You have a good business. A website. Maybe even a Google Business profile. But when someone asks ChatGPT which marketing agency in Antwerp they should hire, your name isn't in the answer.

That is the problem GEO optimisation solves.

What is GEO optimisation?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization: the counterpart to classic SEO, but for AI tools.

Classic SEO makes sure Google finds you. GEO makes sure ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot and Claude know your business, understand it and recommend it when someone asks a relevant question.

This is not a future trend. It is happening now, with your clients, today.

Why this already counts

The share of people consulting an AI instead of a search engine is growing fast. Instead of typing three keywords and comparing ten blue links, your client asks one full question and gets one answer with two or three names in it.

That AI doesn't invent the answer. It builds it from:

• Your website: copy, structure and schema markup
• Your Google Business profile
• Online mentions and reviews
• Press coverage and backlinks
• Structured data

If your business is weak on those, the AI simply doesn't name you. And unlike Google, there is no second page where you still get found.

The difference between SEO and GEO

SEO and GEO overlap heavily. A well-optimised website scores better in both. But GEO demands extra attention to how your business is described as an entity.

Four reasons ChatGPT doesn't find you

1. Your website doesn't clearly say who you are

AI tools try to understand what you do, for whom, where you are and why you are trustworthy. If your homepage only says "Welcome to our company", the AI has nothing to work with.

Fix: write your homepage, about page and service pages the way you would explain them to a smart stranger. Concrete, complete, without assumptions.

2. You have no schema markup

Schema markup is invisible code that tells AI and Google: this business is called X, sits in Y, does Z, has these opening hours, this number and these reviews.

Without schema an AI sees your site as a slab of text. With schema it sees an organised information card.

Fix: add LocalBusiness and Organization schema. Plugins like Rank Math handle most of it automatically.

3. Your Google Business profile is incomplete

AI tools also crawl Google Business profiles, directories and local listings. A complete profile with opening hours, category, photos, description and reviews gives far more context.

Fix: fill the profile in completely, pick the right primary category and ask clients for reviews that describe what you actually did. "Great service" doesn't help. "They built our webshop in two weeks" does.

4. Your business isn't mentioned anywhere else

AI builds trust from authority. If several independent sources mention your business, the odds of being recommended rise.

Fix: get listed in Belgian and local directories and on relevant industry websites.

Your GEO action list for the coming month

How do you know it's working?

GEO is harder to measure than SEO, but not unmeasurable.

• Ask it yourself. Put the question your client would ask to ChatGPT and Perplexity. Are you in the answer?
• Use AI tracking in tools like Semrush or Ahrefs, which are starting to log AI mentions
• Monitor direct traffic. More direct visits often point to AI-driven discovery
• Check Search Console for rising impressions on your brand name

GEO in 2026 is what SEO was in 2012

Around 2012 the vast majority of Belgian SMEs had no optimised website. Those who did invest then are still reaping the benefit: years of free organic traffic.

The same thing is happening now with AI. Invest in GEO today and you get recommended automatically tomorrow. Wait, and you'll later have to work twice as hard against competitors already embedded in the answers.