GEO: how to show up in ChatGPT and in Google's AI

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is the set of techniques that get your business cited in the answers given by artificial intelligence: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google's AI summaries. Put simply: where classic SEO aimed to rank first in the list of links, GEO aims to have the AI name you directly when someone asks it a question. And in 2026 that is already changing where your customers come from.

I am Elmar Mamedova, full stack web developer in Málaga, and in recent months almost every client asks me the same thing: "how do I get ChatGPT to recommend my business?". In this article I explain it without hype: what GEO really is, how it resembles and how it differs from the SEO we all know, and the concrete actions I apply to get a business showing up in AI answers. Let us get to the point.

More and more people ask their questions straight to an AI instead of typing them into a search engine. Instead of "physiotherapist Málaga centre", they tell ChatGPT "I need a physio in central Málaga open on Saturdays, which one do you recommend?". The AI does not return ten blue links: it returns a written answer, with two or three names. If your business is among those names, you win. If it does not appear, it is as if you did not exist, even if your website is perfect.

That is what GEO pursues: turning your website and your online presence into a source the AI considers trustworthy and clear enough to cite. It does not replace traditional SEO, it complements it. In fact, much of the SEO work I already do remains the foundation, because AI models feed largely on what Google and other indexes consider quality content.

The good news is that if you already do SEO well, you are halfway there. Useful content, a fast website and a good online reputation are still the foundation. The difference lies in the format and the intent: AI rewards content that answers questions directly, in a structured and verifiable way, more than content only optimised for a keyword.

These are the practical differences I notice most when working on GEO versus classic SEO:

• SEO seeks to rank a page; GEO seeks to have a specific idea or fact from your page cited.
• SEO tolerates long texts with the answer buried; GEO demands the direct answer in the first lines.
• SEO measures clicks and positions; GEO measures mentions, citations and referral traffic from AI chats.
• SEO relies on links; GEO also relies on data consistency and on other reliable sources saying the same about you.

That is why I do not sell GEO as something separate, but as one more layer within a well-built content strategy. If you want to understand the base on which all this is built, I recommend my article on local SEO in Málaga, because for a neighbourhood business GEO and local SEO go absolutely hand in hand.

There is no magic button, but there is a method. Generative AIs trust sources that are clear, consistent and backed by others. These are the concrete actions I apply when I want a business to start being cited in ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's summaries:

1. 1Answer real questions directly: every page opens by answering in two sentences what the customer actually asks.
2. 2Structure content with clear headings, lists and concrete facts the AI can extract without ambiguity.
3. 3Add structured data (schema) so the machine understands what you are, where you are and what you offer.
4. 4Keep your information consistent (name, address, phone, services) across your website, Google and directories.
5. 5Publish content with clear, honest authorship, because models value real experience over generic text.
6. 6Earn mentions in sources the AI already considers reliable, from local press to industry directories.

One point many overlook: the speed and technical cleanliness of the website. If the AI (or the bot that feeds it) cannot read your website properly, it will not cite you. That is why good web development with clean code and fast loading is not a luxury, it is the precondition for everything else to work. Google's official documentation on generative results insists on the same: useful, accessible content, as reflected in the Google Search guide.

Over these months working on GEO I have seen the same mistakes again and again. Most are not money problems, but focus problems. If your business never appears in AI answers, you are probably making one of these:

• Filler text that goes round in circles before answering: the AI keeps whoever answers first.
• Inconsistent data: one phone number on the website, another on Google and another in an old directory.
• Slow or poorly structured websites that bots cannot read properly.
• Generic content copied from competitors, with no experience or data of your own that adds anything.
• Zero presence outside your website: if no one else talks about you, the AI has nothing to cross-check.

The way people search is changing before our eyes. More and more customers ask an AI before deciding, and that AI only recommends who it finds clear, consistent and reliable. GEO is not a passing fad: it is the natural evolution of SEO into a world where the answer arrives already written and your business has to be inside that answer.

The good news is that hardly anyone is working on it yet in Málaga, so there is a clear window to get ahead. If you combine a well-built website, honest content and a consistent presence, you can start appearing in ChatGPT and in Google's AI before your competition. And there, being among the first matters. If you want to go deeper into how AI is changing the day-to-day of a small business, I explain it in artificial intelligence for small businesses.