You've heard of SEO. Have you heard of GEO - or AI search?

Search engine optimisation has been around long enough that most business owners think they should be doing it. Show up on Google. Use the right keywords. Get some backlinks.

Most people haven't heard of GEO yet. Generative Engine Optimisation is the idea that you can optimise your content to show up in AI-generated answers, like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Gemini.

It's the same idea as SEO, applied to a completely different kind of search.

You might have seen it called other things, from Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and AI Optimisation (AIO) to Large Language Model Optimisation (LLMO). The industry hasn't settled on a term which tells you how new this is.

The term GEO was created in late 2023 by researchers from Princeton, Georgia Tech, the Allen Institute for AI, and IIT Delhi. Their peer-reviewed paper tested content strategies across 10,000 queries and found that data-rich, well-cited, expert-led content performs significantly better in AI responses.

They built their own AI model specifically for the experiment. The findings are credible, but it's important to remember the study used a simulated generative engine, not actual ChatGPT or Perplexity.

Industry loves GEO

Since the study, PR, marketing and SEO firms started publishing their own research on GEO. Spin Sucks, WorldComGroup, PublicRelay, First Page Sage, The Digital Bloom, Omniscient Digital, Foundation Inc, Concurate, SEMrush and Ahrefs, among others.

Their findings are pretty consistent and suggest that AI systems cite earned media mentions, thought leadership, editorial coverage and data-rich content.

Of course, I'd love to tell you this is true. But this is a space moving quickly, these studies aren't peer-reviewed and most lead to the conclusion that you need the services these companies sell.

Ahrefs is a bit different. They're still an SEO service, but their research draws on actual web crawl data at scale rather than opinion pieces and they're transparent about their methodology. One of their findings says only 12% of URLs cited by AI tools also rank in Google's top 10 for the same query. That means ranking well on Google does not get you into AI answers. They are different systems, with different logic.

When an SEO company tells you AI rankings are the next big thing, they're probably right. And they're probably trying to sell you something.

PR the hero of AI search

I believe it. Even though the research is self-serving, I still think the logic is there.

I've noticed it myself. The organisations I look up on AI, the ones that come up confidently, accurately and in detail, tend to be the ones with media coverage, published articles and speakers at industry events and spokespeople quoted in industry publications. Genuine third-party visibility.

The ones that don't show up? Often businesses that rely entirely on their website and social media to tell their story.

AI systems are trained on the internet. The internet trusts editorial sources. So do humans.

One important note is that data-rich content also ranks and that can be replicated without media coverage. A well-structured, evidence-based article on your own site can signal authority. So, it's not just about where you're published but if your content reads like something worth citing.

ChatGPT launched ads

In February 2026, OpenAI began testing ads in ChatGPT for US users. By April 17, they were live in Australia, making us one of only three markets outside the US chosen for the first international rollout.

The ads are clearly labelled sponsored banners that sit below the answer. OpenAI has explicitly committed that ads do not influence what ChatGPT actually says.

Here's what I've heard. The entry point for advertisers is currently a minimum spend of $50,000. That's not for most small businesses.

The answer itself, however, is still earned. Still organic and sourced from content someone worked to make credible, useful and worth citing.

You cannot buy your way into what ChatGPT says. You can only buy a label underneath it.

And when you're the person whose name is on the article, the whitepaper, the quoted expert comment, you're in the answer. Not the footnote.

Ads aren't a substitute for credibility

Whitepaper author. Magazine contributor. Industry report. Quoted expert. Conference speaker. All of these build credibility with actual humans. They build credibility with AI systems. And they build something an ad fundamentally can't — the impression that someone else decided you were worth talking about.

PR has always been about reaching the right audience through trusted channels. Choosing the platforms, publications and conversations that your clients and customers actually trust and earning your place in them.

GEO requires planning

Everyone thinks they can write their own website copy. Run their own social. Handle their own media. And plenty of people can.

But audiences are smart. They can tell when a thought leadership article is thinly veiled self-promotion. They can tell when content is built for algorithms rather than people. And AI is learning that too.

Showing up in the right places, saying something genuinely useful, takes strategy, relationships and consistency. It's a body of work.

What AI knows about you right now

I've noticed that when I search most Perth businesses on AI tools, they don't come up. Nothing independent exists about them online, other than their own website and socials.

AI doesn't know they exist. And increasingly, neither do the people asking AI for recommendations.

What does AI say about you? Open ChatGPT or Claude and search your name, your business, your area of expertise. What comes up? Where does it come from?

Check where you're showing up apart from your own website. That's where GEO begins. PR people have been doing it for years.