What is GEO, and how does a site get named by ChatGPT?
GEO (generative engine optimization) is the work of getting AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity to read your pages, recognise your brand and name it in their answers. It shares most of its work with SEO, but the prize is different: an assistant doesn't show ten links, it writes a paragraph and names a few options, and your site is either one of them or absent.
GEO, SEO and AEO side by side
Most people who need GEO never use the word. They ask “why doesn’t ChatGPT mention my app?” or “who helps AI recommend my product?”. GEO is the name for the work that answers those questions.
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Goal | Google and Bing find, index and rank your page | Your answer is lifted into a direct-answer box or an AI Overview | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity read you, recognise you and name you |
| Main readers | Googlebot, Bingbot | Googlebot | OAI-SearchBot, ChatGPT-User, Claude-User, PerplexityBot |
| What you win | A link in the results | A quoted answer | A recommendation inside the answer |
| Order | Positions 1–10 | One answer | No ranking: a paragraph and a few names |
If you’re not one of the names in that paragraph, you’re absent for that question. That is the whole difference, and it changes what you write.
Why GEO is not just SEO with a new name
Google’s own AI optimization guide (updated 10 July 2026) says Google’s AI features need no special tricks, only good SEO. That holds for Google. It doesn’t hold for every assistant, and three things behave differently:
- The question type decides who gets named. On our sample site, ChatGPT named the site first for a long question describing the user’s situation (what they have, what they can’t do, what they want) and didn’t name it for “best [category] 2026”, where it listed four big brands (own measurement, 26–28 September 2026).
- ChatGPT can recommend you before Google trusts you. The same site got 333 real visitors from ChatGPT in its first 7 days, while Google search sent 52 and Bing had indexed none of its pages (own measurement, site analytics, 21–27 September 2026, human sessions only).
- Google rank and AI citations overlap less than you’d think. In a 15,000-prompt study, 76% of AI Overview citations came from Google’s top 10, but only 12% of links cited by ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot did (Ahrefs, 11 August 2025; third-party study).
How each assistant finds pages
Each assistant searches a different index. The strength labels come from our 24 September 2026 desk research (third-party sources, not verified by us). The last column is our own measurement on a site we launched on 21 September 2026.
| Assistant | Where it reads | Strength | What we saw, 21–27 Sep 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Its own index, filled by OAI-SearchBot, plus third-party results. Can show sites Bing hasn’t indexed. OAI-SearchBot doesn’t run JavaScript. | Medium–strong | 333 visitors while Bing had 0 pages; OAI-SearchBot read 176 pages |
| Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini | Google’s index only. No special markup; llms.txt not used. | Strong | 0 visits from Gemini; 52 from Google search |
| Microsoft Copilot | Bing’s index. | Strong | 0 visits; 0 pages in Bing on 24 Sep |
| Perplexity | Its own index; reads about 10 pages and cites 3–5; leans towards fresh pages and Reddit. | Medium | Named in 0 of 12 buyer questions; PerplexityBot made 8 requests |
| Claude | Brave Search. | Medium | Claude-User opened pages 122 times; 0 clicks from claude.ai |
| Grok | Not covered by our research yet. | — | Not measured |
ChatGPT: its own index first
OpenAI runs three crawlers. OAI-SearchBot fills ChatGPT’s search index; OpenAI says sites that opt out of it won’t be shown in ChatGPT search answers, apart from plain navigational links. GPTBot collects training data, and blocking it is a separate, independent choice. ChatGPT-User opens a page when a user’s chat needs it (OpenAI, Overview of OpenAI crawlers). None of the major AI crawlers ran JavaScript in Vercel’s analysis (Vercel, December 2024; third-party study), so your text has to be in the HTML the server sends.
Google’s AI features: plain SEO applies
AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini’s grounding come from Google’s index. Google says you don’t need new machine-readable files, AI text files or special schema to appear in them (AI features and your website). Search Console now has a generative AI performance report and a toggle to opt out of AI features; Google says both reached all sites worldwide by 31 August 2026 (Google, 3 June 2026). Check that the toggle isn’t switched off by mistake.
Copilot, Perplexity and Claude: three more doors
Copilot answers from Bing, and Bing Webmaster Tools has shown an AI Performance report with Copilot citations since February 2026 (Bing Webmaster blog). Perplexity runs its own index; our sample site was absent from all 12 buyer questions there. Claude searches through Brave. Brave doesn’t use its own user agent and won’t crawl a page Googlebot can’t crawl (Brave Search crawler), and you submit pages one at a time at search.brave.com/submit-url.
The three gates every page must pass
The Katman method checks each public page against three gates, in order. A page that fails an earlier gate gains nothing from the later ones.
Gate 1: Read
Bots must reach the page, and the text must be in the server HTML. robots.txt, a CDN or firewall rule, or text drawn only by JavaScript can each close this gate. Our own site, katman.pro, failed it twice: Cloudflare’s managed robots.txt blocked AI training bots on 30 August 2026, and the old “Block AI bots” toggle returned 403 to them on 29 September 2026 (own measurement). The fix is on Cloudflare is blocking AI crawlers; you can test your domain with the AI crawler checker.
Gate 2: Quote
An assistant lifts one sentence from your page. Put your key claim in the H1 and the first 200 characters, and write the first 1–3 sentences so they answer the question on their own. Use one identical description of your brand in the first paragraph, the meta description and llms.txt. On our sample site, ChatGPT repeated all four parts of that sentence in two sessions on 28 September 2026 (own measurement).
Gate 3: Fit
There has to be a page for the situation the customer describes. On our sample site, 59% of the 333 ChatGPT visitors landed on two situation pages, and one of those pages brought 8 of the 17 paying customers (own measurement, 21–27 September 2026).
Off-site mentions: what assistants read about you
Assistants also read what others say about you. These are third-party studies we haven’t verified ourselves:
- In a study of 75,000 brands, YouTube mentions had the strongest correlation with AI visibility (about 0.737), branded web mentions 0.66–0.71, and the number of pages on a site only about 0.19 (Ahrefs, 12 December 2025).
- About 43.8% of URLs ChatGPT cites for “best X” questions are list articles, and when a list’s author ranks their own brand first, that brand is often left out of the answer (Ahrefs, via our 24 September 2026 desk research).
- Correlation isn’t cause. What you can do honestly: get listed in real directories and roundups, publish YouTube explainers, and take part in communities under your own name.
Google’s spam policies now cover attempts to manipulate generative AI responses (Google spam policies), so bought links, fake reviews and undisclosed Reddit posts are a risk, not a shortcut.
How to measure GEO without fooling yourself
- A fixed question set: 12 unbranded questions (situation, tool, “best X”, alternative, language, problem) plus 2 diagnostics (“What is [brand]?”).
- Logged out, web search on. Signed-in chats remember you. On 4 September 2026, a signed-in ChatGPT account placed one of our own sites second, while a temporary chat didn’t name it at all (own measurement).
- Record everything: named or not, recommended first or not, which of your pages was cited, who else was named.
- Frequency, not rank. Ask ChatGPT or Google’s AI the same question 100 times and there’s less than a 1 in 100 chance of getting the same brand list twice (SparkToro; third-party study). Re-ask the same questions every 14 days.
- Count AI visitors correctly: 79% of our sample site’s ChatGPT visitors sent no referrer, only
utm_source=chatgpt.comin the link (own measurement). - Filter bots: a PDF link checker created 704 fake sessions on the sample site in one day.
Katman automates the API part with your own OpenRouter key; see visibility runs.
What GEO can’t promise
No one can guarantee a place in an AI answer, including us. Answers change between sessions and accounts. Small sites can win situation questions; “best X” questions mostly go to big brands and to list articles. Google also warns that no third-party tool has access to its internal ranking or AI systems (AI optimization guide).
How to start this week
- Check the first gate: run the AI crawler checker, or the six one-minute tests in My vibe-coded site is invisible to ChatGPT.
- Write 10–12 sentences your customers would type into ChatGPT, without your brand name.
- Write your one sentence in four parts: what the customer brings, what you do, what they get, which fear is unnecessary.
- Ask the assistants those questions, logged out, and write down who they name.
- Follow the Katman method step by step, or connect Katman to your AI coding tool and let it walk your agent through research, plan, build and verify.
- Read the Katman book, a PDF: it has all 15 prompts with acceptance criteria.
Sources
- Katman book, Vibe-coded sitenizi Google’a ve ChatGPT’ye tanıtın, 29 September 2026 (Turkish): the guide.
- Google Search Central: AI optimization guide, AI features and your website, spam policies.
- OpenAI crawlers · Anthropic crawlers · Brave Search crawler · Bing Webmaster Guidelines.
- Third-party studies linked inline (Ahrefs, SparkToro, Vercel), checked 30 September 2026.
“Own measurement” means our analytics, server logs or tests on sites we run. “Third-party study” means someone else’s research, linked, and not verified by us. Written by the Katman team, Rnify Limited.
Frequently asked questions
Is GEO different from SEO?
Mostly it's the same work with a different reader. Text in the server HTML, open doors for bots and one page per question help both; GEO adds a one-sentence description the assistant can repeat, pages written for customer situations, and measurement inside AI answers instead of rankings.
What does AEO mean?
AEO stands for answer engine optimization: writing answers that can be lifted into direct-answer boxes and Google’s AI Overviews. It overlaps with GEO; both reward a first paragraph that answers the question on its own.
Do I need to rank on Google before ChatGPT will recommend me?
Not for ChatGPT. ChatGPT searches its own index, filled by OAI-SearchBot, and our sample site got 333 ChatGPT visitors in its first 7 days while Bing had indexed none of its pages (own measurement, 21–27 September 2026). Google’s AI Overviews, AI Mode and Gemini do rely on Google’s index.
Is there special markup that gets me into AI Overviews?
No. Google says there are no extra requirements, special files or schema for AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that normal SEO fundamentals apply (Google Search Central, AI optimization guide, updated 10 July 2026).
Why does ChatGPT only name big brands for “best tool” questions?
Because generic “best X” questions are answered from list articles, and big brands dominate those lists. Small sites are named more often for situation questions, where a page written for that exact situation exists.
How do I check whether assistants recommend my site?
Ask 12 unbranded questions your customers would ask, plus 2 “What is [brand]?” questions, logged out and with web search on. Write down who was named and which pages were cited, then ask the same questions again 14 days later.
How long does GEO take to work?
There is no fixed timeline. On our sample site the first ChatGPT visitor arrived about 1.5 days after launch (22 September 2026), but that site was built for it from day one, so treat it as one example, not a promise.
Does llms.txt help with GEO?
A little at most. Google Search ignores it, and a June 2026 Ahrefs study found 97% of llms.txt files received no requests at all; write one if it’s cheap for you, keep it short and make every price and claim match your pages.