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 to show up in ChatGPT and AI search?

Your business shows up in AI answers when two things are true: an AI can cleanly read and understand your website, and enough trusted sources across the web vouch for you that the AI is confident naming you. Get both right and your name comes up when a customer asks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews about your industry. Get either wrong and a competitor's name comes up instead. Here is how each part works.

The short answer

Showing up in AI search is not a single setting you switch on. It comes down to two layers. The first is whether the AI can read your site: is your content in plain, crawlable text, is it structured so a machine can understand what you sell and where, and can the AI's crawler reach it. The second is whether the AI trusts you: do other credible sources across the web mention you, and does your information line up wherever it appears.

Most businesses fail on the first layer without knowing it, which is why they never appear. The good news is that the readability work is fixable quickly, and the trust work compounds once you start.

Make your site readable to AI

AI tools primarily read the raw text and structure of your pages, not the visual design. If your key content only appears after JavaScript loads, or lives inside images and video, an AI may never see it. Lead each page with a direct answer to the question a customer would ask, use clear headings, and keep the important facts in plain text.

Two technical basics matter here. Be indexed in Google and Bing, because several AI tools, including ChatGPT's live search, pull from those indexes. And allow the AI crawlers to reach your site rather than blocking them. A source-of-truth file at your domain and structured data on every page give the AI a clean map of who you are.

Build the trust that makes AI name you

Readability gets you eligible. Trust gets you chosen. AI tools weigh what the rest of the web says about you, so consistent business listings, genuine customer reviews, and mentions on credible third-party sites all raise the odds your name comes up. Make sure your business name, category, and details match everywhere they appear.

Being included in the honest 'best of' and comparison articles for your category helps too, because AI answers frequently draw from those roundups. None of this is a trick or a guarantee of placement. It is earned over weeks and months, and it is exactly the kind of authority work that separates the businesses AI names from the ones it skips.

How to check where you stand today

Start by asking the engines yourself. Open ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Mode and ask the questions your customers would ask, like the best provider of your service in your area. See whether you come up, who does, and what sources the answer cites.

For a structured read, Altaway runs a free AI visibility score that measures how readable your site is to AI right now and where the gaps are. From there you know exactly what to fix first instead of guessing.

Common questions

Answered.

Why isn't my business showing up in ChatGPT?

Usually because the AI cannot cleanly read your site, or because too few trusted sources mention you. If your key content is buried in JavaScript or images, or your listings and reviews are thin or inconsistent, AI tools tend to name a competitor instead. Fixing readability first is the fastest lever.

Does showing up in AI search cost money?

Getting the basics right takes work, not necessarily a big budget. Much of the readability layer is a one-time fix. The trust layer, like earning reviews and credible mentions, builds over time. Altaway offers a free score so you can see where you stand before spending anything.

How long does it take to show up in AI answers?

Readability fixes can take effect in days once your pages are indexed and crawlable. Being named in AI answers builds over the following weeks as your authority grows and the engines re-crawl the web. It is faster than classic SEO but not instant.

Is this the same as SEO?

It overlaps. AI tools heavily cite pages that already rank in search, so strong SEO is part of the foundation. But getting named in a single AI answer is a distinct goal from ranking in a list of links, and it needs an AI-first layer on top.

Keep reading

What is GEO?What is AEO?GEO vs SEO Is SEO dead?Get recommended by AI AI consultant cost What can AI do for my business AI visibility glossary

See how AI sees your business right now.

Altaway makes your site readable to AI and builds the trust signals that get you named, then measures whether your name actually comes up when someone asks. Start with a free read of how ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews see you today.

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