Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of shaping your content so AI search tools quote it and cite your brand. These tools include ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. The term comes from a research paper by Aggarwal and colleagues, accepted to KDD 2024. The authors found that targeted GEO methods can boost a source’s visibility in generative engine responses by up to 40%.
For B2B teams, GEO matters because many buyers now ask AI tools to compare suppliers before they ever visit a website. This guide explains what GEO is, what the research shows, and what your team can do this quarter.
What is generative engine optimization in simple terms?
Generative engine optimization is the work of making a page easy for an AI engine to understand, trust and quote. A generative engine reads several sources, writes one answer, and links to the sources it used. GEO aims to make your page one of those sources.
Classic SEO targets a position in a list of ten blue links. GEO targets a mention inside the answer itself, plus a citation link back to your site. The two disciplines share the same foundation: a crawlable, indexed page with clear, useful content.
The GEO paper describes the approach as a framework that helps content creators improve their visibility in generative engine responses. The authors also built GEO-bench, a benchmark of 10,000 queries across many domains, to test which content changes work.
Why does GEO matter for B2B companies right now?
AI answers already reach a very large audience. On Alphabet’s Q2 2025 earnings call, CEO Sundar Pichai said AI Overviews had 2 billion monthly users. The feature was available in 200 countries and territories, as reported by TechCrunch. The same call reported over 100 million monthly active users for AI Mode in the US and India.
B2B buyers use these tools for supplier research. A 2025 Responsive study of 350 B2B buyers found that generative AI has overtaken search for a quarter of buyers. Nearly two thirds use it as much as or more than search for vendor research.
Click behavior also changes when an AI summary appears. Pew Research Center tracked the Google searches of 900 US adults in March 2025. Users clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, compared with 15% on pages with no summary. Only 1% of visits included a click on a link inside the summary.
These figures indicate a trend, they are not a forecast for your case. The practical point is simple: when the answer itself names suppliers, being named in that answer is worth working for. You can read more on this shift in how B2B buyers use AI to build supplier shortlists.
What did the GEO research find works best?
The GEO paper tested nine content methods on the GEO-bench test set of 1,000 queries. It measured visibility with two metrics. Position-Adjusted Word Count shows how much of the answer draws on your source, weighted by position. Subjective Impression shows how prominent the source feels to a reader.
Three methods stood out. According to the full paper, these were Cite Sources, Quotation Addition and Statistics Addition. They reached 30 to 40% relative improvement on Position-Adjusted Word Count and 15 to 30% on Subjective Impression.
Here is how the main methods compare, based on the paper’s results.
| GEO method | What it means for your page | Result in the GEO study |
|---|---|---|
| Cite Sources | Link claims to credible, named sources | Among the top methods; +115.1% visibility for sources ranked fifth in search |
| Quotation Addition | Add relevant quotes from credible people | Among the top methods; +22% Position-Adjusted Word Count in a real test on Perplexity |
| Statistics Addition | Replace vague claims with specific numbers | Among the top methods; +37% Subjective Impression on Perplexity |
| Keyword Stuffing | Repeat target keywords many times | Little or no gain; 10% below baseline on Position-Adjusted Word Count on Perplexity |
The paper adds two useful details. First, results vary by domain: Statistics Addition ranked highest for law and government queries, while Quotation Addition ranked highest for people and society queries. Second, pages ranked lower in search gained the most. This suggests that a page with a lower search ranking can still earn visibility in AI answers.
What does Google say about optimizing for AI Overviews and AI Mode?
Google’s own guidance keeps things practical. The Google Search Central page on AI features was last updated in December 2025. It says standard Search eligibility is all a page needs to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
To show as a supporting link, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Google Search with a snippet. Google also states that a new AI text file or special schema.org markup is not required. The recommended practices are SEO fundamentals:
- Allow crawling in robots.txt and in your CDN or hosting setup.
- Make content easy to find through internal links.
- Keep important content in text form, supported by quality images and video.
- Make structured data match the visible text on the page.
- Verify your site in Search Console to catch technical issues.
Google also notes that AI Mode and AI Overviews may use “query fan-out,” running several related searches to find a wider set of links. In practice, a page that answers several related buyer questions has more chances to be picked. Google adds that clicks from results pages with AI Overviews tend to be higher quality, with visitors spending more time on the site.
How can a B2B team start with GEO? A 7-step checklist
GEO combines the SEO basics Google describes with the content methods the research tested. This checklist turns both into steps your marketing team can run.
- Check the foundation. Confirm your key pages are indexed and eligible for snippets in Search Console.
- List buyer questions. Collect the questions prospects ask in sales calls, and use them as H2 headings.
- Answer first. Open each page and each section with a direct answer in two or three sentences.
- Add specific numbers. Replace general claims with measured results, each with its context and source.
- Cite your sources. Link to the studies, standards and documents behind your claims.
- Quote real people. Add short, approved quotes from clients or experts who took part in the work.
- Write self-contained sentences. Name the company, the client and the result in the same sentence, so a single line still makes sense when quoted alone.
Case studies fit this list very well. A good case study already holds real numbers, a named client, a quote and a clear problem and result. That is why AI engines often cite case studies when buyers ask about suppliers.
How is GEO different from SEO for a B2B website?
SEO and GEO share the same technical base, so most teams run them together. The difference lies in the goal and in how you measure success.
SEO tracks rankings, clicks and organic traffic. GEO tracks how often AI answers mention your brand, which pages they cite, and how they describe you. For a deeper comparison, see SEO vs GEO: what changes for B2B websites.
Frequently asked questions
What does GEO stand for?
GEO stands for generative engine optimization. The term comes from a 2023 research paper by Aggarwal and colleagues, later accepted to KDD 2024.
Is GEO different from SEO?
GEO builds on SEO. SEO helps a page rank in a list of results, while GEO helps the same page get quoted and cited inside an AI answer.
Do I need special markup or an AI text file for Google AI Overviews?
Google says no special optimization, AI text file or special schema markup is required. A page needs to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet in Google Search.
Which content changes help GEO the most?
In the GEO study, citing sources, adding quotations and adding statistics gave the strongest gains. They reached 30 to 40 percent on the main visibility metric. Keyword stuffing gave little or no gain.
How long does GEO take to show results?
It varies by site, topic and engine. Many teams start by updating a few key pages, such as case studies and service pages. Then they track how often AI answers mention the brand.
Is your content ready to be cited by AI engines?
Generative engine optimization comes back to one idea: give AI engines content they can trust and quote. The GEO research shows that sources, quotes and numbers lift visibility, and Google confirms that solid SEO basics are the entry ticket.
Use this quick self-assessment on your three most important pages:
- Does each page open with a direct answer to a buyer question?
- Does it include at least one specific, sourced number?
- Does it link to credible sources and include a real, approved quote?
- Does each key sentence name your company and the result it describes?
If you answered yes to all four, your pages are in strong shape. If some answers are no, your case studies are often the fastest place to start.
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Sources
- GEO: Generative Engine Optimization, Aggarwal et al., arXiv (KDD 2024), submitted November 16, 2023, revised June 28, 2024
- GEO: Generative Engine Optimization (full text, v3), Aggarwal et al., arXiv, June 28, 2024
- AI Features and Your Website, Google Search Central, last updated December 10, 2025
- Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, Pew Research Center, July 22, 2025
- GenAI Overtakes Search for a Quarter of B2B Buyers, Signaling a Major Shift in Enterprise Purchasing, Responsive, October 15, 2025
- Google’s AI Overviews have 2B monthly users, AI Mode 100M in the US and India, TechCrunch, July 23, 2025
