How Do I Get My Website on AI?

Google started offering AI Overviews in May 2024, and that completely rocked the world of search engine optimization (SEO). Today, 50% of all Google searches show an AI Overview that gives users a tidy answer, eliminating the need to click any links. In fact, 65% of all searches are zero-click now, which means users don’t need to visit your website to get information.

That sounds like bad news for brands. Whether it’s AI Overviews or users favoring platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity for answers, traditional search traffic isn’t working anymore. Even with excellent SEO, that doesn’t translate into AI visibility.

To put it bluntly, companies are in a panic over this new era of generative engine optimization (GEO). Fortunately, there’s no need to toss your website in the garbage. Change is the only constant in SEO (and now GEO), and making some adjustments to your marketing strategy will help you regain visibility.

In this guide, you’ll learn how GEO became the new kid on the block and why it’s got businesses in a panic. We’ll show you how to understand if you’re showing up in AI, plus actionable tips to boost your visibility and predictions for what’s next.

SEO to GEO: The Acronym Change Matters

With SEO, you write all-star content that a) answers a user’s query and b) includes carefully-integrated keywords that search engine bots use to index your site. If you do a good job, your website ranks first whenever users search for a relevant query.

GEO flips this entire experience on its head. Instead, AI models pull citations from trustworthy sources that succinctly answer a user’s question. The focus isn’t really on keywords, although AI models do rely on keywords to understand what your site is about. Still, metadata and image alt tags don’t matter as much as they used to.

Today, GEO models look for reliable, trustworthy brands with an established foothold. Discoverability hinges more on the quality of your brand, plus the breadth of mentions you have. Everything from lagging website engagement rates to poor social media performance can affect whether you show up in GEO answers.

AI referral traffic now accounts for a whopping 1.08% of all website traffic. While traffic might be slowing down for your website, GEO-mature sites are seeing as much as a 500% year-over-year increase in traffic. So, yes, even though AI citations discourage click-throughs, they still have a big effect on your traffic.

Why Branding and Legal Signals Matter More in AI Search

Generative engine optimization affects your business in two big ways: with branding and legal protections.

Consistent branding has always been a must-have, but in the age of GEO, you can’t squeak by with outdated logos on your social media pages. AI models need to see consistency, and any missteps could result in losing a citation.

Engagement is also a big part of branding. Good content is the minimum; today, GEO depends on people referencing and sharing your content and brand with others. Organically growing on communities like Reddit or industry forums, for example, gives you more GEO juice than a keyword-laden blog.

Legalities also matter here. Your brand always needs legal protections, but they also help AI systems recognize your authority. For example, unprotected trademarks or multiple versions of a product name will confuse AI models.

Ultimately, this means you need coherent brand signals across the web, from your website to your logo and naming conventions. The goal is to stabilize your business entity in the eyes of AI.

How to Measure Your Visibility in AI Overviews

So, how do you know if you’re showing up in AI Overviews and other GEO results? Like with SEO tracking, you need the right tools to pull this off.

The downside is that we’re all still adjusting to GEO, so there’s no single perfect tool for the job. In most cases, you’ll need to layer multiple tools to better understand your GEO visibility. If you haven’t tried them already, these tools can help measure your GEO potential:

Ahrefs: This SEO go-to tracks your SERP positions over time, where you can also see clicks and engagement rates. Look at the historical data to see if clicks are declining because of AI.
Semrush: Semrush’s AI Overview tags are really helpful. It also calculates the potential value of clicks lost to AI, so you can quantify the impact GEO (and not investing in it) has on your business.
Ubersuggest: This free tool is a staple for content topic research, but it’s also helpful for spotting overall industry trends and content benchmarks.
Peec.ai (and similar tools): Peec is just one tool in a new category of AI-powered platforms. With 86% of enterprise SEO teams using AI themselves, you may need to fight fire with fire. Platforms like Peec track AI visibility, position, and brand sentiment over time.
Google Analytics: GA is the go-to for many website owners. Fortunately, you can continue using Google Analytics to monitor GEO performance. Create a custom report to group traffic by source, query, device, and other data points. You can also set up custom metrics, like returning users who see you in AI Overviews and then visit later. From there, look for patterns in your data. For example, you might see an increase in impressions but a decrease in clicks, which suggests your content isn’t compelling enough to bring AI users back to your site.

GEO Strategies That Actually Improve AI Visibility

Like SEO, GEO requires an intentional strategy to boost your visibility. Try these strategies to boost your AI search visibility.

1. Invest in Stronger Branding

Today, your brand entity matters much more than keyword placement. GEO might be great for well-established, enterprise brands, but growing businesses have their work cut out for them.

That means:

Choosing a unique brand name (and spelling it consistently across all of your online properties).
Being consistent. Standardize your logo, taglines, and product names, including ™ or © markers.
Adding schema markup to your website content. You can test your website’s structured data with Google Search Central’s free tool.
Earning backlinks from other trusted platforms or websites in your industry.

2. Earn Interactions and Engagement

Backlinks matter because they tell search engines (and AI) that you have a link-worthy site. While backlinks are still important, GEO looks more at interactions and engagement. After all, AI Overviews cut click-through rates by 61%, so you need to foster real engagement, not just clicks.

Genuine audience interactions win over semantic SEO. Instead of playing the impressions game, you need to engage your audience. This is the perennial struggle for marketers, but you can earn more interactions through:

Creating local or region-specific content: The more relevant your content is to users, the more likely you are to get a GEO mention. Create content with local data, regional trends, city-specific guides, or content tailored to a particular market. Pair this with partnerships with local associations or regional organizations to increase your reach.
Getting your team involved: Ask employees to pitch in by participating in forums on LinkedIn, Reddit, or industry Slack channels. This gets the word out for your business and helps your team build a reputation as industry authorities.
Scheduling interviews and events: GEO wants trustworthy experts, so show AI models just how knowledgeable you are. Podcast interviews, newsletter contributions, webinar features, and speaking at conferences can all boost your reputation and GEO citations. Hosting industry events is also sure to bring in some mentions.
Encouraging visible engagement signals: Social media shares, comments, and user-generated content have a big impact on GEO visibility. The trick, of course, is encouraging users to interact with you. Try interactive tactics like polls, Q&As, challenges, giveaways, and contests that reward active participation.

3. Create AI-Friendly Content

AI loves structured, trustworthy content. From a strategy perspective, that means ditching long explanations in favor of direct answers and zero fluff.

In practice, your content team needs to:

Go beyond blogs: We love blogs, but you need more than that to stand out in GEO. Write for engagement, not passive SERP impressions. Create original industry studies, proprietary data, benchmark reports, expert roundups, and practical guides people actually reference and link to.

Write structured content: Now’s not the time for stream-of-consciousness essays. AI prefers formats like FAQs, glossaries, step-by-step instructions, and listicles.

Be quotable: AI lifts small chunks of text from your site, usually verbatim, so make them count. Write 2-3 sentence blurbs that clearly answer one question.

Where AI Search Is Headed (and What It Means for You)

Unfortunately, visibility is getting harder, especially for niche or small businesses. AI Overviews are gobbling up more top-of-funnel traffic, so fewer people will find your site organically. The silver lining is that visibility isn’t dead; the goalpost has just moved.

We predict these trends will change the face of AI visibility for brands:

Retention focus: With GEO, the goal isn’t just attracting new people, but retaining them. Going forward, focus less on one-off clicks and more on bringing people back to your site. Newsletters, communities, events, and ongoing engagement are the antidote to reduced search engine traffic.
More demand for paid media: Organic reach is shrinking. Historically, that leads brands to reach for more paid amplification. Even if you haven’t tried paid media, you may need to invest in it to boost your site. Preserve your resources by only amplifying high-value content, like original research, to make it really count.
Legal brand protections: In most cases, your brand automatically has a lot of legal protections. But AI needs to see more, and that means formally copyrighting and trademarking your work if you haven’t already.
Personal branding: Every entrepreneur needs a solid personal brand, but that often falls by the wayside while you focus on bigger things (like, you know, running a company). However, with GEO, you need to consistently invest in your personal brand, which will make your company look more trustworthy by proxy.
Rise in local engagement: Local relevance is a great way to differentiate yourself in GEO. Regional data, community partnerships, local events, and place-based expertise give AI more context—and give audiences a reason to engage with you.

SEO had us chasing algorithms, but GEO is a different beast. From now on, your company needs to create engaging experiences and communities that AI can’t replace.

GEO Rewards Brands People Actually Trust

Keywords might have been the “key” to success in SEO, but GEO requires much more. You have to earn visibility through mentions, trust, and real engagement with human beings.

GEO is the new frontier, but you don’t have to start from scratch. Rethinking your content structure and prioritizing engagement will position you to build loyalty and drive sales as search changes.

Now’s the time to embrace GEO. Odyyc helps brands design digital experiences that stand out, especially in the AI search landscape. Design a content strategy built for where search is headed: Build your GEO blueprint with Odyyc.