FAQ · definition

What is GEO?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. The term comes from a research paper published in 2023 by Princeton researchers and presented at the KDD conference in 2024.

By Maxime Pilloud, Up2FrontUpdated 27 October 2026

In short

GEO covers everything that helps a business be understood and cited by engines that answer instead of listing links: Google AI Mode and Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude. Where SEO aims for a place in a list, GEO aims for a mention in the answer itself.

Why it matters in Switzerland

In March 2026, 76% of Swiss residents used AI tools daily, and 81.6% in French-speaking Switzerland. 41.6% used them instead of a classic search engine (Comparis / Innofact survey, 1,035 people). Google has shown AI Overviews in Switzerland since 26 March 2025, in all four national languages, and its AI Mode since October 2025.

What actually gets a business cited

Being mentioned elsewhere. Across 75,000 brands, mentions on other websites weigh about three times more than links (Ahrefs, May 2025).
Clear pages that answer straight away. Simple, predictable text raises the probability of being cited by 47% to 56% (Ma et al., 2025). Citing sources and figures helps too (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024).
Letting the engines' crawlers in (OAI-SearchBot for ChatGPT, Googlebot for Google). A site that blocks them cannot be cited.
Being present in the local sources engines read. In our Geneva heat pump study, the State of Geneva's website, local.ch and search.ch were cited more often than installers' own websites.

What is overrated

The llms.txt file: no demonstrated effect so far, according to Google itself.
Structured data as a magic lever: useful for machines to understand who you are, but Google states that no special markup is needed for its AI features.
Promises of “first place in ChatGPT”: impossible, since answers change from day to day.

Other names for GEO

You will also see AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), LLMO, AI SEO or AI visibility. They all mean the same thing.

Frequently asked questions

What does GEO stand for?

Generative Engine Optimization: everything that helps a business be understood and cited by Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Claude.

Does GEO replace SEO?

No. GEO builds on the same foundations (a readable website, a good reputation), but it aims for a mention in the AI's answer rather than a place in a list of links.

Is GEO useful for a Swiss SME?

Yes if its clients look for providers online: in March 2026, 41.6% of Swiss residents used AI instead of a classic search engine (Comparis / Innofact).