads as more trustworthy to an AI system than generic claims. This is exactly why thin, templated websites lose out doubly: they don't rank in normal search and they don't get cited by AI either.

A simple way to check where you stand

Ask ChatGPT or Perplexity directly: "recommend a [your trade] in [your town]." If your business doesn't come up, ask why — sometimes the AI will explain its reasoning, and it's often exactly the gaps above: no clear service area statement, no reviews it could find, no structured data to reference.

This isn't a future problem

The share of people going straight to an AI assistant instead of a search engine is growing every quarter, and it skews toward exactly the kind of "who should I call" queries that used to be pure local SEO territory. Businesses that get their structured data and content right now are building a lead before most competitors even know this is a category worth optimising for.