From SEO to GEO

New Acronyms, New Challenges

For many years, online visibility revolved around SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and SEM (Search Engine Marketing). It took companies a long time to fully grasp the importance of online visibility, e-commerce, and search engine optimization strategies—and, of course, those who adopted these techniques early gained a significant competitive advantage over the others.

Now it's time to pioneer yet another technological field: the GEO strategy.

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization, though you'll encounter many different acronyms, each addressing specific aspects of the process:

• AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), a subset of GEO that focuses on answers provided by AI chatbots or voice assistants
• AIO (AI Optimization)
• LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization)
• ASO (AI Search Optimization)

Yes, it may sound confusing, but the basic idea is quite simple: while in the past it was crucial to "get found" on Google, now it's becoming increasingly relevant to "be mentioned" on AI platforms like ChatGPT and others.

Let's see how you can do a quick check of your current situation.

Visibility Prompts

Start with some basic prompts to test the waters.

Will the AI recommend your website, or your competitors'? Try all the popular LLMs and see how they respond (Claude, Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, etc.). Use the "deep search" mode where available to get more detailed results.

Also try Perplexity AI—it usually provides more up-to-date results since it searches in real time.

How to Become a GEO Pioneer

The next step is setting up your website to become "AI-friendly" (the new version of "search engine friendly").

An important caveat: most Large Language Models have a "knowledge cutoff" (their training data stops at a specific date in the past), so you can expect some outdated information in their responses. Additionally, they have limited context windows, meaning only a portion of all available data will be processed.

For this reason, it's better to provide simple text content instead of intricate HTML structures that include styles, scripts, navigation elements, and so on.

The Basics — llms.txt

A suggested solution to help LLMs better crawl and understand your website's content is the llms.txt file.

Note that this is experimental (currently a proposed standard), similar to the robots.txt file but tailored for AI. This file should go in your website's root directory (/public_html or similar), so it will be accessible at yoursite.com/llms.txt.

Even though the file extension is .txt, the actual content must be in Markdown format. Here is the basic structure the file should have:

• Company name and one sentence about what the company offers
• 1–3 sentences describing the company's products and services, target customers, and geography
• Website sections with page links and a one-sentence description for each (ideally linking to .html.md versions of your pages)

Important: unlike traditional search engines that expect strict formats and instructions, LLMs understand human language easily. This means you can be very flexible about how you structure and describe your content. The focus shifts to short, easily "digestible" text.

llms.txt Examples

Here are three examples of fictional companies and their possible llms.txt files.

Company name:
                Sweet Horizon Bakery — a Los Angeles-based bakery that creates artisanal pastries, breads, and custom cakes, including vegan options.

                Sweet Horizon Bakery offers handmade pastries, cakes, and catering services for individuals and businesses in central Los Angeles. Its products are known for fresh, locally sourced ingredients and creative designs that cater to both traditional and modern tastes.

                Website sections:
                - /index.html.md — Overview of the bakery, location, and daily menu highlights.
                - /menu.html.md — Complete list of pastries, breads, and seasonal items.
                - /custom-orders.html.md — Information on personalized cakes, buffets, and catering requests.
                - /vegan.html.md — Details about our vegan and gluten-free pastry selection.
                - /contact.html.md — Contact form, phone number, and store hours.

Company name:
                FjordTech Maritime AS — a Bergen-based maritime technology company providing tools and consultancy for offshore oil and gas operations.

                FjordTech Maritime develops digital tools, engineering software, and simulation systems that help oil extraction companies improve operational efficiency and safety. It serves Norwegian and international clients in the maritime and energy sectors.

                Website sections:
                - /index.html.md — Introduction to the company, history, and core mission.
                - /services.html.md — Overview of maritime software, consultancy, and simulation services.
                - /solutions.html.md — Case studies and technological tools used in offshore operations.
                - /research.html.md — Information on ongoing innovation and research collaborations.
                - /contact.html.md — Directions, contact details, and support channels.

Company name:
                NovaSoft Italia S.r.l. — an Italian IT company specializing in custom ERP software development and integration.

                NovaSoft Italia designs and implements ERP platforms tailored to the needs of small and medium-sized businesses in Italy and across Europe. Its software helps clients manage operations, finance, logistics, and human resources efficiently.

                Website sections:
                - /index.html.md — Introduction to NovaSoft Italia and company profile.
                - /products.html.md — Description of ERP modules for finance, logistics, HR, and production.
                - /custom-solutions.html.md — Information about tailored ERP systems for specific business sectors.
                - /support.html.md — Details on technical assistance, maintenance plans, and training options.
                - /contact.html.md — Company address, contact form, and direct inquiry options.

A Step Forward — page.html.md

Now you need to create a simplified, Markdown version of your main web pages (the ones you listed in the llms.txt file). Several tools can "clean" your web page and generate a text-only, Markdown version.

These two websites offer a quick solution:

• https://codeshack.io/html-to-markdown-converter/
• https://htmlmarkdown.com/ (also featuring a very useful guide for correct Markdown styling

Please note: after the automatic conversion, you'll still need to clean up the text a bit more. Remove all icon and image references, loading text (if the page has a preloader), links pointing to non-.html.md pages, and so on.

Try to make the text as concise and descriptive as possible, using proper Markdown formatting to make it even easier for AI to ingest. That's all for the LLM-specific part. But this is only an added layer.

And Now, Back to Good Old SEO

This article won't go in-depth on SEO techniques and tools, as it focuses on LLM-specific optimization. But remember: a solid SEO score and setup remains helpful and important, as it will contribute to better results with LLMs as well.

Some basic SEO requirements to consider:

• You still need clear, semantically correct HTML. Structured data via schema.org markup can help.
• You also need an up-to-date sitemap.xml file that tracks all the pages on your domain.
• Check that your robots.txt file doesn't block LLMs from accessing your pages.
• Your pages should load quickly, and your server should respond fast.

The Hardest Part — Building Authority

LLMs don't rely solely on your site: they cross-reference other websites for validation. Your presence on social media and aggregators (like Reddit and Quora) is taken into consideration. Do you have a public GitHub repository? That will factor into evaluating your authority too.

Backlinks from high-authority sites and good visibility on traditional search engines are equally important. Your content also needs to be frequently updated to show that fresh material is continuously being provided. Multilingual and diverse content also signals higher relevance.

This is undoubtedly the hardest part, because it's not just about having a good GEO or SEO setup. It's about how popular your company is across the web and how many third-party websites talk about you.

Conclusion

Having a solid and meaningful GEO strategy is valuable. If you implement it now, you're early—and that's always a good approach in any technology-related field.

The bottom line is that no matter how you tailor your website's structure for LLMs, traditional SEO optimization remains relevant and cannot be ignored. Online relevance and web authority are still vital—and will continue to be among the main factors for gaining visibility from LLMs.