Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) & AI Search Guide

Learn how to measure, audit, and improve your brand's visibility across modern AI search engines—including ChatGPT Search, Google Gemini, and Perplexity AI—using Septra's AI Visibility (GEO) suite.

---

1. What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

Traditional SEO focuses on optimizing for Google and Bing search result pages (SERPs). GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) optimizes your brand's presence inside generative AI answers.

When potential buyers ask ChatGPT or Perplexity:

• *"What is the best CRM for property management companies?"*
• *"Compare the top AI ad optimization platforms for Shopify stores."*
• *"Who are the leading providers of industrial automation sensors?"*

GEO ensures that your product is recommended, accurately described, and cited as a credible authority.

---

2. How Septra Runs AI Visibility Scans

In your workspace under AI Visibility (/visibility):

1. Category Query Matrix: Septra tests a diverse set of realistic buyer questions, problem-oriented queries, and product comparison prompts relevant to your product category.
2. Multi-Engine Execution: Queries are executed simultaneously against:
   • ChatGPT Search / OpenAI
   • Google Gemini
   • Perplexity AI
3. Sentiment & Mention Analysis: Septra evaluates whether your brand was mentioned, whether it was recommended or critiqued, and which sources/URLs were cited as references.
4. Competitor Share of Voice: Measures how frequently your competitors appear on the same queries relative to your brand.

---

3. Interpreting Your GEO Score & Dashboard

• Overall AI Visibility Score (0–100): A composite metric reflecting mention rate, citation frequency, and sentiment across all tested queries and engines.
• Engine Breakdown: Compare your performance on Perplexity vs. ChatGPT vs. Gemini to identify platform-specific optimization needs.
• Citation Domain Map: Discover which external blogs, review sites, directories, and industry articles the AI models rely on for category recommendations.
• Missing Mention Opportunities: Highlight high-intent queries where competitors were recommended but your brand was omitted.

---

4. Actionable Strategies to Increase AI Visibility

Based on findings in your GEO scan, your Growth agent (Gale) can execute specific remediation tasks:

1. Knowledge Base & Clear Value Propositions: Ensure your public website clearly explains your core use cases, pricing, and differentiators in structured formats AI crawlers parse easily.
2. Digital PR & Authority Citations: Target external publications and comparison sites that AI engines consistently cite for category queries.
3. Structured Comparison & Alternative Pages: Publish clear, factual comparison pages on your website addressing common *"Brand A vs. Brand B"* queries.
4. Technical Schema & Semantic Content: Use rich schema markup and comprehensive FAQs to provide unambiguous answers to category questions.

---

5. Free GEO Analysis Tool

Septra also provides a free, instant public GEO audit tool on our website at https://septra.ai/tools/geo-analysis where anyone can test their domain's baseline AI visibility score.