Today, buyers are asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI assistants questions like “What’s the best tool for X?”, “Which SaaS platforms integrate with Y?”, or “What should I use if I care about security and compliance?” and they’re getting direct answers, not ten blue links.
This shift has created a new optimization layer: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
GEO focuses on getting your brand understood, trusted, and cited by AI systems not just indexed by Google. And in the age of ChatGPT and Perplexity, GEO is quickly becoming a must-have for brands that want to stay visible.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing your brand, content, and digital footprint so that AI-powered search engines and assistants can confidently mention and cite you in their answers.
Unlike traditional SEO, which aims to rank pages, GEO aims to:
- Clarify who you are
- Define what category you belong to
- Reinforce what problems you solve
- Build trust signals that AI models rely on when generating answers
In short:
SEO helps you get clicked. GEO helps you get mentioned.
Why GEO Matters More Than Ever
1. AI Is Becoming the First Touchpoint
For many users, AI assistants now sit before Google.
Instead of searching “best project management software,” users ask:
- “What’s the best project management tool for remote teams?”
- “Which tools integrate with Slack and Jira?”
- “What’s a good alternative to Asana for startups?”
If your brand doesn’t appear in those AI answers, you’re invisible even if you rank #1 in Google.
2. Perplexity Prioritizes Citations, Not Rankings
Perplexity doesn’t just summarize the web. It selects and cites sources it trusts.
That means:
- Clean entity signals matter more than raw traffic
- Contextual mentions often outperform backlinks
- Clear definitions and scannable content win citations
If you want to get mentioned in Perplexity, GEO is the strategy that aligns with how it works.
3. AI Trust Signals Are Different from Google’s
Google heavily weighs:
- Backlinks
- Domain authority
- Technical SEO
AI engines weigh:
- Entity clarity
- Co-citations with trusted brands
- Consistent category language
- Fresh, factual, well-structured content
You can rank well and still never be cited by AI. That’s the GEO gap.
How Perplexity Decides What to Cite
To understand how to get mentioned on Perplexity, you need to understand what it looks for.
Perplexity favors content that is:
- Explicit: Clearly answers the question
- Authoritative: Comes from trusted domains or known entities
- Structured: Easy to extract and quote
- Contextual: Mentions brands alongside relevant categories and competitors
- Fresh: Updated and current
Perplexity is less interested in keyword density and more interested in confidence and clarity.
How to Get Mentioned on Perplexity Using GEO
1. Define Your Entity Clearly (On Your Site)
Every brand should have at least one canonical page that answers:
“What is [Brand Name]?”
Use a simple, explicit definition:
“Acme is a SOC 2–compliant workflow automation platform for mid-market SaaS teams that need secure integrations with Slack and Salesforce.”
This helps AI systems confidently place you in the right category.
GEO tip: One clear definition beats ten vague marketing paragraphs.
2. Use Consistent Category Language Everywhere
Perplexity learns from repetition across the web.
Make sure your brand is described the same way on:
- Your website
- G2, Capterra, TrustRadius
- Comparison pages
- Guest posts and directories
If you’re sometimes called a “tool,” sometimes a “platform,” and sometimes a “solution,” AI models get confused and confused entities don’t get cited.
3. Win Comparison and “Best Of” Mentions
One of the strongest GEO signals is adjacency.
Perplexity pays close attention to content like:
- “X vs Y”
- “Best tools for [use case]”
- “Top alternatives to [competitor]”
Being mentioned next to competitors and core use cases tells the model:
“This brand belongs in this conversation.”
Even unlinked mentions on trusted sites help.
4. Optimize for Extractability, Not Length
AI engines don’t read like humans they extract.
To increase your chances of being cited:
- Lead with the answer
- Use short paragraphs
- One idea per section
- Clear H2s like:
- “Is [Product] SOC 2 compliant?”
- “Does [Tool] integrate with Slack?”
- “Is [Product] SOC 2 compliant?”
Perplexity often lifts entire sentences verbatim. Make sure those sentences are worth quoting.
5. Build Review-Site Gravity
Review platforms are major grounding sources for Perplexity.
Strong GEO signals include:
- Consistent category selection
- Fresh reviews (especially detailed ones)
- Clear mentions of integrations, security, and use cases
Even without links, these mentions reinforce entity trust.
6. Monitor AI Mentions Like a Product Manager
Don’t take the test.
Create a fixed list of prompts like:
- “Best [category] tools for startups”
- “Privacy-first alternatives to [competitor]”
- “[Category] with native Okta integration”
Run them weekly in Perplexity and ChatGPT and track:
- Whether your brand appears
- How it’s described
- Which sources are cited instead of you
This feedback loop is core to GEO.
GEO vs SEO: It’s Not Either/Or
GEO doesn’t replace SEO, it builds on it.
You still need:
- Crawlable pages
- Clean site architecture
- Internal linking
- Basic backlinks
But GEO is the layer that turns visibility into recommendations.
In an AI-driven search world, being ranked isn’t enough. You need to be understood.
Final Thoughts
Generative Engine Optimization matters because AI assistants are becoming gatekeepers of discovery and decision-making.
If you want to get mentioned in Perplexity:
- Clarify your entity
- Reinforce your category
- Earn contextual mentions
- Make your content easy to quote
Brands that invest in GEO now will shape how AI talks about them later.
And in a world where answers are generated, not searched, being cited is the new ranking.
