What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Generative engine optimization, or GEO, is the work of making your business the answer AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews give when someone asks about your industry. It is the AI era's version of ranking first. If those tools can read your site and trust your authority, they name you. If not, they name a competitor.

What is the difference between GEO and SEO?

SEO competes for the ten blue links on a search page. GEO competes for the single answer an AI gives, where there is no page two. They overlap, and good GEO still rests on solid SEO, but AI reads and cites sites differently. Altaway optimizes for both, AI first.

What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?

AEO is another name for the same goal: being the answer an AI or voice assistant hands back, not just a link in a list. Some people say GEO, some say AEO. We focus on the result either way, your business getting named and cited.

Why do people say SEO is dead, and is it true?

No, it changed. People still search, they just get an AI answer first more often. The sites that win are the ones AI can read and trust. SEO did not die, it grew a new front, and that front is where the early movers are getting named.

How do I get my business cited by ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity?

Two things decide it: whether the AI can cleanly read your site, and whether enough trusted sources vouch for you. Altaway fixes the first directly and builds the second over time, then measures whether your name starts coming up. Get a free visibility score above to see where you stand today.

How do I show up in Google's AI Overviews?

AI Overviews pull from sources Google can parse and trust on a topic. That means clean, structured pages that answer real questions, plus authority signals from around the web. It is the same foundation as getting cited by ChatGPT, which is why we build for all of them at once.

How long does GEO take to show results?

Faster than classic SEO, but not instant. The Growth install is five focused days, your pages start going live in week one, and AI citations build over the following weeks as your authority grows. We re-measure every 90 days and close the next gap.

Where does Altaway work, and who is it for?

Altaway works remotely with operating businesses across the United States. It is built for businesses doing roughly $250K to $3M in revenue with a real website, service led or product led. Regulated industries are welcome, we work within the rules.

What website platforms do you work with?

Open platforms like custom sites, Next.js, WordPress, and Webflow are no problem, and we do the full build directly on them. On closed platforms like Wix, Pixieset, and some Squarespace, the AI-readiness pieces are capped or impossible, so we migrate you to a platform we control first, a step we scope and quote on the call. Not sure what you are on? Start with the free score and we will tell you.

What makes Altaway different from other GEO agencies?

Most agencies sell the work and never prove it. Altaway scores your site on the same audit we run on our own site, then re-measures every quarter so you watch the number move. Dallin does the work directly, not a junior handed your account.

What does a GEO engagement cost, and how do we start?

Three tiers. Starter is $2,500 one time, a fast fixed-scope AI-readiness build that credits in full toward Growth if you step up. Growth is $7,500 and Dallin runs the full build with you, with an optional AI Visibility Retainer at $1,500 a month. Authority is $11,500, with a founding rate of $9,500 for the first 10 clients, for competitive or multi-location businesses, with a $2,500 a month retainer. Start with the free score above, or book a call and we will point you to the right one.

Does Altaway do AI consulting or AI setup for businesses?

Yes. Alongside AI visibility, Altaway offers AI consulting for small businesses: Dallin sets up Anthropic's Claude tools inside your business, trains your team on your real tasks, and hands you the keys so you run it yourselves. It is billed hourly and scoped up front. One Utah roofing company he helped went from paying a website vendor $1,500 a month to running their own site for $20 a month. See the AI consulting page for details.

Answer

How do I get my business recommended by AI?

Getting recommended by AI is different from simply being visible. When a customer asks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews to recommend a provider, the AI weighs which business the wider web trusts most. That comes down to authority: reviews, consistent listings, credible mentions, and clear signals of experience. You cannot buy a recommendation, but you can earn the signals AI looks for. Here is how.

Why AI recommends one business over another

When an AI names a specific business, it is drawing on patterns across the sources it trusts. It looks at whether your details are consistent everywhere, whether real customers vouch for you, whether credible third-party sites mention you, and whether your own pages clearly state your experience and what you do.

In practice, AI tools often cite years of experience, reviews, and inclusion in trusted roundups when they explain a choice. The business that shows up as the answer is usually the one the web corroborates most clearly, not necessarily the biggest or the oldest.

The signals you need to earn

Start with the foundation on your own site: state plainly who you serve, where, and how long you have done the work, and wrap it in structured data so an AI can parse it. Then build the outside signals. Keep your business listings accurate and identical across directories, earn genuine reviews on the platforms your industry uses, and pursue honest mentions and links from credible sites in your space.

This off-site authority work has two flavors. Local businesses lean on citations, a strong Google Business Profile, reviews, and consistent listings. National or business-to-business companies lean on earned mentions, references, and coverage from trusted publications. Altaway builds an Off-Site Authority Plan around whichever fits you.

What you cannot fake

There is no button that forces an AI to recommend you, and anyone promising a guaranteed placement or a set number of citations is not being straight with you. AI recommendations are earned from real signals, and they build over months as your authority grows and the engines re-crawl the web.

That is actually the opportunity. Because the work is real and takes time, most of your competitors have not done it. The businesses that start earning these signals now are the ones getting named while others wait.

Common questions

Answered.

Can I pay to be recommended by ChatGPT?

No. There is no paid placement inside an AI's recommendation. You earn it by being readable to AI and trusted across the web through reviews, consistent listings, and credible mentions. Be wary of anyone selling a guaranteed AI recommendation.

What matters most for getting recommended?

Corroboration. AI tends to name the business the wider web agrees on: consistent listings, genuine reviews, credible third-party mentions, and clear signals of experience on your own pages. Readability makes you eligible; trust gets you chosen.

How long before AI starts recommending my business?

It builds over weeks and months, not overnight. Readability fixes land quickly, but the authority signals that drive a recommendation accumulate as you earn reviews and mentions and the engines re-crawl. Nobody honest can promise a date.

Do reviews really affect AI recommendations?

Yes. AI tools frequently draw on reviews and third-party profiles when deciding who to name, and they favor businesses whose reputation is corroborated across several trusted sources. Earning and displaying genuine reviews is one of the higher-leverage moves you can make.

Keep reading

What is GEO?What is AEO?GEO vs SEO Is SEO dead?Show up in AI search AI consultant cost What can AI do for my business AI visibility glossary

Earn the trust that gets you recommended.

Getting named by AI comes down to being readable and being trusted. Altaway builds both, including the off-site authority work, citations, listings, reviews, and earned mentions, that makes AI confident recommending you. No guaranteed placements, just the real signals that move the needle.

See how AI visibility works

See where you stand with AI.

Get a free read of how AI sees your site today, then decide what to do about it. Or see our research on whether GEO agencies pass their own test.

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