What do assistants base a recommendation on?
When ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude or Google's AI Overviews answer a question, they draw on two things: the text the model was trained on, and the sources it can find on the web at that moment. A brand gets recommended when those sources explain what it does clearly, consistently and recently.
Why does an assistant pass you over?
- The site doesn't answer questions. There's no clear answer to "what do you do, for whom, and where".
- The content can't be read. Key information sits in images, PDFs, or code that runs only in the browser.
- The details contradict each other. Your founding year, services or address differ on your site, on maps and in directories.
- Nobody else mentions you. Your brand doesn't come up in trade publications, interviews or on partners' pages.
- The content is out of date. A site untouched for years doesn't describe who you are today.
What if an assistant describes your brand wrongly?
Being described wrongly is as much of a problem as not being seen. An assistant may highlight a service you no longer offer or an old address, or confuse you with another company; that information usually comes from an old directory listing, an outdated profile or an old news story.
So we correct the sources, not the assistant: once the right information is clearly stated on your site and confirmed by other channels, answers gradually move towards it.
How does GEO change this?
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the work of making sure your brand is described accurately, and cited as a source, in AI-generated answers. First we ask assistants real questions about your brand and record where you don't appear and where you are described incompletely or wrongly. Then we:
- Give your key pages a clear question and a short answer.
- Serve all of the text as HTML that assistants can read.
- Make your company details consistent across every channel.
- Mark up your company, services and frequently asked questions with structured data (schema.org).
- Produce content that shows your expertise and is worth quoting.
Can the result be guaranteed?
No. Assistants change their answers all the time, and no agency can guarantee your brand will be recommended. What can be secured is that the information about you is accurate, clear and current, and that is usually what strengthens visibility.
GEO doesn't replace classic SEO; it builds on it. We explain the differences in What is AEO, and how is it different from SEO?
Where should you start?
Ask an assistant "Which companies would you recommend in our sector?", then ask about your company by name and compare the answer with what you know; the gap is the size of the job. Each assistant looks at different sources, so repeat the test across a few of them.
For more, see our GEO service or go straight to starting a project.