GEO strategy: How to get your brand recommended by ChatGPT and Google Gemini
When a potential customer asks an AI tool to recommend the best product or service in your category, is your brand in the answer? Here is the authority-building framework that determines that.
D Venkataramana
Founder, Digi Brand Booster
The shift from search rankings to AI recommendations
A growing share of high-intent buyers now ask AI tools directly: "What is the best SEO agency in Bangalore?" or "Which D2C skincare brand should I try?" These recommendation queries bypass Google entirely. The brands that appear in those answers are not necessarily the ones that rank highest in traditional search. They are the ones that have built the right authority signals across the right sources. That is what GEO addresses.
How large language models decide what to recommend
AI models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini form their recommendations based on training data and real-time retrieval. For training-data-based recommendations, the signals that matter are: frequency of brand mentions across authoritative sources, consistent positive association between your brand and your category, and structured information about what your brand does. For retrieval-based recommendations (where the AI searches before answering), the signals are closer to AEO: structured content, citation-worthy pages, and strong domain authority.
The four pillars of a GEO strategy
First, brand entity establishment: ensure your brand is described consistently across your website, LinkedIn, Crunchbase, press mentions, and any industry directories. Second, topical authority: publish in-depth content on your core category so AI models associate your brand with expertise in that area. Third, citation acquisition from AI-cited sources: identify which domains and publications AI platforms already cite for your category and earn mentions or backlinks from those sources. Fourth, review and case study visibility: real-world proof in formats AI models can easily retrieve and summarise.
The content types that drive AI brand recommendations
Comparison content consistently performs well in GEO. Pages titled "Best [category] in [city]" or "[Brand A] vs [Brand B]" that objectively assess options earn citations when users ask recommendation queries. Expert opinion pieces, original research with proprietary data, and detailed case studies with specific numbers also earn strong GEO visibility. Generic blog posts without specific claims or original insights rarely appear in AI recommendations regardless of their SEO performance.
Measuring GEO visibility over time
GEO measurement is still evolving but there are practical approaches. Run a monthly brand visibility audit: ask the same 20 recommendation queries across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity and track whether your brand appears. Monitor branded search volume in Google Search Console as a proxy for AI-driven discovery. Track referral traffic from Perplexity directly in your analytics. Over time, brands with strong GEO strategies see branded search grow independently of paid media investment.
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