GEO Guidance

Search is changing

Today, people aren’t just clicking links on search engine results pages. They’re asking questions in tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity and getting direct answers, all without ever clicking through to a website.

This means your content is no longer competing just to rank. It’s competing to be selected, trusted, and quoted by AI.

What is GEO?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your content:

• Easy for AI systems to find (accessible and crawlable)
• Easy to understand (clearly written and well-structured)
• Easy to use in answers (concise, factual, and well-organized)

Our goal

This checklist is designed to help you take simple, practical steps to make your site and content better optimized for generative engines.

By following it, you will:

• Improve how AI tools interpret your content
• Increase the chances your content is referenced or summarized
• Make your pages more useful for both humans and machines

Technical SEO & Site Configuration (Make Your Site Accessible)

[ ] Follow technical SEO best practices

[ ] Ensure your robots.txt allows major AI bots to crawl your site

[ ] Whitelist approved AI crawlers where applicable

[ ] Implement basic schema markup on key pages (e.g., Article, FAQ)

[ ] Create and publish an llms.txt file with guidance for AI systems

[ ] Ensure key content is publicly accessible (no login or gating)

[ ] Ensure content is rendered in HTML (not hidden behind scripts or PDFs)

Content Optimization

[ ] Optimize existing blog content for LLM-based search.

[ ] Rewrite and restructure key page content to be more LLM-friendly

[ ] Add transcripts to video and audio content, such as presentations and webinars.

[ ] Review and optimize YouTube video descriptions for better visibility.

[ ] Include FAQ content on priority pages.

Analytics & Strategy

[ ] Set up and configure LLM tracking tools to monitor performance.

[ ] Investigate and resolve any visibility issues on key pages.

[ ]  Search your key topics in:

ChatGPT

Copilot

Perplexity

[ ] Check whether your brand or content appears in answers

[ ]  Compare your visibility against competitors

Content Maintenance (Keep It Fresh)

[ ]   Review top pages at least once per year

[ ]   Update outdated stats, examples, and key information

[ ]   Ensure pages reflect your current positioning and messaging

[ ]   Re-test pages in AI tools after major updates