--- title: "GEO & AEO – How to Be Visible in AI Search | Sweet Lava" description: "How to prepare a company website for AI search – GEO, AEO, llms.txt, structured data, AI crawlers. A practical implementation checklist." url: https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/geo-aeo-website-visible-to-ai/ lang: en alternate_pl: https://sweetlava.eu/pl/blog/geo-aeo-strona-widoczna-dla-ai/ --- Development # GEO/AEO – how do you make your website visible to AI search? Sweet Lava Team · Published 1 June 2026 · Updated 12 June 2026 · 3 min read **Key answer:** GEO (generative engine optimization) is optimising a website for AI search (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini); AEO (answer engine optimization) covers answer engines (Google AI Overviews, featured snippets). The shared foundation is content accessible to AI bots in clean HTML, direct answers at the start of sections, schema.org structured data, FAQ formats, content freshness and consistent company information across sources. Table of contents 1. [01The short answer](#the-short-answer) 2. [02How AI chooses whom to cite](#how-ai-chooses-whom-to-cite) 3. [03The implementation checklist](#the-implementation-checklist) 4. [04The most common mistake: treating GEO as a separate project](#the-most-common-mistake-treating-geo-as-a-separate-project) ## The short answer More and more purchase decisions start not with a list of links in Google but with an AI-generated answer. **GEO** (generative engine optimization) makes models like ChatGPT and Perplexity cite your company as a source; **AEO** (answer engine optimization) puts your content into the ready answers search engines display. The good news: both stand on the foundation of solid SEO and can be implemented systematically. ## How AI chooses whom to cite When a user asks "which studio would you recommend to build an app?", the model doesn't draw lots – it composes its answer from sources it can fetch, understand and trust. In practice, the advantage goes to sites that: - **are accessible to AI bots:** not blocked in robots.txt or by anti-bot firewalls, - **serve content as clean HTML:** AI search bots often don't execute JavaScript; content rendered only in the browser doesn't exist for them, - **answer directly:** sections that open with the answer (not a warm-up) are easy to quote, - **are fresh:** models clearly prefer recently updated content; publication and update dates matter, - **are consistent across sources:** AI builds its picture of a company from directories, LinkedIn and reviews too; contradictions lower trust, - **sound expert:** concrete numbers, named authors, sources next to claims. ## The implementation checklist **1\. Technical access.** Check robots.txt and CDN settings – do GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot get in? Is your content visible with JavaScript disabled? (test with `curl` or by switching JS off in the browser). **2\. Answer architecture.** Every important section should open with 1–2 sentences of substance; phrase headings the way users ask questions; present processes as numbered lists and comparisons as tables. **3\. Structured data.** JSON-LD on every page: Organization/LocalBusiness, Service, FAQPage, Article with author and dates. These are "subtitles for machines" – they remove guesswork from interpretation. **4\. The formats AI loves.** An FAQ page, a glossary with the definition in the first sentence, pricing guides with concrete ranges. In most languages and niches, competition in these formats is still thin – a window of opportunity. **5\. llms.txt.** A root-directory file describing the site and its key pages in a model-friendly form. Not a mandatory standard, but it costs fifteen minutes. **6\. Entity consistency.** Identical company data (name, address, description) on the site, in Google Business, on LinkedIn and in industry directories. **7\. Freshness and measurement.** A quarterly review of key pages with a visible update date, plus a monthly manual check – does AI recommend us, and in what context? ## The most common mistake: treating GEO as a separate project GEO is neither magic nor a silo – it is the consistent extension of good craft: a fast site, clean structure, content that answers real questions, honest signals of expertise. The site you are reading was built to exactly this checklist – from clean HTML through complete schema to llms.txt. Not sure where to start? Run an [AI visibility audit](https://sweetlava.eu/en/services/ux-ui-ax/) with us: we'll check whether ChatGPT and Perplexity can see your company and what they say about it. And if you're building a site from scratch, [we'll build you one that is ready for it](https://sweetlava.eu/en/services/websites/). ## Related services - [ Custom website design & development → ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/services/websites/) ## Related articles AI · 12 June 2026 ## [ Implementing AI in a company, step by step – what our own projects taught us ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/ai-implementation-step-by-step/) How AI implementation works in practice – from a data audit, through a pilot with a measurable goal, to team enablement. With concrete price ranges and a list of situations where AI isn't worth it. Development · 12 May 2026 ## [ How much does a website cost in 2026? A realistic pricing guide ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/how-much-does-a-website-cost/) From €800 for a template site to €40,000+ for a corporate platform. We break down what actually drives the price of a website and how to read agency quotes. Development · 3 March 2026 ## [ Core Web Vitals and site performance – why speed sells ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/blog/core-web-vitals-why-speed-sells/) A slow website loses customers twice, in Google (lower rankings) and after the visit starts (abandonment). We explain LCP, INP and CLS, and how to genuinely improve them. ## Related terms - [AEO (answer engine optimization)](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/aeo/) - [Crawlers & AI bots](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/ai-crawlers/) - [llms.txt](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/llms-txt/) - [SEO](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/seo/) - [Structured data (schema.org)](https://sweetlava.eu/en/glossary/structured-data-schema-org/) ## Frequently asked questions Will GEO replace classic SEO? No – it complements it. AI search engines rely largely on the same quality signals as Google, and most practices (structure, structured data, performance, question-answering content) serve both channels. The 2026 strategy is SEO + GEO together, on a shared foundation. How do I check whether AI mentions my company? The simplest way is manual. Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini 10–20 questions your customer might ask ("recommended X agency in Y", "how much does Z cost") and note whether and in what context you appear. Repeat monthly – it is the new equivalent of rank tracking. ## Planning a new company website? Design and code grow in one team, so what you approve in the mock-up reaches production with no surprises. Scope and quote within a few days. [ Get in touch ](https://sweetlava.eu/en/contact/?source=blog-geo-aeo-ai-search)