[ GEO ]  GEO · Control the narrative

Control howAI describesyour brand.

Getting cited is one problem. What the model actually says about you is another — and it is the one that closes or kills the deal.

001Definition

What is Generative Engine Optimization?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of influencing how generative AI models describe a brand when they produce an answer. It goes beyond earning a citation: GEO shapes the wording, framing and comparisons a model reaches for. It works by publishing quotable factual statements, keeping brand descriptions identical across every platform, and building the third-party mentions models draw on when summarising a company.

[ 002 ]  The gap

The answer you cannot see

Ask an assistant about your category and it will describe you in a sentence or two — confidently, whether or not that description is current, complete or even correct. Most brands have never read what the models say about them. A model trained on a stale about-page, a competitor comparison, or a five-year-old review will repeat it to every prospect who asks.

01

Outdated descriptions

Models repeat whatever was most consistently stated across the web, not whatever is newest on your site.

02

Wrong category

If your positioning is ambiguous, a model will place you in the nearest category it understands — often a commoditised one.

03

Competitor framing

When rivals define the comparison language, models inherit their framing and repeat it back to your buyers.

04

Invisible in lists

Not being named in "best X for Y" answers is a silent loss you never see in analytics.

What's included.

01

Model perception audit

We ask every major model what your brand is, and hand you the verbatim answers. Most clients find this uncomfortable.

02

Narrative definition

A single canonical description of what you do and who you serve, written to be repeated accurately.

03

Fact consistency

The same brand facts across site, schema, directories and profiles, so nothing contradicts.

04

Comparison content

Honest, sourced positioning against alternatives, so models have your framing to draw on.

05

Third-party presence

Placement where models actually look — the sources that shape summaries, not just backlink counts.

06

Drift monitoring

Recurring checks so you know when a model starts describing you differently, and why.

6
Models audited
1
Canonical narrative
Monthly
Drift checks

How we run it.

01
Ask the models
A structured prompt set across every major engine, captured verbatim. This is the baseline narrative.
02
Find the gap
Where what models say diverges from what is true, and which sources are feeding the wrong version.
03
Write the canon
One authoritative description, in quotable form, deployed consistently everywhere.
04
Seed the sources
Get the corrected framing into the places models actually read.
05
Watch for drift
Re-run the prompts on a schedule and correct the narrative before it hardens.
005GEO questions

GEO, explained.

What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of influencing how generative AI models describe a brand when they produce an answer. It goes beyond earning a citation: GEO shapes the wording, framing and associations a model reaches for. GEO works by publishing quotable factual statements, keeping brand descriptions identical across every platform, and building the third-party mentions that models draw on when they summarise a company.

What is the difference between GEO and AEO?

AEO is about being cited; GEO is about what is said. Answer Engine Optimization works to make a brand the source an AI assistant quotes, while Generative Engine Optimization works to shape how that assistant characterises the brand — the category it places you in, the words it uses, and the comparisons it draws. Most brands need both, because a citation attached to an inaccurate description does not convert.

How do I find out what AI says about my brand?

Ask each major model the questions your buyers ask — what the company does, who it is best for, how it compares to named alternatives — and record the answers verbatim across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot. Repeat on a schedule, because answers change as models are retrained. Blackwave Digital runs this as a structured audit and reports the exact wording each model uses.

Can you actually change what an AI model says about a company?

Yes, within limits. Models draw on what is consistently stated across the web, so changing the inputs changes the output — but not instantly and not by fiat. Correcting your own site and schema, aligning descriptions across every profile and directory, and earning accurate third-party mentions all shift how a model characterises a brand. Retrieval-based engines like Perplexity and AI Overviews respond within weeks; models relying on training data shift more slowly.

Is GEO the same as reputation management?

They overlap but are not the same. Reputation management is largely about suppressing or responding to negative content aimed at humans. GEO is about the accuracy and framing of how machines summarise a brand for a user who will likely never visit the site. A company can have excellent reviews and still be described by AI in a category it does not want to compete in.

The other half

GEO gets you cited. AEO shapes what is said.

People increasingly ask an assistant instead of scanning ten results. Answer Engine Optimization makes your brand the source those assistants quote.

Explore AEO
[ → ]  Start with GEO

Find out what AI says about you.

We'll run your brand through every major answer engine and send you the verbatim results — free, no call required.