Mastering Generative Engine Optimization: A Guide to Getting Found in the AI Era
Feeling like your content and business is lost in AI? "The AI Optimist podcast," is ranking well on Google, but when I searched for it on AI platforms like Perplexity, it was nowhere to be found.
SearchGPT by OpenAI coming soon
It was like my content had vanished into a digital black box.
0:00 - Finding my site in the AI Black Box
1:34 - What is GEO and how does it differ from SEO?
2:59 - The GEO Report with Framework and Metrics
5:52 - GEO improves results 40% with these examples
9:41 - GEO Success Unlocked: The Essential Do's and Don'ts
12:42 - Links build GEO authority inside and outside your site
14:22 - Super Simple SEO/GEO Steps
You've optimize for search engines, build backlinks, and nail your keywords, and your content still feels like a ghost in the machine. Welcome to Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO.
GEO is the new, mysterious Zero Clicks world – people find you on ChatGPT, but they don’t click. It’s where traditional SEO rules no longer apply, and some do.
I’m going to crack open the black box and show you how to get found in this AI-driven world. Later on we’ll look at the 3 Little Steps, Giant GEO Leaps.
While it’s the early days of the AI Search Shakeup, the time is now to create your GEO Victory Blueprint.
Let’s start with the foundation.
Today content creators and businesses face a new challenge: getting found in AI-driven search environments.
\Traditional search engine optimization (SEO) techniques are no longer enough as we enter the era of generative engine optimization (GEO).
This guide will walk you through the essentials of GEO, helping you adapt your content strategy to thrive in this new AI-powered world.
1. What is GEO and how does it differ from SEO?
Understanding Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the next step in digital visibility. Unlike traditional search engines that provide a list of results, generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and You.com offer direct answers to user questions.
Search engines give links and rankings, GEO’s are answer engines, with 3-5 responses picked from a group of sites considered “authorities”.
SEARCH finds sites and ranks them with keywords, links, and other rules.
GEO scrapes the Internet and organizes answers around questions with multiple sources, but not huge lists - usually 3-5 sources depending on the question.
It’s also useful to look up information about your personal or business brand.
This shift creates a new challenge for content creators: how to ensure your information is included in these AI-generated responses.
"You ever feel like the content you create and your business and sort of getting lost in AI? Like with this podcast, the AI optimist, it's ranking pretty well on Google.
But when I search for it on platforms like Perplexity, it's nowhere to be found. It like my content vanishes into this, like digital black box,”
highlighting the common frustration many creators face.
The key difference between SEO and GEO lies in the output. While SEO aims to rank your content in a list of search results, GEO strives to have your content cited as a source in AI-generated answers.
This new approach requires a different strategy to content creation and optimization.
"GEO. It's a new, mysterious zero clicks world. I mean, when people look for you on ChatGPT, you don't click.
Hopefully the answer is there and if there's more, they will click.
But it's where traditional search rules no longer apply. Even though honestly, some of them do."
To succeed in this new environment, it's crucial to understand how generative AI systems evaluate and prioritize information. A new GEO report introduces two key metrics:
Position Adjusted Word Count (PAWC): This measures how visible a citation is based on the number of words associated with it in the AI's response.
Subjective Impression: This includes factors like relevance, influence, uniqueness, and position of your content in the AI's answer.
2. Essential Do's and Don'ts of GEO Success
To optimize your content for generative AI platforms, it's important to follow certain best practices while avoiding common pitfalls. Here are the key do's and don'ts:
Do's:
Use unique focus keywords: Choose specific, relevant keywords for each piece of content.
Example: History paper focusing on authoritative content.
Implement on-page SEO: Optimize your content structure, headings, and metadata.
Example: GEO article page explaining this process in deeper detail.
Include external links and backlinks: Link to authoritative sources and try to earn backlinks to your content.
Example: Excellent page on GEO.
Ensure readability: Write in a clear, concise manner that's easy for both humans and AI to understand.
Example: LinkedIn Low Down with excellent writing and formatting.
Don'ts:
Avoid keyword stuffing: Don't overuse keywords in an unnatural way.
Don't ignore citations and sources: Always credit your sources and link to authoritative content. Find these on GEO and include as sources if you’re not listed.
Avoid difficult-to-read content: Don't use overly complex language or excessively long paragraphs.
Don't duplicate content: Create unique, original content for each topic.
Don’t forget the importance of readability:
"Don't make it hard to read. Don't make long paragraphs. Don't put really thick words.
Write at a fifth the seventh grade level and make it easy to read. And every 300 words a subhead or break it up 1 to 2 paragraphs, 1 to 2 sentences per paragraph."
3. Three Little Steps for Giant GEO Leaps
To significantly improve your content's performance in generative AI environments, focus on these three key strategies:
Citations and linking to sources: Include quotes and links to authoritative sources in your content. This adds credibility and increases the likelihood of your content being cited by AI systems.
"So citations, text fluency and statistics are what moved 40% more views in generative engines in ChatGPT. And then in this case, the study did it in perplexity."
Include relevant statistics: Where appropriate, incorporate data and statistics from reputable sources. This helps establish your content as informative and trustworthy.
Use appropriate language and jargon: Tailor your content's language to your target audience and industry. While simplicity is generally preferred, don't shy away from using technical terms when necessary for your field.
Use AI tools to generate relevant questions about your topic:
"Generate ten questions about your topic. Now. Step two generate five more questions. Sounds a little weird, but they're telling ChatGPT to focus.
With questions in small groups, leading to a larger group of questions that are much better than asking for them all at once."
4. Measuring Success and Adapting Your Strategy
To gauge the effectiveness of your GEO efforts, pay attention to these metrics:
Position Adjusted Word Count (PAWC): Monitor how many words from your content are being used in AI-generated responses.
Subjective Impression: Assess the relevance, influence, uniqueness, and position of your content in AI answers.
Click-through rate: While less important in the "zero-click" world of AI, still track how often users click through to your content for more information.
"You want to see how many clicks you get from the generative engines. And you then want to see if there's enough information that people don't need to click.
Because let's face it, a lot of us don't click because we've gotten enough information."
To stay ahead in the rapidly evolving world of GEO, follow this action plan:
Educate yourself: Stay informed about the latest developments in AI and search technology.
Audit your current content: Review your existing content and identify areas for improvement based on GEO principles.
Implement GEO methods: Apply the techniques discussed, focusing on citations, readability, and relevant statistics.
Monitor and adapt: Regularly check your content's performance in AI-generated responses and adjust your strategy as needed.
"Deep breaths. I know this may be a lot, but these are early days, and if you want to thrive in the next five years as AI takes over, you can't stay stuck in the past."
While the shift to GEO may seem daunting, it presents an exciting opportunity for content creators who are willing to adapt.
By understanding the principles of GEO and implementing these strategies, you can ensure your content remains visible and valuable in the age of AI-driven search.
"When it's this early, this is the time to jump in. Be prepared to adapt your strategies, because if you don't, they will. Even if you don't want to change."
RESOURCES TO HELP YOU WITH GEO
The Zero Clicks Foundation:
This is the foundational question for anyone stepping into the world of GEO. We'll break down the core concepts of GEO, explain how it goes beyond traditional search engine optimization, and look at the key differences between the two.
Black-Box Optimizing AI Search: Theory and Process
Theory:
Black-box optimization means the internal workings are unknown or "black-boxed."
The optimization called GEO – Generative Engine Optimization for AI search like Perplexity, Gemini from Google, Bing, and ChatGPT - treats the effort as a black box providing outputs (objective values) based on inputs (your content), while how you get these outputs are not accessible or known.
Example:
When optimizing content for a generative engine, focus on ensuring your citations appear early in the response (high PAWC) and provide unique, relevant information that users are likely to find credible and click on (high subjective impression).
By tracking these metrics and iteratively improving your content based on the results, you enhance your content's visibility and effectiveness in generative engine responses.
Key Concepts:
Objective Function: The function being optimized, which provides output values based on input parameters.
Input Parameters: Content built first to answer questions people have, then going deeper to develop trust and authority.
Output Values: The answers selected by GEO for a specific question, weighed by importance, uniqueness, and other measures. Share as one answer, but with 3-5 sources usually.
Process:
Define the Objective: What is the question you will answer; how do you make it engaging, easy to read, and evaluated as trustworthy by GEO.
Initialize Inputs: Develop your content, usually with a unique keyword phrase connected to a specific question.
Evaluate Outputs: Go to Perplexity, YOU.com, Gemini, and Bing to see what their answers are to your questions. And who the sources are if not you.
Generate New Inputs: Adapt your content. Include citations from the resources you find on GEO, the trusted content providers, and quote them. Use statistics if applicable to your market, though for history for example, it’s not as important as for data driven content.
Iterate: Repeat the process until the you get on one or more Generative Engines. Ensure hat search is also strong, though this process should not hurt search positioning.
New Visibility Metrics for Generative Engines
Overview:
Traditional SEO relies on metrics like keyword ranking and backlinks.
However, generative engines require more nuanced visibility metrics that account for the complex and multi-faceted nature of generated responses.
Specific Visibility Metrics:
Position-Adjusted Word Count (PAWC):
Definition: Measures the visibility of a citation based on the number of words associated with it, adjusted for its position in the response.
Calculation: The word count of sentences related to a citation is normalized by the total word count of the response and weighted by the citation's position.
Tracking: Monitor the length and positioning of your citations within generative engine responses using tools that analyze the output structure.
Subjective Impression:
Definition: A composite metric that includes several subjective factors influencing a citation's visibility.
Components:
Relevance: How closely the cited material matches the user’s question.
Influence: The extent to which the response relies on the citation.
Uniqueness: The distinctiveness of the information provided by the citation.
Subjective Position: The prominence of the citation's placement from the user's viewpoint.
Subjective Count: The amount of content attributed to the citation.
Click Probability: The likelihood that users will click on the citation.
Diversity: The variety of material presented by the citation.
Tracking: Use advanced analytics and evaluate these subjective factors based on user interaction and feedback.
Tools for Tracking User Interactions, Click-Through Rates, and Citation Prominence
Overview: Perplexity.ai is a generative engine that provides detailed analytics on how users interact with generated responses. It tracks click-through rates, user engagement, and citation prominence within the generated content.
Features: Detailed user interaction reports, real-time analytics, and citation tracking.
Overview: You.com is a generative search engine that offers tools to analyze user interactions with generated content. It provides insights into click-through rates and how prominently citations are displayed in responses.
Features: User engagement metrics, citation prominence analysis, and click-through tracking.
Overview: While not specifically designed for generative engines, Hotjar can be integrated with websites to track user interactions through heatmaps and click tracking. It helps visualize user behavior on pages where generative responses are embedded.
Features: Heatmaps, session recordings, and user feedback collection.
Overview: Crazy Egg provides heatmaps and user behavior analytics that can be used to understand how users interact with content generated by generative engines. It tracks clicks, scroll depth, and user engagement.
Features: Heatmaps, click tracking, and A/B testing capabilities.
Overview: Mixpanel tracks user interactions and engagement with digital content, offering deep insights into how users interact with generative engine responses. It focuses on user behavior analytics and conversion tracking.
Features: Event tracking, funnel analysis, and user segmentation.
Implementing and Tracking Visibility Metrics
By integrating these tools, you can gain comprehensive insights into how users interact with your content within generative engine responses. This allows you to track and optimize visibility metrics such as:
Click-Through Rates (CTR): Measure how often users click on citations or links within generated responses.
User Engagement: Track how users interact with different parts of the generated content, including scroll depth and time spent on specific sections.
Citation Prominence: Analyze the placement and visibility of citations within the generated responses to understand their impact on user behavior.
Example Integration: For instance, you could use Perplexity to track user interactions with your generative content, combined with Hotjar to visualize how users engage with the generated responses through heatmaps.
This dual approach provides both quantitative and qualitative insights, enabling you to fine-tune your content optimization strategies effectively.
A Super Simple Framework for GEO: Adding Citations, Enhancing Fluency, and Finding Relevant Statistics
Adding Citations
What Are Citations? Citations are references to authoritative sources that support the information in your content. They help to build credibility and trustworthiness.
Where to Find Citations:
Academic Journals: Use databases like Google Scholar, PubMed, or JSTOR.
Reputable News Sources: Look for articles from recognized news outlets such as The New York Times, BBC, or Reuters.
Industry Reports: Refer to reports from trusted industry organizations or think tanks.
Books: Cite well-regarded books by experts in the field.
How to Add Citations:
Direct Quotes:
Example: According to Smith (2023), "AI technology is rapidly evolving."
Format: "Quote" (Author, Year).
Paraphrasing:
Example: AI technology is advancing quickly, driven by new research and applications (Smith, 2023).
Format: Paraphrased content (Author, Year).
In-line Citations:
Example: AI is transforming industries (Smith, 2023).
Format: Statement (Author, Year).
Enhancing Fluency and Readability
Tips for Improving Fluency:
Use Simple Language:
Instead of: "Utilize"
Use: "Use"
Short Sentences:
Break long sentences into shorter ones to improve readability.
Example: "AI is evolving rapidly. It is impacting various industries."
Active Voice:
Instead of: "The report was written by experts."
Use: "Experts wrote the report."
Logical Flow:
Ensure each paragraph flows logically to the next.
Use transition words like "However," "Therefore," and "Additionally."
2-3 sentence paragraphs
Present tense never past tense.
Use headers and subheaders every 300 words or so.
Example:
Before: "Artificial intelligence, which is a rapidly growing field, is being utilized in various industries to improve efficiency and productivity."
After: "Artificial intelligence is growing rapidly. It is being used in many industries to boost efficiency and productivity."
Finding Relevant Statistics
Where to Find Statistics:
Government Databases: Such as the U.S. Census Bureau, Eurostat, or national statistics offices.
Industry Reports: Published by consulting firms like McKinsey, Gartner, or Forrester.
Research Papers: Accessible through Google Scholar or academic databases.
Online Databases: Websites like Statista, Pew Research, and Data.gov.
How to Incorporate Statistics:
Support Claims:
Example: "According to Statista, 85% of businesses are implementing AI technologies."
Highlight Trends:
Example: "A recent report from McKinsey states that AI adoption has increased by 60% over the last three years."
Provide Context:
Example: "The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the population growth rate is 0.7%, which impacts resource allocation."
Example: Before: "Many businesses are using AI." After: "According to a Statista report, 85% of businesses are implementing AI technologies."
SUMMARY OF GEO RESEARCH PAPER BY CHATGPT
Title: GEO: Generative Engine Optimization
Authors: Pranjal Aggarwal, Vishvak Murahari, Tanmay Rajpurohit, Ashwin Kalyan, Karthik Narasimhan, Ameet Deshpande
Overview: This paper introduces Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), a new framework designed to enhance content visibility in responses generated by large language models (LLMs), which the authors term Generative Engines (GEs).
The focus is on improving content visibility for websites within these generative responses. GEO proposes a black-box optimization framework and provides a benchmark dataset (GEO-bench) to evaluate optimization strategies.
Key Concepts:
Generative Engines (GEs): These combine traditional search engine functionalities with LLMs to provide synthesized responses to user queries, replacing the need to navigate through multiple websites.
GEO Framework: A method for optimizing website content to enhance its visibility within GE responses.
GEO-bench: A large-scale benchmark comprising diverse user queries to evaluate GEO methods.
Impression Metrics: New metrics tailored for generative engines to measure content visibility effectively.
Main Contributions:
Introduction of GEO as a novel optimization framework for generative engines.
Development of GEO-bench to systematically evaluate the effectiveness of GEO methods.
Proposal of various GEO methods, such as citation addition, statistics inclusion, and text fluency improvements.
Empirical evidence showing GEO methods can increase content visibility by up to 40%.
Experimental Results:
GEO methods like citation addition and statistics inclusion significantly improve content visibility.
The effectiveness of GEO methods varies by domain, highlighting the need for domain-specific optimization strategies.
Traditional SEO techniques, such as keyword stuffing, are less effective in generative engines.
Pros and Cons:
Pros:
Innovative Approach: GEO offers a new paradigm for content optimization in the context of generative engines.
Comprehensive Evaluation: The introduction of GEO-bench allows for systematic and large-scale evaluation.
Practical Benefits: Content visibility can be significantly improved using the proposed methods, which is crucial for content creators.
Cons:
Complexity: Implementing GEO methods might be more complex compared to traditional SEO techniques.
Black-Box Nature: The proprietary algorithms of generative engines pose challenges in understanding and controlling content visibility fully.
Outdated SEO Approaches: Some proposed methods might not align with the latest trends in SEO, such as the emphasis on user experience and content quality over keyword density.
AI Search Shakeup: Your GEO Victory Blueprint