What is GEO and why does it matter for start ups and SMEs?

Generative Engine Optimisation is changing how businesses think about online visibility. For smaller brands, the opportunity is  to make their expertise easier for people, journalists and AI-powered search tools to find and trust.

Search is changing

When somebody wants to find a new supplier, adviser or service, their first step may no longer be typing a few keywords into Google and working through a page of links. Increasingly, people are asking ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI tools questions and expecting a direct answer.

They might ask: Who are the best providers in this sector? What should I look for when choosing one? Which companies have experience in a particular market? The answers they receive can shape which businesses make it onto a shortlist before the potential customer has visited a single company website.

This shift has led to growing interest in Generative Engine Optimisation, usually shortened to GEO. The term describes the work involved in helping a brand, its expertise and its content appear accurately and credibly within AI-generated answers.

For start-ups and SMEs, this can sound like another technical discipline requiring a large budget and a specialist toolkit. The reality is more encouraging. Many of the fundamentals behind GEO are the same things good businesses should already be doing: communicating clearly, publishing useful information, demonstrating genuine expertise and building credibility beyond their own channels.

What is Generative Engine Optimisation

Traditional search engine optimisation helps a website become easier for search engines to crawl, understand and rank. GEO has a related but slightly different focus: helping generative AI systems understand a business well enough to use or cite it when creating an answer.

That does not mean traditional SEO has become irrelevant. Google’s own guidance says that established SEO best practice still applies to AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that there are no additional technical requirements or special optimisations needed to appear in them. In other words, businesses should be wary of anyone promising a guaranteed shortcut into AI-generated results.

AI search systems draw on information available across the web. They look for content that is relevant, clear and useful, but they also need signals that help them judge whether a source is credible. A well-structured website matters, but it is only one part of a brand’s wider digital footprint.

Google explains its approach in its official guide to optimising for generative AI features.

Why GEO matters for smaller businesses

Start-ups and SMEs are often competing with businesses that have larger marketing teams, bigger advertising budgets and more established brands. AI search creates a challenge, but it may also create an opportunity.

A useful answer does not have to come from the biggest company in a market. A smaller business with clear specialist expertise, strong evidence and credible independent recognition can be highly relevant to a specific question. That makes focus particularly valuable. A company does not need to be known for everything, but it should be easy to understand what it does, who it helps and why its perspective is worth trusting.

There is also a reputational issue. If an AI tool gives an inaccurate, incomplete or outdated description of a business, that answer may still influence a potential customer. Companies therefore need to pay attention not only to whether they appear, but also to the consistency and accuracy of the information available about them online.

The role of PR in AI search visibility

PR has always helped businesses build visibility and trust through credible third parties. That role becomes even more relevant when search tools are trying to understand which sources and organisations carry authority on a subject.

Any business can describe itself as a leader or expert on its own website. Independent media coverage, contributed articles, interviews, expert commentary, awards and original research provide external evidence that supports that positioning. They also create more places online where a brand’s name, spokespeople and areas of expertise are connected.

This does not mean every piece of coverage will automatically lead to an AI citation, and GEO should not be used to make guarantees that cannot be substantiated. However, a strong earned-media presence can help create a clearer and more credible picture of a business across the web. From a PR perspective, that makes consistency important. The company description, spokespeople, credentials and core messages used in press materials should align with the information on the website and other trusted profiles.

The quality of the coverage matters too. Ten copied press releases on low-quality websites are unlikely to carry the same value as a well-researched feature, a relevant trade interview or expert commentary in a trusted publication. GEO is another reason to prioritise relevance and authority over volume.

Five practical steps start ups and SMEs can take

1  Find the questions your customers are asking

Start with real customer behaviour rather than a list of keywords. Speak to sales and customer-service teams. Review enquiries, pitch feedback and frequently asked questions. Then test the same questions in AI tools and traditional search. Look at which businesses and sources appear, what information is missing and where your organisation has something genuinely useful to add.

2  Publish clear answers built around genuine expertise

Create content that answers those questions directly. This could include a practical guide, a detailed FAQ, a comparison, an explainer or an article from a named expert. Avoid producing large volumes of generic AI-written copy. Google warns that using generative AI to create many pages without adding value can breach its policies on scaled content abuse. AI can help with research and structure, but the final content should contain real knowledge, examples and judgement.

3  Make your expertise easy to verify

Give useful content a named author and explain why that person is qualified to comment. Include relevant evidence, source links, dates, case studies and clear company information. Review older pages regularly so that statistics, services and credentials remain accurate. Vague claims such as ‘market-leading’ are far less persuasive than specific, verifiable proof.

4  Build authority beyond your own website

Identify the publications, podcasts, newsletters and industry platforms your customers already trust. Offer journalists timely comments, strong data and informed opinions. Develop thought leadership that says something useful rather than repeating familiar advice. Original research can be particularly effective when it answers a genuine question and the methodology is transparent.

5  Measure visibility more broadly

Website traffic and search rankings remain useful, but they no longer show the complete journey. Add a regular AI visibility check to your reporting. Ask a consistent set of questions across relevant tools and record whether the business is mentioned, how it is described, which competitors appear and which sources are cited. Treat the results as directional rather than definitive because AI answers can change between users and over time. Measurement is important.

What businesses should avoid

As interest in GEO grows, so will the number of services promising quick results. Google advises businesses to evaluate third-party SEO, AEO and GEO claims against its official guidance and notes that no tool or service can guarantee ranking success.

Be cautious about mass-producing thin content, forcing keywords into every page or paying for large quantities of irrelevant links and mentions. These tactics can weaken the quality of a website and make a brand less credible to the people it is trying to reach.

It is also important not to create content solely for machines. If an article does not help a customer, journalist or industry peer understand something useful, it is unlikely to support the brand in the long term. The aim should be to make expertise easier to access, not to manipulate an answer engine.

Businesses assessing external support can also review Google’s guidance on third-party SEO tools and GEO advice.

GEO is not a replacement for PR or SEO

GEO should not sit in isolation. A technically sound website helps search systems access and understand information. Useful owned content gives a business something valuable to say. PR builds third-party credibility and places that expertise in trusted environments. Consistent messaging connects the different parts.

For start-ups and SMEs, the best response is not to abandon existing activity and chase the newest term. It is to review whether the business is genuinely clear, useful and credible online. Can a potential customer quickly understand what you do? Are your experts visible? Do independent sources support your claims? Is your information consistent and current?

Those questions mattered before AI search and they will continue to matter as the technology develops. GEO simply makes the need to answer them more urgent.

If you have not checked how AI tools describe your business, now is a sensible time to start. The results may reveal gaps in your website, messaging or media presence and give you a clearer idea of where PR can make the greatest difference.

If you'd like to discuss how Hendrix Rose PR could help your business, get in touch.

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