Generative Engine Optimisation is not a rebrand of SEO. Here's what genuinely differs, and how to act on it.
Generative Engine Optimisation is the practice of making your business the answer that AI systems give, rather than one of the links they show. The mechanics differ from classic SEO in ways that matter operationally.
Ranking vs. being cited
Search ranks documents. Generative systems synthesise an answer and cite a handful of sources that support it. You are competing to be the most quotable source on a specific claim, not to hold a position on a results page.
What makes content quotable
- Concrete facts with numbers, names and locations rather than adjectives
- Self-contained paragraphs that answer one question completely
- Clear question-shaped headings that mirror how people actually ask
- Structured data and FAQ markup so machines can parse claims unambiguously
- Corroboration elsewhere: the same facts, consistent, on other reputable sources
Consistency is a ranking factor for machines
If your capacity is listed three different ways across your site, a directory, and a wedding platform, a model has no reason to trust any of them. Auditing and aligning your core facts across every surface is unglamorous work with outsized returns.
How to measure it
Traditional rank tracking doesn't apply. Instead, build a prompt set that mirrors how your customers ask — by region, capacity, style and occasion — and track how often you appear, in what position within the answer, and how you are characterised. Track it monthly; movement is slower but stickier than search rankings.
In AI search, you are not optimising a page. You are optimising what the internet consistently says about you.