Does your brand show up in ChatGPT’s answers? Five things to do now

For years the question was: are we on Google’s first page? Today there’s another one. When a customer asks an AI assistant which product to choose, which supplier to contact or which brand leads a category, does the answer mention our brand?

More and more searches start on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity or Google’s AI Overviews. The difference from traditional search is substantial: the customer doesn’t choose among ten links, they get a ready-made answer with a handful of names. If you’re not in that answer, for that customer you don’t exist.

What GEO is

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization: the set of activities that make a brand a source AI engines recognise, understand and cite. It doesn’t replace SEO. A technically sound, well-ranked site is still the foundation, but it’s not enough: AI engines build answers by combining information from many sources, and they reward clarity, consistency and authority.

Five things to do now

1. Ask the questions your customers ask

Write down ten real questions, the ones a customer would ask before choosing you, in the languages of your markets. Put them to the main AI engines and note who gets cited, in what words and from which sources. That’s your baseline: in half an hour you know whether you’re in the conversation or not.

2. Make your brand information clear and consistent

Who you are, what you do, for whom, where: it should be stated explicitly and identically on your website, on LinkedIn, in marketplace listings and in industry directories. AI engines struggle to cite a brand that describes itself differently depending on the source.

3. Write content that answers, not content that fills

Pages and articles that answer a specific question, with clear structure, verifiable facts and a point of view. FAQs, guides and complete product pages are valuable material. Generic copy written only for keywords is far less so.

4. Work on the sources AI engines see as authoritative

Trade press articles, interviews, reviews, event appearances, partner mentions. PR becomes a performance lever again: every authoritative mention is one more signal for the engines that build the answers.

5. Measure and repeat

Visibility in AI changes over time and from one model to another. Ask the same questions at regular intervals, track presence, position and tone of citations, and bring this data into management reporting alongside SEO.

Next to the answer: AI Ads

GEO works on the visibility you can’t buy. But AI is also becoming a media space: since late August 2026 ChatGPT shows ads in Italy and across Europe too, and a growing number of AI apps are doing the same, with formats ranging from text to video and product carousels.

What sets it apart from traditional advertising is the moment: the ad appears while the person is expressing a specific need. It combines the intent of search with the visual impact of display. Ads are kept separate from the answer and labelled as sponsored: they don’t write it and don’t influence it.

For a brand it’s a choice to make with method. It’s a new channel, with little historical data and rules that change fast: it makes sense to start with a contained test, clear goals and KPIs comparable with the rest of the media plan, and decide on the numbers.

Where to start

As with all marketing, you don’t need to do everything: you need to do first the few things that move the result. Start with a snapshot of where you’re cited, which sources you depend on and where your competitors are. From there, management agrees a plan that brings together SEO, GEO and, where it makes sense, AI Ads, with clear priorities, budget and owners: the 20% of actions that drive 80% of the impact, with one lead across teams and partners.