Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): Helping Businesses Stay Visible in AI Search
If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably heard statements like “SEO is dead” or “AI is replacing Google.”
If you’re a business owner, you’ve probably heard statements like “SEO is dead” or “AI is replacing Google.”
In reality, neither is true but search has changed.
Search hasn’t disappeared. It has expanded.
Today, people don’t just search on Google. They ask questions in ChatGPT, Bing, Gemini and other AI tools. These platforms don’t show pages of results. They summarise, recommend and decide.
That shift is exactly why Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) matters.
At Okapi and Co, GEO isn’t theory. It’s something we actively test, refine and use on our own websites, long before rolling it out to clients.
What Is GEO (In Plain English)?
Traditional SEO focused on ranking web pages.
GEO focuses on being the answer.
When someone asks an AI tool:
- “Who should I work with?”
- “What’s the best option near me?”
- “Which business do you recommend?”
The AI doesn’t show ten links. It gives one or two trusted suggestions.
A simple analogy:
If SEO is being listed in the Yellow Pages,
GEO is being personally recommended by the concierge.
Those recommendations are driven by clarity, authority, structure and trust not tricks.
Why GEO Matters for Established Businesses
If your business is already established, GEO is especially important.
AI-driven search reduces comparison. It favours confidence and authority. That means the gap between the “recommended” business and everyone else gets wider.
Businesses that adapt early protect their visibility. Those that don’t often feel the impact later, when enquiries quietly slow down without an obvious reason.
Our GEO Approach at Okapi & Co
We bring over 30 years of SEO experience into this new search landscape. We’ve lived through every major algorithm shift and learned one constant lesson: fundamentals always matter, even when technology changes.
Our work starts by understanding how AI currently sees your business. We test platforms like ChatGPT and Bing directly to see what they know about you, how they describe you, and whether they mention you at all.
From there, we strengthen your entity signals making sure your business details, reputation and authority are consistent and easy for AI systems to understand.
We then structure content specifically for AI consumption. That includes clear explanations, FAQs, comparisons, supporting images, short-form video and reviews all formatted so AI tools can extract accurate answers without misunderstanding.
Finally, we monitor and refine. GEO is not a one-off task. AI platforms evolve constantly, so we test prompts regularly and adjust based on real-world outputs, not assumptions.
Practising What We Preach: Visit Shaftesbury
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A live example of GEO in action is Visit Shaftesbury.
This site is owned and built by Okapi & Co and exists to demonstrate how GEO works in the real world. It focuses on helping AI platforms understand a real town, run by people who are part of that local community.
We use everything we recommend to clients: structured content, optimised images, video shorts, tables, social media signals and reviews. When people ask AI tools about things to do in Shaftesbury or places to visit in Dorset, this site consistently appears because it’s genuinely useful and authoritative.
Why Okapi & Co Is Different
Most agencies still talk mainly to marketing teams.
We talk to business owners.
We explain GEO the same way we would at a Chamber of Commerce event or a board meeting clearly, practically and without jargon. Our focus is helping you understand what’s changing, why it matters, and what action actually makes a difference.
How GEO Fits With SEO
SEO is not going away. It builds the foundations.
GEO determines who gets mentioned and recommended.
That’s why everything we do connects back to strong fundamentals and our core services:
- SEO services
- AI SEO services
Glossary of Search & Marketing Terms (Plain English)
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
The process of improving your website so it appears higher in traditional search engines like Google and Bing. It focuses on content, technical setup, authority and user experience.
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)
Optimising your business so AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Bing Chat understand, trust and recommend you when users ask questions.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)
A subset of SEO focused on answering specific questions clearly, often used for voice search and featured snippets. GEO builds on AEO by targeting AI-generated answers.
AISEO (AI Search Engine Optimisation)
A broader approach that combines SEO, GEO and AEO with AI tools and automation to improve efficiency, visibility and long-term performance across search and AI platforms.
PPC (Pay Per Click)
Paid advertising where you pay each time someone clicks your ad, commonly used on Google Ads or Bing Ads. Effective but stops working the moment you stop paying.
CTR (Click Through Rate)
The percentage of people who click on your result after seeing it. A strong CTR signals relevance and trust to search engines and AI platforms.
Entity
A clearly defined thing such as a business, person or place that search engines and AI tools can recognise and understand consistently.
Schema Markup
Structured code added to a website that helps search engines and AI systems understand what content means, not just what it says (e.g. FAQs, reviews, products).
LLM (Large Language Model)
The technology behind tools like ChatGPT and Gemini that reads, summarises and generates answers from information across the web.
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AI search isn’t coming, it’s already here.
The businesses that win will be the ones that combine real experience, clear communication and strong fundamentals with modern optimisation techniques.
That’s exactly how we work for ourselves and for our clients.
If you want to understand how GEO applies to your business, we’re happy to talk.
No hype. No pressure. Just straight answers.