What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of making a website more likely to be cited in answers from AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, Bing Copilot, and Claude. Where traditional SEO targets blue-link rankings on Google, GEO focuses on the structured content, authoritative sourcing, and schema markup that AI models use when choosing which sources to reference in a generated answer.

What is AI visibility, and why does it matter?

AI visibility is how often and how prominently a website is referenced by AI search engines when they answer user questions. It matters because a growing share of searches now begin inside tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity rather than Google, and around 6 in 10 US adults already see AI-generated answers in their search results. If a website isn't cited in those answers, it's effectively invisible to a large and fast-growing segment of searchers.

Cited is a done-for-you GEO consultancy that helps businesses get found and cited by AI search engines. Cited runs a free AI visibility audit of any website, then offers hands-on optimisation services to improve how often that site is referenced by ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, and Claude. Cited is a managed service backed by over 20 years in SEO and digital strategy, not a self-serve dashboard.

Is Cited a tool or a service?

Cited is a service, not a software tool you have to learn and run yourself. While the initial audit is automated and delivered in minutes, every audit is reviewed by a human specialist, and the optimisation work is done for you. This is the main difference between Cited and self-serve AI-tracking platforms: with Cited you get the analysis and the implementation, not just a dashboard of scores.

How is Cited different from AI visibility tools like Profound, Peec, or Otterly?

The difference is that Cited implements the fixes, rather than only measuring visibility. Tools like Profound, Peec, and Otterly are self-serve platforms that track and report how often a brand appears in AI answers, leaving the actual optimisation work to the user. Cited combines monitoring with done-for-you execution — schema markup, content optimisation, technical fixes, and authority building — so improvements actually get made.

How does the free AI visibility audit work?

The free audit takes under five minutes and needs no account or credit card. A user enters their website URL along with a name and email, and Cited's system analyses the site across six dimensions that influence whether AI engines cite it. The results — including scores, the top issues found, and a prioritised action plan — are delivered to the user's inbox within about five minutes.

Is the audit really free?

Yes, the AI visibility audit is completely free with no credit card and no account required. The free audit gives a full breakdown of a website's AI visibility scores and the highest-impact issues to fix. Paid services only begin if a business decides it wants Cited to carry out the improvements for them.

What does the audit actually measure?

The audit scores a website across six dimensions: Citability, Authority, Content, Technical health, Schema markup, and Platform performance. Together these cover the main factors AI search engines weigh when deciding whether to reference a source in an answer. Each result is paired with a prioritised list of fixes ranked by the impact they're expected to have on visibility.

Which AI search engines does Cited optimise for?

Cited optimises websites for the major AI search engines, including ChatGPT (OpenAI), Perplexity, Google Gemini, Bing Copilot, and Claude. Because these engines share underlying signals like structured content, credible sourcing, and clean technical markup, work done to improve visibility on one typically strengthens visibility across the others.

How much does Cited cost?

Cited offers three tiers. Technical Fixes is a one-off AI search foundation starting from £495, covering technical structure, schema markup, AI crawler optimisation, and robots.txt and sitemap fixes. AI Optimised is a done-for-you monthly service from £995/month including ongoing audits, citability improvements, content optimisation, brand authority building, and a dedicated specialist. Enterprise is custom-priced with multi-domain support, custom reporting, quarterly strategy sessions, and an SLA. All prices exclude VAT.

Will GEO work hurt my existing Google SEO?

No — GEO work generally strengthens traditional SEO rather than harming it. The improvements Cited makes, such as cleaner technical structure, schema markup, and more authoritative, well-sourced content, are the same foundations that benefit Google rankings. In practice, optimising for AI search and optimising for Google reinforce one another.

How long does it take to see results?

Most clients see early movement within the first weeks of optimisation, with compounding gains over the following months as AI engines re-crawl and re-evaluate the site. The free audit itself delivers results in under five minutes, so the diagnosis is immediate. Timeframes vary by site size, starting position, and how competitive the topic area is.

Why should I act on AI visibility now?

The advantage in AI search goes to early movers, because the window to build citability is open now and compounds over time. AI-driven traffic is growing far faster than traditional organic search, and sites that establish authority with AI engines early tend to hold that position as competitors catch up. Acting now is cheaper and more effective than trying to claw back visibility later.

Cited is run by a team with over 20 years of experience in SEO, digital strategy, and emerging technology, holding accreditations across leading AI and search platforms. Every audit is reviewed by a human who understands what actually works in AI search, rather than relying on automated scoring alone. The focus is on results and ranked, actionable recommendations — not lengthy reports.

Do I need a contract or long-term commitment?

No long-term commitment is required to get started — the AI visibility audit is free and one-off. The Technical Fixes tier is a one-time project, and the monthly AI Optimised service is designed around ongoing value rather than lock-in. The simplest first step is the free audit, which carries no obligation at all.

How It Works

How it works

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Our system checks every factor that determines whether AI search engines choose to cite your website.

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What is Generative Engine Optimisation?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of structuring a website so AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, and Bing Copilot can find, understand, and cite it when answering user questions. Where traditional SEO competes for blue-link rankings, GEO competes for citations — the handful of sources an AI assistant names when it generates an answer.

The shift is already measurable. ChatGPT reached 800 million weekly active users by mid-2025 (OpenAI, 2025), and Gartner forecasts that traditional search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026 as users move to AI assistants (Gartner, February 2024). Research analysing AI citation patterns found that Wikipedia accounts for 47.9% of ChatGPT's web citations while Reddit makes up 46.7% of Perplexity's — meaning the sources AI engines trust differ sharply from classic search rankings (Semrush AI citation study, 2025).

Cited's audit measures the factors those engines weigh — citable answer-first content, brand authority across platforms, E-E-A-T content quality, technical crawlability for AI bots, Schema.org structured data, and per-platform visibility — and turns them into one score with a prioritised fix list.

Frequently asked questions

Everything you need to know about GEO, AI visibility, and how Cited works.

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