What Generative engine optimization means
Generative engine optimization, often shortened to GEO, is the practice of writing and structuring your pages so AI tools can read them clearly and describe your product accurately in their answers.
A founder practicing GEO might rewrite a vague homepage headline into one plain sentence stating what the product does, publish an llms.txt file summarizing key facts, and check what an assistant says about the product afterward.
GEO is not the same as classic SEO, even though the two overlap. A page can rank well in Google while still confusing an AI tool, because assistants read for plain meaning rather than keyword matching.
Test your GEO work the same way you would test any other change: ask an AI assistant a real buyer question before and after, and compare how accurately it describes your product.
Why this matters for builders
As more buyers ask assistants for recommendations, pages written only for classic search rankings can still leave an AI tool confused about what you actually do.
Mistake builders make often
Some builders assume the SEO work they already did automatically covers AI discovery, without ever testing what an actual assistant says about their product.
What to do now
Read SEO vs AI discovery, then check your current AI description with the What Does AI Think My Product Is? tool.