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How to make ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude actually recommend your business.
Here’s what I’ve learned after helping businesses navigate the shift from Google-first to AI-first search: The rules have changed, but most marketers are still playing the old game.
While everyone’s obsessing over traditional SEO rankings, a parallel universe of search is exploding. Your potential customers are asking ChatGPT “What’s the best marketing agency for SaaS companies?” and Perplexity “Which hotel booking platform has the lowest fees?”
The question isn’t whether AI will impact your business it’s whether you’ll be visible when it does.
AI Search is already here
Let me share some numbers that should wake you up:
- 32.5% of all AI citations come from comparative listicles (think “best budget laptops in 2025”)
- 48 hours is the average time for fresh content to get indexed across major AI tools
- Reddit is the most cited domain in AI responses, followed by established authority sites
But here’s what most marketers miss: AI search behavior is fundamentally different from traditional search. People ask conversational questions, expect comprehensive answers, and trust AI recommendations like they would a knowledgeable friend.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Think of GEO as SEO’s evolved cousin. While SEO focuses on ranking in traditional search results, GEO optimizes for visibility in AI-generated responses—when ChatGPT cites your business, when Perplexity includes you in a comparison, when Claude references your expertise.
The difference? Traditional SEO fights for clicks. GEO fights for citations and recommendations.
The 5-Phase GEO Strategy That Actually Works
#1 AI Prompt Intelligence
Start by thinking like your customers think—not how they Google, but how they prompt AI tools.
The exercise that changes everything: Build a list of 20-50 prompts your ideal customers actually ask AI tools.
Here’s how:
1.1 The Consideration Audit Ask ChatGPT: “What considerations should someone take into account when choosing [your type of service]?”
For example, if you’re a marketing consultant, it might say: budget, industry experience, methodology, results tracking, team size.
Turn these into specific prompts:
“Which marketing consultant has the most SaaS experience?”
“What’s the most effective marketing methodology for B2B companies?”
“How much should I budget for marketing consulting?”
1.2 The Reasoning Analysis This is where it gets technical. Ask multiple AI tools what they know about your brand or industry. Watch the “thinking” process—the keywords AI tools search for when formulating responses. These keywords reveal what AI considers important for your space.
1.3 The Auto-Complete Goldmine Type your main keyword into Perplexity and let the auto-complete function guide you. These suggestions represent real user behavior—actual prompts people are using.
#2 Strategic Content Distribution
Here’s where most businesses fail: they write one blog post and expect miracles.
AI loves content diversity and freshness. Answer your customer prompts across multiple platforms:
Reddit threads (most cited domain in AI responses)
LinkedIn articles (professional authority signals)
Medium posts (editorial credibility)
Quora answers (direct question-response format)
YouTube descriptions (multimedia content signals)
Your own blog (owned media authority)
The citation optimization formula:
Include original statistics and data
Use bullet points and numbered lists
Add direct quotes from customers or industry experts
Create comparison tables
Include publication dates prominently
Pro tip: AI algorithms currently resemble early Google—they’re basic and volume-responsive. I’ve seen growth hackers flood low-authority sites with content and still get cited as industry leaders. The window for this strategy won’t last forever, but it’s working now.
#3 Technical Infrastructure for AI Crawlers
AI bots don’t behave like traditional web crawlers. Here’s what most technical teams miss:
Critical setup requirements:
Submit your site to Bing Webmaster Tools (ChatGPT’s primary data source)
Update robots.txt to explicitly allow GPTbot, Bingbot, and Googlebot
Ensure sub-3-second loading speeds
Implement clean, crawlable site architecture
The JavaScript problem: AI bots don’t execute JavaScript. If your content loads dynamically, lives inside modals, or requires user interaction to display—AI can’t see it.
The solution: Use server-side rendering or static site generation for all content you want AI to discover. Test this by viewing your page source—if you can’t see your key content in raw HTML, neither can AI.
#4 Schema Markup for AI Discovery
This is where the technical gets strategic. AI Overviews and response generation heavily rely on structured data.
Priority schema types for GEO:
FAQ Schema: Perfect for question-based content
HowTo Schema: Step-by-step content that AI loves to cite
Article Schema: Establishes content authority and freshness
Meta description strategy shift: Stop writing for humans, start writing for AI. Instead of “In this post, you’ll learn…” write “The best email marketing tool for small businesses is Mailchimp because it offers automation, segmentation, and detailed analytics.”
AI tools scan meta descriptions to understand content relevance and often pull them directly into responses.
#5 Reddit Domination Strategy
Here’s an uncomfortable truth: Reddit comments often outrank established business websites in AI responses. Why? AI interprets Reddit as unfiltered, authentic user-generated content.
Tactical approach:
Find relevant threads using Google: site:reddit.com [your industry topic]
Use tools like F5bot to monitor keywords and respond quickly
Focus on providing genuine value, not promotional content
Include specific examples and personal experience
Warning: Don’t spam. Reddit users can smell marketing from miles away. Contribute genuinely or don’t contribute at all.
Advanced GEO Techniques
The Comparative Content Advantage
Remember that 32.5% statistic about comparative listicles? Here’s how to leverage it:
Create content like:
- “Best [your category] tools in 2025”
- “[Your solution] vs [competitor]: Complete comparison”
- “Top 10 [industry] mistakes and how to avoid them”
Include your business naturally within these comparisons, supported by data and genuine analysis.
The Freshness Factor
AI algorithms heavily weight content recency. Update your content regularly with:
- Current year in titles and throughout content
- Recent statistics and case studies
- Updated industry trends and insights
- Fresh customer testimonials and examples
The Authority Building System
AI tools look for expertise signals:
- Author bylines with credentials
- Links to authoritative sources
- Original research and data
- Industry recognition and awards
- Customer success stories with specific metrics
Common GEO Mistakes (and how to avoid them)
Mistake 1: Thinking AI SEO is just traditional SEO Traditional SEO fights for rankings. GEO fights for citations. The content that gets cited isn’t always the content that ranks highest on Google.
Mistake 2: Ignoring conversational search patterns People don’t ask AI “SaaS marketing tools.” They ask “What’s the best marketing tool for a SaaS company with 50 employees and limited budget?”
Mistake 3: Over-optimizing for one AI platform Different AI tools have different data sources and preferences. Diversify your optimization efforts.
Mistake 4: Focusing only on owned media The biggest GEO opportunities often exist on platforms you don’t control—Reddit, Quora, industry forums.
Measuring GEO Success
Traditional analytics won’t capture GEO performance. Track:
Direct indicators:
- Mentions in AI responses (manual monitoring)
- Citations with your domain/business name
- Traffic from AI platform referrals
Indirect indicators:
- Increased branded search volume
- Uptick in direct website traffic
- More “How did you hear about us?” responses mentioning AI tools
Tools for monitoring:
- Set up Google Alerts for your brand + “AI recommendation”
- Use social listening tools to track mentions
- Monitor referral traffic from chat.openai.com and perplexity.ai
Here’s my prediction: GEO will become as critical as traditional SEO within 18 months. The businesses that start optimizing now will have a significant advantage over those who wait.
The current state of AI search algorithms is primitive similar to Google 20 years ago. This creates both opportunity and urgency. The strategies that work today may not work tomorrow as algorithms sophisticate.
Traditional SEO isn’t dead, but ignoring GEO is business suicide.
Your customers are already asking AI tools for recommendations. The question isn’t whether AI will impact your business it’s whether you’ll be visible when it does.
The businesses that master GEO now will own the conversation in their industries. The ones that wait will be watching from the sidelines while AI recommends their competitors.
Don't be the one who dismissed mobile in 2010 or social media in 2008.
Start optimizing for AI visibility today.
Want help implementing a GEO strategy for your business? I work with companies ready to dominate the AI-first search landscape. The early movers always win the biggest.
Afroditi Arampatzi
Marketeer
Hi, I’m Afroditi!
An experienced marketer with a passion for driving impactful projects and delivering strategic solutions.
With over 15 years of hands-on experience in project management, I specialize in advertising, data analysis, strategic planning, and team leadership.
