If you ask a question on ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overview, you will often get a complete answer. You may not need to click on a website. This is why Generative Engine Optimization has become a very important thing in marketing this year.
After all, if your content is not set up for intelligence to read, summarize and cite, you can be number one on Google and still be invisible in the answer that people actually see.
This post will break down what Generative Engine Optimization is, how it is different from Search Engine Optimization and why brands cannot afford to ignore it.
What does Generative Engine Optimization mean
We want to make sure that Generative Engine Optimization works well. This is the practice of setting up and writing content so that artificial intelligence powered answer engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Copilot are more likely to use our content in their generated responses. We also want them to cite our content as a source.
Generative Engine Optimization uses some ideas from Search Engine Optimization. It is not exactly the same. The goal of Generative Engine Optimization is different. We do not just want a link on a results page.
We want artificial intelligence powered answer engines, like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Copilot to mention our content or cite it inside the answers they generate.
Why is this change happening now
More and more searches are ending with an intelligence generated summary instead of a list of links.
As a result, users get their answer directly without visiting a website, which means that being number one on the page does not guarantee that people will see you like it used to.
In other words, being the source that an artificial intelligence model chooses to quote or reference has become just as valuable as being number one on the page.
How do artificial intelligence engines choose what to cite
Artificial intelligence answer engines tend to like content that is:
- Clearly set up, with answers near the top and supporting details below
- Full of facts, with specific numbers, dates and named sources instead of vague claims
- Well sourced, since it references credible data, which makes it more likely to be trusted and reused
- Semantically clear, meaning it is written in plain language that makes sense and is not buried in marketing talk
Generative Engine Optimization does not replace Search Engine Optimization, it builds on it
It is easy to think that Generative Engine Optimization is a whole new field, but in fact, most of the basics are still Search Engine Optimization fundamentals: a solid website structure, good content, fast loading pages and clear headings.
On top of that, Generative Engine Optimization adds a layer which is writing with intelligence extraction in mind and making sure your content answers the exact question that a person might ask a chatbot.
That said, if you are wondering how much your existing Search Engine Optimization strategy needs to change, we have a comparison of Search Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization that walks through the practical differences.
Why brands should start now, not later
Artificial intelligence search behavior is still developing, which means that the brands that are building Generative Engine Optimization content now have a real head start.
However, once more websites catch on and start optimizing for artificial intelligence citations, the competition for those mentions will get a lot tougher, just like how early Search Engine Optimization adopters had an edge in the 2000s before everyone caught up.
Conclusion
In short, Generative Engine Optimization is not a thing, it reflects a real change in how people find and consume information.
For instance, for a look at how large language models retrieve and rank information, Stanford’s HAI research on generative search is a good place to start.
Meanwhile, you can look at our Generative Engine Optimization services to see how we help brands get found inside artificial intelligence generated answers, not just search results.
