What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of structuring a website, its content, and its structured data so that AI-powered search engines such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude cite and recommend the business in their generated answers. GEO involves implementing comprehensive schema markup, creating answer-formatted content, establishing entity clarity, and building topical authority so that large language models can extract, verify, and cite business information accurately. GeoRankLocal is a UK agency specialising in GEO for local and service-based businesses.

What is the difference between GEO and SEO?

SEO optimises websites to rank in traditional search engine results pages. GEO optimises websites to be cited in AI-generated answers from platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Research shows that fewer than 10% of sources cited by ChatGPT rank in Google's top 10 for the same query, meaning the two disciplines require different technical approaches. SEO focuses on keywords, backlinks, and Core Web Vitals. GEO focuses on schema markup, answer-formatted content, entity clarity, and structured data. Businesses in 2026 need both to maintain full search visibility.

How much does GEO optimisation cost?

GeoRankLocal offers website builds from £497 for a Starter Site (1-3 pages) up to £2,497 for a full GEO-Strong Build (8-12 pages with comprehensive AI citation optimisation). Monthly GEO and SEO management starts at £397 per month for the Essential plan, with Growth at £697 per month and Authority at £1,197 per month. All prices exclude VAT.

How long does it take to see results from GEO?

Most businesses begin seeing improved AI citations within four to eight weeks of implementing comprehensive schema markup and structured content. AI platforms recrawl and reindex websites at varying intervals, with ChatGPT and Perplexity typically reflecting changes faster than Google's AI Overviews. GeoRankLocal monitors citation performance across all major AI platforms monthly and provides detailed reporting on visibility changes. Ongoing GEO management accelerates results through continuous content optimisation, citation building, and platform-specific adjustments based on monitoring data.

Which AI platforms does GEO target?

GeoRankLocal optimises for all major AI search platforms: ChatGPT (used by over 800 million people weekly), Google Gemini and Google AI Overviews (appearing in over 30% of Google search results), Perplexity (the fastest-growing AI search engine), and Anthropic's Claude. Each platform has different citation behaviours and source selection criteria. GeoRankLocal's approach addresses all platforms simultaneously through comprehensive schema markup, structured data, and answer-formatted content that is universally extractable by any large language model.

What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and how is it different from GEO?

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) overlap heavily and are often used interchangeably, but they're not quite the same thing. AEO is the narrower discipline: structuring content so it can be extracted and shown as a direct answer, such as a Google featured snippet or a voice-assistant response. GEO is broader — it covers being referenced, synthesised, and cited within an AI-generated answer that blends multiple sources rather than lifting one out whole. In practice the two share almost all of their technical groundwork (schema markup, answer-first formatting, entity clarity), which is why GeoRankLocal treats AEO as part of the same GEO discipline rather than a separate service.

Do I still need traditional SEO if I invest in GEO?

Yes. SEO and GEO are complementary, not interchangeable. Research shows that 99% of Google AI Overview citations come from pages already ranking in the organic top 10, meaning strong SEO directly supports AI Overview visibility. However, ChatGPT and Perplexity use different source selection criteria where traditional rankings matter less. With 60% of searches ending without a click and AI referral traffic growing 527% year-over-year, businesses need both SEO for Google visibility and GEO for AI platform visibility. GeoRankLocal offers combined SEO and GEO packages for this reason.

INTERACTIVE COURSE

GEO + AEO Mastery

The Complete Course on Getting Cited by AI Search. 9 interactive modules — quizzes, hands-on exercises using our free tools, and a completion certificate. Written for business owners, not developers.

Lifetime AccessQuizzes & Exercises Completion Certificate

£29.99

one-time payment, no subscription

What You'll Learn

Why AI Search Is Rewriting The Rules

SEO, GEO, and AEO aren't the same game — and the win condition has fundamentally changed.

How AI Engines Actually Pick What To Cite

The mechanics behind why an AI system cites one source over another — and what you can actually influence.

Answer-First Content: The AEO Writing Method

A concrete, repeatable technique for restructuring any page so AI engines can lift a clean answer from it.

Schema Markup For AI Citation

The structured-data types AI engines actually look for, and how to check whether yours is real.

Technical Foundations AI Engines Expect

The unglamorous, table-stakes technical items that quietly gate everything else in this course.

Citation Signals & Trust

How to write in a way that reads as credible and quotable to a model, not just to a human.

Beyond Your Website: Community & Off-Site Presence

Your website is only one of the places an AI model can pull an answer about you from.

Measuring & Monitoring AI Visibility

Unlike traditional rankings, you have to actively go looking for this — nothing hands it to you automatically.

Your 30-Day GEO + AEO Action Plan

Turning eight modules of theory into a specific, prioritised list of things you'll actually do.

Built From Real Audits, Not Theory

This isn't generic advice illustrated with made-up examples. Several modules include real, dated screenshots from GeoRankLocal's own August 2026 AI-search-readiness audits of two live business websites — including a real fake-review-schema trap Google's own tools marked "valid," and a real branded query where an AI engine cited a business's Instagram over its own website. Findings you won't get from asking an AI model to explain GEO and AEO in the abstract.

Who This Is For

UK small business owners who want to understand AI search themselves, not just pay someone else to handle it

Marketers who need a working knowledge of GEO/AEO to brief agencies, freelancers, or their own team

Freelancers and consultants who want to add GEO/AEO to what they offer clients

Anyone who's read about GEO/AEO but wants the concrete, do-it-yourself version rather than more theory

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this the same information as your free tools and blog?

The free tools and blog cover pieces of this. The course is the structured, sequenced version — 9 modules that build on each other, with quizzes to check understanding, hands-on exercises in every single module (including using our free tools) so you actually apply it to your own site, real screenshots from GeoRankLocal's own August 2026 AI-search audits of two live business websites, and a completion certificate.

Couldn't I just ask ChatGPT or Claude to explain GEO and AEO instead of paying for this?

You could ask an AI model to explain the concepts — that part is public knowledge, and we don't pretend otherwise. What you can't prompt an AI into producing is real, dated, screenshot-verified findings from GeoRankLocal's own audits: exactly what a fake AggregateRating schema looks like when Google's own tools validate it as syntactically fine, exactly what it looks like when an AI engine cites a business's Instagram instead of its own website for a branded query, and a sequenced set of exercises and a synthesised action plan built around your own website, not a generic one.

How long does it take?

Most people complete it in 2-4 hours across the 9 modules. It's self-paced — your progress is saved on your device, so you can stop and pick up later.

Is it actually interactive, or just text with quizzes bolted on?

Every module has a knowledge-check quiz you have to complete before you can continue, and every module has a hands-on exercise that has you apply the lesson directly to your own website — including using GeoRankLocal's free tools where relevant. Module 9 pulls forward your own answers from earlier modules and has you build a real 30-day action plan before you get your certificate.

Do I need any technical background?

No. It's written for business owners and marketers, not developers — schema markup and technical topics are explained in plain language, with links to free tools that check things for you rather than requiring you to read code.

What do I get for £29.99?

Lifetime access to all 9 modules, every quiz and exercise, real case studies from two live client audits, and a downloadable completion certificate. One-time payment, no subscription.

How do I access it after buying?

Right after payment, we email you a personal access link. Click it to unlock the course on that device. Keep the email — if you switch devices or clear your browser data, you'll use that same link to get back in.

Stop guessing whether AI engines can see you.

£29.99, one-time, lifetime access.