GEO optimization: Your website in AI search
How to deal with GEO and SEO in 2026? This article shows you how to set up your website so that it remains visible in AI search systems: with GEO as an extension of your SEO strategy.
Internet search is undergoing a fundamental change: moving away from keywords and link lists toward direct answers formulated by AI systems such as Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Perplexity. For companies that depend on visibility in search engines, this raises a troubling question: How will we even be found in the future?
A new player is entering the field: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). And with it comes the concern that years of SEO work could be rendered obsolete or that a completely new playing field with unknown rules is emerging.
The good news is that this is not the case. Anyone who practices user-centered SEO today already has many of the prerequisites for becoming visible in AI search results. GEO does not replace SEO, it builds on it. At the same time, there are a few things you should adjust, both technically and in terms of your content. These measures will not harm your Google ranking, but they can help you become more visible in AI searches.
In this article, we show
- what remains important
- where new requirements arise
- and which low-threshold measures can be integrated into your existing strategy.
SEO vs. GEO – what's new, what stays the same?
GEO describes the optimization of content for AI-supported search systems. The goal is to have your own content appear where AI formulates direct answers. If your content is helpful and linked in AI results, your target audience can also find your offering via this new search channel.
However, keep in mind that GEO and SEO go hand in hand. Many SEO fundamentals remain unchanged. A technically clean, well-structured website, and relevant, user-centered content continue to be the basis for visibility both in classic search and in AI systems. The main difference lies in how visibility is created. While SEO targets rankings, AI systems select content as sources for answers. It is not the position in the search results that matters, but whether the content is clear, understandable, and trustworthy enough to be quoted or summarized.
How AI searches select content
Similar to Google, how AI-supported search systems work exactly and what criteria they use to select content is not entirely transparent. However, information from providers and empirical values can help you derive a meaningful GEO strategy.
What we do know is that AI search evaluates content based on whether it is suitable for answering a specific question.
Four factors play a particularly important role here:
- Relevance
The content must clearly match a specific question. The more specific the answer, the higher the chance of being considered. - Clarity
AI systems prefer understandable, unambiguous statements. Content that hides behind vague wording is difficult to use. - Structure
Well-structured texts with headings, paragraphs, lists, or FAQs are easier to understand, summarize, and quote. - Trust
Sources appear more credible when expertise is evident, for example through clear authorship, consistent statements, and depth of content.
AI systems do not "understand" content in the same way as humans. They recognize patterns, connections, and probabilities. The clearer the content is formulated, structured, and classified, the easier it is to use in an AI response.
People also like clear wording and content that doesn't require them to think too hard. Comprehensible, precise texts are therefore the gold standard on the internet. What is easy for humans to read is often also rated better by Google – and usually works just as well for AI searches.
Why invest in GEO now?
Admittedly, AI search's market share is small compared to the market leader Google. So you might ask yourself, why start now? But no one can predict how the search landscape will evolve.
Google holds a large share of approximately 40 percent, making it the most relevant search platform. ChatGPT accounts for just 9%, and that includes all AI-related queries: text corrections, self-help questions, personal organization, and life planning. If we break it down to pure information gathering, the share becomes significantly smaller. However, these three reasons are already prompting us to invest in GEO today:
Technical basics for SEO and GEO
The following applies to both AI searches and SEO: a clean technical basis is a fundamental requirement. AI systems generally draw on content that is easily accessible, understandable, and up-to-date for search engines. Technical SEO therefore remains a central foundation for GEO. This is easy to test: compare the linked content that ChatGPT gives you for a question with a similar Google search query. It often turns out that much of the content that ranks on page 1 on Google also appears as sources in AI responses.
This means that for GEO and SEO, we must continue to:
- Ensure crawlability and indexability
Important content must be findable and indexable by search engines. Blocked pages, faulty redirects, or duplicate content reduce visibility in both classic searches and AI responses. - Optimize performance and user experience
Fast loading times, stable pages, and good Core Web Vitals are still relevant. They are a signal of quality and reliability and help content to be given preferential treatment. - Create a clear page structure
A logically structured page hierarchy, descriptive URLs, and clean internal linking help to classify content thematically. The clearer the context, the better AI systems can understand and classify content. - Use structured data in a targeted manner
Schema.org markups help to clearly describe a website and its content, for example as FAQs, articles, organizations, or authors. They improve comprehensibility and citability because they provide AI crawlers with structured, standardized information. - Ensure topicality and maintainability
Outdated content loses relevance. Regular updates, clear publication dates, and well-maintained pages signal that content is reliable and up-to-date.
In short:
Technically sound SEO is a prerequisite for effective GEO. Those who have their house in order here have the foundations to be included in AI searches.
Using Schema.org in practice
Using Schema.org markups on your website helps search engines and AI systems classify content more quickly and clearly. Instead of having to "read" information from the HTML alone, crawlers receive structured metadata, for example on content type, author, organization, reference links, or images.
This is usually done using JSON-LD ("linked data" in JSON format). Structured metadata with all relevant information is output so that AI crawlers can retrieve it. In practice, this happens separately for each content page: each relevant page (e.g., an article, a product page, or an FAQ page) provides its own JSON with exactly the metadata that belongs to that content. Technically, JSON-LD is typically output as <script type='application/ld+json'>…</script> in HTML. In many editorial web applications, this data can be retrieved dynamically and written to the page. It is also possible to do this statically, but this requires more effort when changes are made.
In addition, an llms.txt file can be stored. It serves as a guide for language models: instead of treating all pages equally, it specifically refers from the home page to introductory and reference content that is particularly well suited for understanding and answering questions. While a robots.txt primarily controls what may be crawled and a sitemap.xml lists all URLs as completely as possible, the llms.txt focuses on editorial prioritization. Operators can use it to deliberately highlight the pages that represent the core of their offering so that they can be found more quickly and used effectively.
Content optimization for AI and search engines
Good content remains the most important lever for visibility, even with AI searches. What matters is not so much how much you publish, but how clearly your content answers questions.
Our content tips for SEO and GEO:
- Focus on your users' questions
Content should be based on specific questions that your target audience might have. Addressing typical questions from your target audience directly increases the chance of being included in AI responses. - Provide clear, helpful answers
AI systems prefer content with clear statements. Long introductions, marketing clichés, or "it depends" phrases make it difficult to use. Better: precise answers that get to the point quickly. - Use terms and entities consistently
Key terms, products, or services should be clearly named and used consistently. This helps AI systems to classify content correctly and recognize connections. - Create clarity through structure
Headings, paragraphs, lists, and highlights make content easier to understand—for both humans and AI. FAQs, step-by-step explanations, and short summaries are particularly helpful. - Make expertise visible
Content appears more trustworthy when it is clear who is behind it. Authors, technical classification, and comprehensible statements strengthen credibility – an important factor for selection by AI systems.
In summary:
Content that helps people quickly usually also helps AI systems. This is precisely where the greatest overlap between SEO and GEO lies.
On top: What is particularly important for GEO
In addition to solid SEO fundamentals, there are several aspects that are particularly important for AI searches. They often determine whether content is simply found or actually used as a source.
- Create quotable text passages
Definitions, explanations, and short key statements are particularly well suited for AI responses. Clearly formulating key statements and placing them in a visible location increases the chance of being quoted or summarized. - Use FAQs
FAQ content is particularly well suited for AI searches because it links specific questions with clearly formulated answers. If technically relevant questions are answered clearly, the result is structured content that is easy to grasp and can be used as a source for AI responses. - Provide context and classification
AI systems prefer content that compares, classifies, or explains things. Content that not only describes what something is, but also when, why, and for whom it is useful, offers more added value. - Presence beyond your own website
Mentions and links on other websites, specialist portals, or comparison sites strengthen credibility. Consistent statements across different sources act as a signal of trust.
Checklist: A quick start to GEO
These GEO measures can be implemented quickly:
Check existing top pages for clear statements
→ Do you answer specific questions directly and comprehensively?
Add to or expand FAQs
→ Especially regarding services, products, and typical customer questions
Place definitions and key messages in a visible location
→ e.g., at the beginning of articles or in separate sections
Clearly identify authors and expertise
→ Who is writing here, and what is their experience?
Use terms consistently
→ Same services, same names
Update and optimize old content instead of producing new content
→ Up-to-date content is often more effective than new texts
Use structured data
→ This requires a little more effort and technical adjustments. If you have the capacity to do so, this will improve the classification of your content, and increase the chance of it being used as a source in AI responses.
Conclusion
SEO is not dead, nor is GEO an absolute game changer: With these initial measures, you can integrate GEO into your SEO strategy. This will put you in a good position in both areas and increase your chances of reaching more potential customers in the future.
Those who start now to refine existing content, formulate positioning more clearly, and better prepare knowledge are investing twice: in classic visibility and in tomorrow's search. Start pragmatically, observe, and adjust as needed: that is currently the most sensible way to deal with GEO.