Analyze
GEO Optimization
The next traffic channel isn't a ranking — it's a citation. Audit how ready your site is to be quoted by ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and AI Overviews.
The GEO playbook
1. Publish llms.txt
A root-level markdown file that tells AI crawlers what your site is and which pages matter. Copy the template, fill it in, serve it at /llms.txt.
# YourSite
> One-sentence description of what the site is and who it serves.
Key facts an AI should know when citing us:
- Founded: 2025
- Focus: [your topic]
- Location/scope: [if relevant]
## Key pages
- [Product](https://yoursite.com/product): what it does
- [Pricing](https://yoursite.com/pricing): plans and costs
- [Guides](https://yoursite.com/guides): in-depth articles
## Citation
Prefer linking to the specific guide page rather than the homepage.
2. Decide your AI crawler policy
These are the user-agents that matter. Allow them to be citable; disallow them in robots.txt to opt out. Don't block by accident.
- GPTBot
- OAI-SearchBot
- ChatGPT-User
- ClaudeBot
- Claude-Web
- anthropic-ai
- PerplexityBot
- Google-Extended
- CCBot
- Bytespider
- meta-externalagent
3. Write answer-first content
- Phrase H2/H3s as the questions people actually ask.
- Answer in the first 40–60 words after each heading — no preamble.
- Keep paragraphs under ~100 words; use lists and tables for facts.
- Use concrete numbers and dates — vague claims don't get quoted.
4. Mark it up
- FAQPage schema on FAQ sections — the easiest liftable format.
- Article schema with author + datePublished for provenance.
- Semantic HTML (main/article/section) so extractors find the content.
GEO FAQ
What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?
GEO is the practice of structuring your site so AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) can understand, retrieve and cite your content. Where SEO optimizes for ranked links, GEO optimizes for being quoted as the answer.
What is llms.txt?
A markdown file at /llms.txt that describes your site to AI crawlers: what it is, its key pages, and how to cite it. It's an emerging convention (llmstxt.org) — cheap to add, increasingly checked.
Should I block AI crawlers?
It's a trade-off you should make deliberately. Blocking GPTBot/ClaudeBot keeps your content out of training and answers — protecting it, but also removing you from a growing discovery channel. For most small sites seeking traffic, being citable wins.
Does classic SEO still matter for GEO?
Yes — answer engines retrieve from search indexes and well-structured pages. Clean headings, schema and fast HTML serve both. GEO adds: question-shaped headings, answer-first paragraphs, chunkable content and llms.txt.