Where the term comes from
GEO was named in a 2023 research paper, "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization" (Aggarwal et al., KDD 2024). The authors tested nine ways of changing web content and measured how visible each change made a source in generative-engine answers. Read the paper
What the research found, and what it doesn't prove
- On their 10,000-query benchmark, adding citations, quotations from credible sources and statistics raised visibility by up to about 40%.
- Keyword stuffing, the classic SEO tactic, did not help and often did worse than making no change.
- Lower-ranked sites gained the most: citing sources raised visibility 115.1% for sites ranked fifth in search results, while the top-ranked site's visibility fell 30.3% on average.
- On Perplexity.ai, the best methods improved visibility by 22% and 37% on the study's two measures.
This is one academic benchmark, run on the engines of 2023-24, and the authors note that results vary by subject area. It shows which levers matter. It is not a promise about any one business.
How Citefast does GEO
AI Visibility Audit
We ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and other models the questions your buyers ask, and record who they name, what they say about you, and which sources they cite.
Content & Structure Optimization
We rewrite key pages so they are clear, factual and easy to quote, add real statistics and named sources where they exist, and add structured data. No keyword stuffing.
Citation & Authority Building
We build the third-party mentions AI draws on: directories, reviews, roundups and expert quotes. We don't buy links or run link exchanges.
Ongoing Monitoring
We repeat the same questions on a schedule and report what changed.
A real example
Citefast has one published case study. MAG Linen and Towels Inc., a wholesale towel supplier with no online presence, had never appeared in an AI answer. After the same audit-and-fix process, ChatGPT began naming it as a top pick for relevant buyer queries. Read the case study
Is GEO right for you?
GEO fits businesses whose customers research vendors by asking AI, and that have real, checkable facts to show: what you sell, where, for whom, and evidence. It doesn't fit if you need a guaranteed ranking or overnight results. Nobody can promise either, and we won't.
A few common questions.
It measures how AI models currently describe your business, then changes the things those models read: your own pages and the third-party sources that mention you. Citefast does this end to end: audit, content and structure, citation building and monitoring.
They overlap. SEO aims to rank pages in a list of results; GEO aims to get your business named and cited inside an AI-written answer. Crawlable, well-structured pages help both, but tactics like keyword stuffing did not help in the GEO research.
It depends on your industry and current footprint. Engines that search the web while answering can change within weeks once your pages and third-party sources are in place; answers drawn from a model's built-in memory change only when the model is updated. The free audit gives a realistic timeline for your business.
No, and nobody honestly can. AI answers vary by question, by model and over time. We can show what the models say before and after our work, question by question.
Yes. Citefast is a done-for-you agency for generative engine optimization (GEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO).
Want to see how AI describes your business today?
Looking for answer engine optimization? Same discipline, different emphasis: AEO services.