# GEO: get your business recommended by ChatGPT

> GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) means preparing your website and digital presence so ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI understand what you do, trust the information and cite your company in their answers. samambai delivers GEO in three stages: an AI visibility audit, technical implementation and monthly tracking.

- Page: https://samambai.com/geo/
- Portuguese version: https://samambai.com/pt/geo/
- Deck (PDF, Portuguese): https://samambai.com/pt/geo/samambai-geo.pdf
- Author: David Reichhardt, founder of samambai (https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-reichhardt/)
- Updated: 2026-10-01

## Try the one-minute test

Open ChatGPT or Gemini and ask: "what's the best [your service] company in [your city]?". If the answer names competitors and not you, that customer is being decided before they ever reach your site.

## Why now: search has become a conversation

More and more people ask an AI instead of scrolling through a list of links. The AI reads several pages, summarizes them and hands over a ready-made recommendation. If you aren't read, understood and cited in that answer, you lose the customer before the click.

- 900 million people use ChatGPT every week (OpenAI, February 2026, via [Yahoo Finance](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chatgpt-reaches-900m-weekly-active-182551628.html)).
- Google's AI Overviews have more than 2 billion monthly users, across more than 200 countries and territories ([Alphabet](https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/message-ceo/alphabet-earnings-q2-2025/), July 2025).
- When Google shows an AI summary, clicks on links nearly halve: 8% of visits, versus 15% without one ([Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/07/22/google-users-are-less-likely-to-click-on-links-when-an-ai-summary-appears-in-the-results/), July 2025).

## What is GEO, in one sentence?

GEO is the set of technical and content adjustments that makes a generative AI understand, trust and cite your company when someone asks for a recommendation.

1. **Be read.** AI crawlers need to get into your site. That takes the right permissions, fast pages and information in plain text, not hidden in images or scripts.
2. **Be understood.** Structured data, a summary for AIs (llms.txt) and pages that answer questions directly. Name, services, region and pricing always consistent.
3. **Be cited.** AI trusts what others cite: complete profiles, mentions on industry sites, reviews and content with data and sources. This is where content frequency matters.

Where the term comes from: GEO was defined in an academic study by researchers from Princeton and other institutions, presented at KDD 2024. In the study's tests on generative search engines, adjustments such as citing sources, adding statistics and writing clearly increased page visibility in the answers by up to 40% ([Aggarwal et al., arXiv 2311.09735](https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735)).

## What samambai delivers: three stages, each with a clear scope

### 1. AI visibility audit

Where you show up today, where you don't, and why.

- Your customers' real questions tested on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI
- Comparison with up to 3 competitors
- Technical audit: crawler access, speed, structured data and content
- Report with a score and a prioritized action plan

### 2. Technical implementation

Your site ready to be read, understood and cited.

- AI crawlers allowed: GPTBot and OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT), ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended (Gemini) and Googlebot, which feeds Google's AI answers
- llms.txt and clean-text versions of your key pages
- Structured data for your company, services, products, FAQs and location
- Key pages restructured as answers, with your approval on every text
- Speed (Core Web Vitals) and accessibility
- Consistent profiles: Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and industry directories
- Indexing requests: sitemap, Search Console, Bing Webmaster and IndexNow

### 3. Monthly tracking

AIs change and so do your competitors. GEO isn't set and forget.

- The same questions measured every month, with history
- Presence report: how many answers cite you and how you're described
- Sources AIs use to talk about you and your industry
- Ongoing technical adjustments and new answer pages
- Content agenda based on what AIs are citing

## How we measure: results you can verify

Four indicators, always with the same set of questions, to compare month over month:

- **Presence rate:** in how many of the tracked questions your company appears, in each AI.
- **Position and context:** whether you're the main recommendation, an alternative or just a mention, and the words the AI uses to describe you.
- **Cited sources:** which pages the AI relies on to talk about you, yours or third parties'.
- **Visits from AI:** traffic from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and others, right in your analytics.

An honest note: nobody controls an AI's answer. It changes with the question, the person and every model update. That's why we measure trends, with the same questions every month, not a one-off screenshot. Be wary of anyone who guarantees first place.

## GEO, SEO and content: fixing the code once isn't enough

AIs search the web before answering and favor sources that are up to date and cited by other sites. That's why the work has three fronts that reinforce each other.

| Front | Goal | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Technical SEO | Show up in search results | Indexing, speed, page structure and keywords |
| GEO | Get cited inside AI answers | Structured data, llms.txt, answer pages, consistent profiles and AI monitoring |
| Frequent content | Keep authority and freshness | Articles, original data, presence on industry sites and social media |

samambai handles the technical side and the measurement. Content can come from your team, your agency or from samambai, in partnership.

## For agencies and communication teams

Many agencies already produce content frequently but don't have a technical team to prepare websites and measure AI presence. samambai works as their technical arm: an audit to use in the pitch, implementation on clients' sites and a monthly report ready to present, under the agency's brand if preferred. Direct technical contact, no middlemen.

## Who it's for

Businesses that need to be found: clinics and medical practices, law and accounting firms, schools and courses, e-commerce, B2B and SaaS, travel and hospitality, real estate and local services.

## Frequently asked questions about GEO

**What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?**
GEO is the optimization of websites and digital presence for generative AI engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot and Google's AI answers. The goal is for the AI to understand what your company does, trust the information and cite you when someone asks for a recommendation.

**What's the difference between GEO and SEO?**
SEO works to get your site into Google's list of links. GEO works to get your company cited inside the answer the AI writes. They complement each other: AIs search the web before answering, so a well-indexed, fast and clear site is also the foundation of GEO.

**How do I know if my company shows up on ChatGPT?**
Try it: ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for the best company for your service in your city, phrased a few different ways. For a reliable measure, samambai's audit tests a fixed set of your customers' real questions across the main AIs and compares the results with your competitors'.

**How long does it take to show up in AI answers?**
Technical implementation usually takes 2 to 4 weeks, depending on the size of the site. Effects appear as AIs and search engines revisit the site: first signals usually show up within a few weeks, and authority builds over months with frequent content.

**Do you guarantee AI will recommend my company?**
No, and nobody can. An AI's answer changes with the question, the person and every model update. samambai's commitment is to doing the work well and measuring transparently: the same set of questions tracked every month so you can see the trend.

**What is the llms.txt file?**
It's a text file at the root of your site that summarizes, in plain language, who the company is, what it does and where each important piece of information lives. It works as a reading guide for language models. It doesn't replace your site, but it helps AIs read the right information.

**Do I need to change my website or platform?**
In most cases, no. samambai works on the site you already have, whether it's WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Webflow or custom code. When a platform limits an adjustment, the audit shows the alternative.

**How much does GEO cost?**
It depends on the size and structure of your site. The first step is a 30-minute call, no strings attached. After the audit, you get a proposal with fixed scope, timeline and price for the implementation. Tracking is monthly, and the fee depends on how many questions and pages are monitored.

**Do you work with marketing and communication agencies?**
Yes. samambai works as a technical arm for agencies: an audit to use in the pitch, implementation on clients' sites and a monthly report ready to present, under the agency's brand if preferred.

**Which AIs do you monitor?**
ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI answers (AI Overviews and AI Mode). Claude and Copilot are added when they matter to your audience.

## Contact

- Book a 30-minute call: https://samambai.com/geo/#book
- Email: contato@samambai.com
- Site: https://samambai.com/