A curated list of resources for optimizing content visibility in AI-powered search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, etc.)

Also known as: AI Search Optimization (AISO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO), Generative AI Optimization, AI SEO, LLM SEO

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content to improve visibility and citations in AI-powered search engines. Unlike traditional SEO which focuses on ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs), GEO aims to have content referenced, cited, and recommended by Large Language Models (LLMs) when they generate responses.

• AI search is growing exponentially - AI Overviews now appear for 52% of tracked searches (February 2025), up from 6.49% in January 2025. ChatGPT commands ~4.33% of search traffic, with 300% growth in unique domains receiving AI traffic in 2024 (SEMrush study)
• Market shift predictions - Traditional search engine volume predicted to drop 25% by 2026 and 50% by 2028. LLM traffic predicted to overtake Google search by end of 2027 (Semrush analysis)
• New user behaviors - Users write 23-word prompts to ChatGPT (vs 4.2 words in traditional search), seeking comprehensive answers rather than links (SEMrush analysis)
• Direct answers, not blue links - AI engines provide synthesized information directly, making citation inclusion critical for visibility
• Multiple platforms - Beyond Google, users now search via ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI assistants

• Citations and Attribution - Getting brands and content cited as sources in AI-generated responses
• Entity Optimization - Strengthening brand presence as a recognized entity across the web
• E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) - Quality signals that influence AI recommendations. While E-E-A-T matters for traditional SEO, it's even more critical for GEO because LLMs prioritize citing authoritative sources to maintain accuracy. AI engines theoretically look for clear author credentials, publication dates, citations to primary sources, and corroboration across multiple trusted sites when selecting which content to reference in their responses
• Multimodal Optimization - Optimizing across text, images, videos, and audio using Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) and multimodal embeddings. Google Lens handles 20 billion visual searches monthly, making visual content optimization increasingly critical
• llms.txt - A proposed standard file (like robots.txt) for communicating with LLM crawlers. While not yet universally adopted, companies like Stripe, Zapier, and Cloudflare have implemented it. Note: As of 2025, no AI platform has officially committed to using llms.txt, but adoption is growing
• Multi-platform Optimization - Optimizing for different AI engines' unique algorithms and citation styles
• Hybrid SEO-GEO Strategy - Integrating traditional SEO with GEO techniques to maximize presence across both conventional search engines and AI-powered platforms

While GEO shares foundations with SEO (quality content, technical optimization, authority building), it differs in key ways:

• Optimization target - LLM training data and retrieval systems vs. traditional search algorithms
• Success metrics - Citation frequency and brand mentions vs. rankings and clicks
• Content strategy - Comprehensive, authoritative information vs. keyword-targeted pages
• Technical requirements - Structured data for LLM comprehension vs. crawlability alone

• Guides & Tutorials
• 2025 Trends & Insights
• Case Studies
• Tools & Software
• Research & Papers
• Technical Documentation
• Monitoring & Analytics
• Industry Analysis
• Related Resources

• What is GEO? - Search Engine Land primer
• GEO vs SEO Differences - Key distinctions
• Beginner's Guide to GEO - Step-by-step introduction

Google AI Overviews

• Google's Official AI Search Guidance - Official guidance from Google Search Central on optimizing for AI experiences
• Google AI Overviews Ultimate Guide - Comprehensive strategies for AI Overview optimization

ChatGPT Search / SearchGPT

• How ChatGPT Search Works - Technical breakdown of ChatGPT's search functionality and ranking factors
• SearchGPT Optimization Guide - Complete optimization strategies for OpenAI's search features

Perplexity

• Perplexity Ranking Factors Deep Dive - Detailed analysis of Perplexity's 3-layer reranking system
• 59+ Perplexity Ranking Patterns - Browser-level code analysis revealing specific ranking factors

• AI Optimization Technical Guide - Comprehensive technical overview of content optimization for AI systems
• How Vercel Adapts SEO for LLMs - Real-world implementation case study from a major platform
• AI Search Optimization: llms.txt Best Practices - Technical implementation guide for llms.txt protocol
• Integrate GEO with SEO - Strategies for unified traditional and AI search optimization
• 10-Step Guide to GEO - Systematic approach to implementing GEO
• LLMO: 10 Ways to Work Your Brand Into AI Answers - Practical tactics for improving AI citations

• Explosive Growth - AI Overviews now appear in 52% of tracked searches (Feb 2025), up from 6.49% in Jan 2025. Traffic from AI platforms surged 527% year-over-year
• Market Predictions - Traditional search volume predicted to drop 25% by 2026 and 50% by 2028. LLM traffic expected to overtake Google search by end of 2027
• Rapid Results - Unlike traditional SEO (months), AI Search Optimization shows visibility improvements in days due to AI's recency bias
• Different Ranking Signals - 95% of AI citation behavior cannot be explained by traditional traffic metrics; 97.2% cannot be explained by backlink profiles

• Multimodal Becomes Critical - Google Lens processes 20 billion visual searches monthly. AI systems increasingly process images, video, and audio alongside text using RAG and multimodal embeddings
• Content Structure Matters More - TL;DR sections, Q&A formatting, and 40-70 word direct answers significantly increase citation probability
• Platform-Specific Citation Preferences:
  • ChatGPT: Wikipedia dominates at 47.9% of top citations; values comprehensive, neutral, well-structured content
  • Perplexity: Uses sophisticated 3-layer reranking system; favors academic sources and community discussions (Reddit)
  • Google AI Overviews: 88.1% informational queries; 7x more likely to trigger with 8+ word queries
• Authority Signals Evolve - Domain authority matters more than page authority. AI platforms prioritize trust and credibility of entire domains over individual pages

• AI Adoption by Marketers - 31% use generative AI extensively in SEO; another 25% use it partially (56% total adoption). 86% of enterprise SEO teams have integrated some AI
• Query Behavior - Long-tail queries with 8+ words 7x more likely to trigger AI Overviews. Users write 23-word prompts to ChatGPT vs 4.2 words in traditional search
• Citation Quality Issues - AI search engines fail to produce accurate citations in 60%+ of cases (Tow Center study)
• Click Quality Improvement - Despite 34.5% reduction in click volume, clicks from AI Overview SERPs show higher engagement and time-on-site

• 2,300% AI Traffic Growth - Manufacturing - E-E-A-T optimization case
• 200% Monthly Growth - Auto Parts - Schema + llms.txt implementation
• Influencing ChatGPT Results - Real-time optimization
• 115% Visibility - Geneva Worldwide - AI Overviews domination
• 7× Growth - Ramp Fintech - 3.2% to 22.2% visibility
• How to Appear in Generative AI Searches - Exposure Ninja presentation

Purpose-built platforms for AI search optimization, monitoring, and brand visibility:

• Profound - Enterprise benchmark platform. $35M Series B (Sequoia Capital). Tracks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini. Share of voice, sentiment analysis, prompt-level rankings
• AthenaHQ - Y Combinator-backed. Founded by ex-Google Search and DeepMind leaders. Unified GEO scoring. Claims 70+ customers with 10× AI traffic increases
• Bluefish AI - $5M funded. Specializes in brand safety and source attribution. "Source graph" showing how Wikipedia, forums, PDFs influence outputs. AI ad campaigns
• Otterly.AI - Focused on link citation analysis for Google AI Overview and Perplexity. Timeline tracking and competitive benchmarking
• Scrunch AI - Agent Experience Platform (AXP) for making websites legible to AI engines. Monitoring and active optimization
• Peec.ai - AI search visibility platform with competitive analysis and optimization recommendations
• Rankscale - AI-first SEO platform with GEO capabilities for enterprise brands
• ZipTie - Brand visibility monitoring across generative AI platforms with detailed breakdowns
• GenRank - Timeline visualization and competitor benchmarking for AI visibility trends
• AI Monitor - Real-time alerts with sentiment analysis across ChatGPT, Claude, Bing AI, Google AI Overviews

Major SEO platforms that have added AI search optimization capabilities:

• SEMrush - AI Visibility Toolkit ($99/month per domain). Position Tracking for AI Overviews. Enterprise AIO for brand mentions, sentiment, prompt rankings across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude. 100M+ prompt database
• Ahrefs Brand Radar - Launched March 2025. Tracks visibility in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot. 100M+ prompt database from real search data. Included with subscriptions ($129-$999/month)
• HubSpot AI Search Grader - Free AI Search Grader tool. LLM-referred visitor segmentation. Acquired XFunnel (Jan 2025) for AI search simulations and transparency
• Writesonic - Multi-platform tracking with content creation integration for ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini
• ChatGPT Rank Tracker - Dedicated SearchGPT/ChatGPT Search visibility tracking
• Create & Grow AI Overview Tracker - Focused on Google AI Overviews mention tracking

Open Source Data / Evals

• AI Product Bench - Benchmark for AI product visibility

llms.txt Generators

• llmstxtgenerator.org - Web-based generator
• WordLift Generator - WordPress integration
• Apify Generator - Scraping-based generator
• vitepress-plugin-llms - VitePress plugin

• GEO: Generative Engine Optimization - Princeton/Georgia Tech/Allen Institute study showing 40% visibility improvements. Introduces 9 core optimization tactics including cite sources, statistics, and quotations strategies that showed measurable results.
• GEO on ACM Digital Library - Peer-reviewed publication with full methodology. Provides testing framework for measuring GEO success across different content domains and query types.
• Inside AI Search Ranking Factors - Pallas Advisory's reverse engineering of AI ranking (March 2025). Offers insights on how ChatGPT and Perplexity select and rank sources in their responses.
• AI Platform Citation Patterns - Analysis of how ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity cite sources differently. Wikipedia dominates ChatGPT at 47.9% of top citations; Reddit appears heavily in Gemini and Perplexity.

• ConflictBank: LLM Knowledge Conflicts - 7.4M claim-evidence pairs dataset. Explores when AI systems trust external content over conflicting information in their training data.
• ConflictingQA Dataset - How LLMs handle contradictory information. Findings suggest that LLMs favor source relevance over academic tone when selecting information.
• When Search Meets LLMs - Survey on Search4LLM & LLM4Search pipelines. Maps the technical architecture behind AI search, identifying potential optimization points.

• Dynamics of Adversarial Attacks on LLM-Based Search - Game-theoretic model of attacks on LLM search engines. Analyzes the competitive dynamics between black-hat and white-hat GEO tactics.
• GASLITE: SEO Attacks on Dense Retrieval - 0.0001% corpus poisoning achieves top-10 hijacking. Identifies vulnerabilities in AI retrieval systems that practitioners should be aware of.
• Adversarial SEO for LLMs - Hidden text boosts mentions 2.5× in AI answers. Demonstrates manipulation techniques, highlighting the importance of legitimate optimization approaches.
• Ranking Manipulation for Conversational Search - Prompt injection for ranking manipulation. Shows how on-page content can influence AI rankings through strategic text structures.
• Persistent Pre-Training Poisoning of LLMs - Long-term poisoning attack strategies. Suggests why maintaining fresh, authoritative content matters as AI systems update their training data.

• llms.txt Specification - Official standard by Jeremy Howard
• Companies Using llms.txt - Implementations by Zapier, Stripe, Cloudflare
• llms.txt Directory - Growing list of 100+ implementations
• What Is llms.txt? - Ahrefs implementation guide
• LLMs.txt Technical Deep Dive - Protocol analysis

• AI Crawler User Agents List - Comprehensive list updated monthly
• The Rise of AI Crawlers - Analysis of 1.3B crawler requests
• How OpenAI Crawls Websites - Technical breakdown
• AI Crawlers Can't Execute JavaScript - Critical limitation analysis

• AI Search & Structured Data - Implementation guide
• JSON-LD vs Microdata Performance - A/B test results
• Schema for AI Visibility - Best practices

• Track AI Visibility Across Platforms - Cross-platform tracking methodologies and frameworks
• LLM Optimization Tracking - Emerging approaches for AI discovery measurement
• AI Search Traffic in GA4 - Setup guide for tracking AI-referred traffic in Google Analytics
• Measuring GEO Success - KPI framework for generative engine optimization
• AI Brand Footprint Measurement - Approaches to measuring brand visibility in AI responses
• Guide to LLM Tracking Tools - Comprehensive platform comparison and evaluation criteria
• LLM Tracking Tools Overview - Feature comparison across major tracking platforms
• AI Search Visibility Tools Directory - Comprehensive directory of tracking tools

• How GEO Rewrites Search Rules - Andreessen Horowitz analysis
• AI Search Engines Comparison - Platform differences
• Top 4 AI Search Engines - Market overview
• AI Overviews Reach 52% of Searches - February 2025 tracking data showing explosive growth
• AI Overviews Have Doubled - 25M queries analyzed
• SEMrush AI Overviews Study 2025 - 10M keyword analysis, 13.14% of queries triggered AI Overviews in March 2025 (up from 6.49% in January)
• 41M AI Search Results Analysis - Brighton SEO 2025 study across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot
• AI Search Visibility Leaders by Industry - Sector breakdown
• AI Citation Failure Study - 60% failure rate analysis
• ChatGPT Search: 80M Clickstream Analysis - User behavior insights
• 75K Brand Analysis: AI Overview Ranking Factors - Large-scale correlation study showing 95% of AI citation behavior unexplained by traditional traffic metrics
• AI Overviews Reduce Clicks by 34.5% - CTR impact analysis
• 63% of Websites Receive AI Traffic - 3,000 site study
• AI Traffic Surges 527% in 2025 - Analysis from 400+ sites on citation patterns
• 98+ GEO Statistics for 2025 - Comprehensive data compilation

Specialized GEO Agencies

Agencies offering dedicated generative engine optimization services:

• First Page Sage - Top-rated GEO agency serving Salesforce, Logitech. Specializes in B2B SaaS, medtech, manufacturing
• iPullRank - Enterprise-focused. Semantic optimization, conversational search, scalable information architecture for LLM parsing
• WebFX - Full-service with proprietary OmniSEO™ platform. Tracks client/competitor performance across AI-driven search
• Victorious - Award-winning for technical precision. Structured content, rich snippets, prompt-based optimizations
• Omniscient Digital - Helps websites become trusted sources cited by LLMs. Integrated SEO+GEO approach
• Avenue Z - Serves FinTech, B2B SaaS, HealthTech, DTC eCommerce
• Siege Media - Content-focused GEO with comprehensive optimization strategies
• Obility - B2B marketing focus with GEO integration
• RevenueZen - B2B GEO specialists for growth-stage companies
• Growth Plays - Data-driven GEO and content strategies
• Ignite Visibility - Full-service digital marketing with GEO capabilities

Agency Directories & Reviews

• GEO Agencies on Clutch - Verified reviews and rankings
• FirstPageSage Agency Guide - Comprehensive agency analysis
• Omniscient Digital's Agency Review - Detailed agency comparisons

• Awesome-GEO by DavidHuji - Research-focused GEO paper collection

Your contributions are always welcome!

If you want to contribute to this list (please do), send me a pull request or contact me @edwin.