SEO
AI SEO & GEO: Get Cited, Not Just Ranked
AI search rewards content that can be cited, not just ranked. Lead each section with a 40-60 word standalone answer, structure pages with definition, comparison, FAQ, and statistic blocks whose headings match how people ask, cite sources and dated data, and explicitly allow AI crawlers.
Audit in priority order
Fix what blocks indexing first: crawlability and indexation, then technical foundations, then on-page, content quality, and authority. On-page essentials are still table stakes — a unique 50-60 character title with the keyword early, a unique 150-160 character meta description, one H1 with logical hierarchy, and the keyword in the first 100 words.
Write to be cited
Generative engines quote the clearest standalone answer. Open each section with a 40-60 word answer, then expand. Use definition, comparison, FAQ, and statistic blocks, and phrase your H2s and H3s the way people ask questions. Sources, specific dated statistics, and expert quotes all materially raise the odds of being cited.
Let the AI crawlers in, and earn presence elsewhere
Allow GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot, and Google-Extended in robots.txt. Cover the full topical cluster, since engines fan out to related queries, and show "last updated" dates. Third-party presence — Wikipedia, Reddit, G2 — is often cited more than your own site, so pursue it deliberately.
Frequently asked questions
- What is GEO (generative engine optimization)?
- Optimizing content so AI engines cite it in their answers — through standalone answer snippets, structured blocks, cited sources, and crawler access — rather than only ranking in classic search results.
- Should I write separate content for AI search?
- No. Write for people first. The same clear, well-structured, well-sourced content that helps readers is what AI engines cite. Never produce a separate, thinner "AI version."
- Do programmatic pages hurt SEO?
- Only when they’re thin variable-swap pages. Programmatic pages work when each carries unique value or proprietary data and is interlinked hub-and-spoke. Quality beats volume.
Run this with Eline
Eline’s SEO specialist applies this method on your account. See the specialist