AEO and GEO: how to get cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI

The good news: this is not a new profession, but an extra layer on top of good SEO.

#AEO, GEO, SEO: what's the difference?

• SEO: getting your pages into search engine results.
• AEO: making your page the answer, whether it is read out by a voice assistant, shown as a snippet or written up by an AI.
• GEO: being cited as a source in a generated answer. The term comes from an academic paper published in November 2023 (Aggarwal et al., "GEO: Generative Engine Optimization"), presented at the KDD conference in 2024.

In practice the three overlap heavily, and SEO remains the foundation.

#How AI assistants find their sources

#Your robots.txt: two simple set-ups

User-agent: *
Allow: /
Disallow: /admin

Sitemap: https://www.example.be/sitemap.xml

If you want to be cited in answers without your texts being used to train models, add a group that refuses the training robots:

User-agent: *
Allow: /
Disallow: /admin

User-agent: GPTBot
User-agent: ClaudeBot
User-agent: Google-Extended
User-agent: Applebot-Extended
User-agent: CCBot
Disallow: /

Sitemap: https://www.example.be/sitemap.xml

#llms.txt: useful, but not magic

Its status in November 2026 deserves an honest description: Google has said it does not use it for its search engine, and no major assistant has confirmed using it to choose sources. It is mostly useful to agents and tools that read it when asked to. It costs little to create, but it is not a visibility lever in itself.

# Example Bakery

> Artisan bakery in Ixelles (Brussels): sourdough bread,
> pastries and cakes to order. Open Tuesday to Sunday.

## Main pages

- [Our bread](https://www.example.be/en/bread): the range and baking days
- [Order a cake](https://www.example.be/en/order): lead times and form
- [Practical info](https://www.example.be/en/contact): address, hours, access

#Writing pages that AI assistants cite

• A direct answer up front: one or two sentences that answer the question, before the details.
• Self-contained sections: each heading covers one question and can be read on its own.
• Verifiable facts: dates, figures, names of laws or tools, links to official sources.
• Questions and answers based on your clients' real questions.
• Tables and lists for comparisons and steps.
• A visible update date, on pages that are genuinely updated.
• The same information everywhere: identical services, area, hours and contact details on your website, your Google profile and your directory listings.

#Structured data: what still matters in 2026

The schema.org vocabulary describes your pages to search engines and assistants. Some uses have changed in recent years:

#E-E-A-T: show who is speaking

• a clearly identified company: an "About" page, enterprise number, real address;
• articles signed (by a person or by the company) and dated;
• proof: past work, customer reviews, concrete examples;
• sources cited for figures and rules;
• mentions elsewhere: press, partners, trade bodies.

#What works, assistant by assistant

#Google: AI Overviews and AI Mode

Everything starts with classic SEO: the pages cited are pages Google can crawl, understand and trust. AI Mode often breaks a question into several sub-questions before answering: a page that covers a topic and its related questions well stands a better chance of being used. Clicks and impressions from these answers are counted in the Search Console Performance report.

#ChatGPT

#Perplexity

Let PerplexityBot in. Perplexity readily cites recent, dated pages with figures.

#Microsoft Copilot

Copilot relies on Bing: Bing Webmaster Tools, plus Bing Places for a local business.

#Claude

Let Claude-SearchBot in, Anthropic's search robot (ClaudeBot is used for training).

#IndexNow: tell Bing without waiting

IndexNow, launched in 2021 by Microsoft Bing and Yandex, lets you instantly notify participating search engines (Bing, Yandex, Seznam, Naver…) of a new or updated page. Google does not use it. Most CMSs have a plugin or a setting to turn it on; leadco.be uses it to flag new and updated pages.

#Measuring your visibility in AI assistants

• Google Analytics: visits from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com, copilot.microsoft.com or claude.ai show up as referrals. Create a custom channel group "AI assistants" with a rule such as chatgpt\.com|perplexity\.ai|gemini\.google\.com|copilot\.microsoft\.com|claude\.ai. See our Google Analytics guide.
• Search Console: appearances in AI Overviews and AI Mode are included in the Performance report.
• Manual checks every month: ask the assistants your clients' questions ("which plumber in Schaerbeek?", "how much does a showcase website cost in Belgium?") and note the sources cited.
• Specialised tools: they exist, often paid, to track citations at scale.

#An 8-step action plan

1. Check robots.txt: search robots allowed, a deliberate choice for training robots, sitemap declared.
2. Register the site in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, and turn on IndexNow.
3. Add basic structured data: Organization or LocalBusiness, BlogPosting for articles.
4. Rewrite key pages: a direct answer up front, self-contained sections, frequently asked questions.
5. Add proof: dates, sources, past work, reviews.
6. Align your information across your website, Google profile, Bing Places, Apple and directories.
7. Publish an llms.txt if you like, without expecting miracles.
8. Measure: an "AI assistants" channel in Google Analytics and monthly manual checks.

#Frequently asked questions

#Are AEO and GEO the same thing?

Almost. AEO targets any kind of direct answer (Google snippets, voice assistants, AI). GEO specifically targets answers written by generative AI. The methods overlap heavily.

#If I block GPTBot, do I disappear from ChatGPT?

No. GPTBot collects pages to train OpenAI's models. For ChatGPT search, OAI-SearchBot is what counts: you can block one and allow the other.

#Is an llms.txt file required?

No. It is an optional convention, which Google says it does not use for search. It can help agents and tools that read it, but it replaces neither SEO nor structured data.

#How long before I get cited?

It depends on the assistant and the competition. Engines that search in real time (ChatGPT, Perplexity) can cite a page as soon as it is indexed and relevant. For Google, timelines follow classic SEO: several months on contested topics.

#Is classic SEO becoming useless?

Quite the opposite. Assistants rely on search indexes and on criteria close to Google's: accessibility, structure, quality, trustworthiness. A site that is invisible in results is almost always invisible in answers.

#How can I tell whether an AI cites my website?

Look at referrals in Google Analytics (chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai…) and regularly ask assistants your clients' questions, noting the sources they show.