SEO optimizes for Google's blue links. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) optimizes for being cited in the answers that AI assistants give. When someone asks ChatGPT "what's a good invoicing tool?", the model decides whether to quote your site. GEO is how you make sure it does.
The 8 surfaces AI agents look for
AI assistants and autonomous agents don't browse like humans. They read machine-readable signals:
robots.txt— is crawling allowed?sitemap.xml— what pages exist?llms.txt— a short summary + key links for AIllms-full.txt— the long-form versionagents.txt— what agents are allowed to do.well-known/x402— can agents pay you?.well-known/agents.json— agent service descriptionsecurity.txt— contact + disclosure info
The fixes that move the needle
Most sites are missing llms.txt entirely. Adding it — plus a clean sitemap.xml and an agents.txt — is the highest-leverage, lowest-cost GEO win. Keep copy factual and quotable; AI cites clear, sourced statements over marketing fluff.
How to measure it
You can't track GEO in Google Search Console. You measure it by (a) checking each surface is present and valid, and (b) asking the assistants directly whether they know you. We rank 143 top sites on exactly these signals in our AI Visibility Index.
Want your grade?
AI-Readiness Mini Audit — €1 · Full AI Visibility Report — €19
Or call the audit API yourself: /api/x402?product=audit&url=https://yoursite.com ($2, USDC on Base).
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