01 / Understand what GEO actually is
When someone asks ChatGPT or Perplexity a question, the AI picks a few websites and mentions them by name. GEO is the practice of making sure YOUR site is one of those mentioned. It's the new version of showing up on Google — except there's no list, just one answer.
Do this
- Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google Gemini.
- Ask each one a question your customers would ask.
- Write down which websites get mentioned.
- Notice: your competitors might already be there. You probably aren't.
Example: Ask Perplexity: 'What are the best project management tools for freelancers?' Watch which 5 brands it names. Those brands are winning GEO.
What you get: A clear picture of where you stand in the AI world today.
02 / Check if AI even knows you exist
Before fixing anything, you need to know what AI tools currently say about your brand. The answer is usually: nothing, or worse, something wrong.
Do this
- Ask ChatGPT: 'What do you know about [your company]?'
- Ask Perplexity the same.
- Ask: 'What are the top companies in [your category]?' — are you listed?
- Write down every answer. This is your starting line.
Example: A SaaS founder asked ChatGPT about her company. It confidently described a company that didn't exist, mixing her name with a competitor. That was the problem to fix.
What you get: Hard proof of your AI visibility — and a target to improve.
03 / Publish one original piece of research
AI tools love original data. Surveys, studies, benchmarks, original numbers — these get cited more than any blog post ever will.
Do this
- Pick a simple question your audience wonders about.
- Run a small survey (Google Forms is free) or gather data you already have.
- Publish the results as a clean, dated page with charts.
- Give it a memorable title like 'The 2026 [Industry] Report'.
Example: A recruiter surveyed 200 developers about salaries and published 'The 2026 Developer Salary Report'. Within months, AI tools were citing it for salary questions.
What you get: A citeable source that carries your brand name into AI answers.
04 / Get mentioned on sites AI actually reads
AI tools learn from specific websites more than others: Wikipedia, Reddit, review sites like G2, and news outlets. Being mentioned on these is worth 100x a random blog link.
Do this
- Create complete profiles on G2, Capterra, and Trustpilot.
- Answer questions on Reddit in your niche (genuinely, not spammy).
- Answer questions on Quora with your real name.
- Aim for your brand to appear in 'best of' lists written by third parties.
Example: A CRM company asked happy customers to leave G2 reviews. Six months later, ChatGPT started recommending it when people asked for CRMs. Direct traffic from AI.
What you get: AI tools start mentioning you unprompted when people ask for recommendations.
05 / Make your website easy for AI to read
AI tools prefer simple, clean websites. Heavy JavaScript, pop-ups, and weird layouts confuse them. Boring text pages win.
Do this
- Make sure every important page has real text (not images of text).
- Add clear headings, short paragraphs, and bullet points.
- Add a publish date and an author name to every page.
- Add a simple file at yoursite.com/llms.txt listing your key pages.
Example: A documentation site switched from fancy JavaScript to plain Markdown pages. ChatGPT went from ignoring it to citing it in nearly every developer question.
What you get: AI tools can finally read your site — and they start recommending it.
06 / Check your AI visibility every week
GEO isn't 'do it once'. AI results change constantly. You need to track whether your work is paying off.
Do this
- Write down 10 questions your customers ask AI tools.
- Every Monday, ask those 10 questions to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.
- Log: Were you mentioned? In what position? Was the info right?
- Compare week over week. Fix what's missing.
Example: A marketing agency tracked 25 questions weekly. After 3 months, they were mentioned in 60% of answers — up from 0%. They knew exactly which content moved the needle.
What you get: A real feedback loop. You stop guessing and start improving.
07 / Publish a dataset with your brand name in it
This is the single most underused GEO move. Publish a free dataset on Hugging Face or Kaggle with your brand in the title. AI tools cite datasets constantly.
Do this
- Gather some data you already have (customer trends, industry stats, anything).
- Create a free account on huggingface.co or kaggle.com.
- Upload the data with a clear name like 'The [YourBrand] [Topic] Dataset 2026'.
- Write a good description — AI reads it.
Example: A small analytics firm published 'The BrandX E-Commerce Benchmark Dataset'. Within months, AI tools referenced the dataset by name when anyone asked about e-commerce metrics.
What you get: Your brand name becomes part of the AI's vocabulary for your category.
08 / Help edit Wikipedia (the right way)
Wikipedia is one of the top sources AI tools learn from. You can't write your own page — that gets deleted — but you CAN add your research as a source on related pages.
Do this
- Create a Wikipedia account. Edit unrelated pages for a few weeks to build history.
- Find a page related to your industry that lacks sources.
- Add a sentence with a citation pointing to your research page.
- Be factual, neutral, and genuinely useful. Don't be salesy or it gets reverted.
Example: A nutritionist added a citation to her published research on a Wikipedia article about 'dietary fiber'. Six months later, ChatGPT was pulling her name when people asked about fiber.
What you get: One of the highest-leverage moves in all of GEO. Long-term, massive payoff.