GEO & AEO tactics
Every tactic scored by source credibility, independence, recency, and consensus.
Discover which queries to target
Like keyword research for traditional SEO — find what questions AI is already answering in your space, understand how platforms fan out complex queries, and identify where your content has gaps.
Yes — knowledge graph and entity signals directly improve AI citation rates. Content referencing 15+ connected entities shows 4.8x higher AI Overview selection probability; brands with multi-platform entity presence are cited even on queries that do not name them. Authority is the filter AI applies before assessing content quality — which means off-page entity signals are a prerequisite, not a bonus.
Yes — fan-out queries drive 32.9% of all AI citations. 95% of ChatGPT fan-out sub-queries have zero search volume; brands missing them miss one-third of citations.
Yes — brand entity presence improves AI search recognition. Knowledge graph entries and Wikipedia mentions help AI systems identify your brand as a citation target.
Make sure AI bots can reach you
No point optimising content that AI systems can't crawl. Fix technical access first — before touching a single word of copy.
Yes — crawlability is the foundational requirement for AI search. Content must be indexed; no AI citation is possible without this baseline technical prerequisite.
Yes — Core Web Vitals improve AI search eligibility via Google signals. Fast-loading pages with strong performance scores are preferred by Google AI Overviews.
No — llms.txt has no measurable LLM citation impact. A 129,000-domain study found zero correlation with ChatGPT citations; treat as hygiene, not a ranking signal.
Yes — schema markup improves AI search entity understanding. JSON-LD Article, FAQ, and HowTo data helps AI systems identify entities and relationships on your page.
Yes — server-side rendering is required for LLM crawlability. 5 of 7 AI crawlers cannot render JavaScript; ChatGPT hits 34.82% 404 errors per crawl on JS-only pages.
Structure your content
AI retrieves passages, not whole pages. Build hub-and-spoke topic architecture with clear headings so every section stands alone as a retrievable chunk.
Yes — heading SEO improves AI search section extraction. Logical H2/H3 hierarchies matching user query patterns help AI systems identify and cite the right sections.
Yes — readability SEO increases AI citation rates. Clear prose with short sentences and plain vocabulary is preferred over jargon-heavy or complex writing.
Yes — evergreen content earns 4.8x more AI citation breadth. Category comparison pages covering what, who, how, and pricing outperform 10 single-intent pages.
Yes — comparison tables increase AI citation rates by 2.5x. ChatGPT is 2.3x more likely to cite content with tables (30%) than the same data in paragraph form (13%).
Yes — topic clusters improve GEO coverage across AI fan-out queries. Hub-and-spoke gives AI clear topical signals and boosts adjacent query citation surface reach.
Yes — title SEO is the strongest AI citation predictor. 50%+ title-to-query word overlap achieves a 20.1% ChatGPT citation rate versus 9.3% for low-overlap pages.
Write for AI answer formats
Format content so AI can extract, synthesise, and cite it. Direct answer first, supporting detail second, no promotional language.
Yes — FAQ schema improves AI search answer extraction. Explicit Q&A pairs match the AI search query format, making specific answers easier for AI systems to extract.
Yes — domain expertise signals improve AI search citation. Technical terminology demonstrates subject authority, signalling to AI that content warrants citation.
Yes — statistics SEO increases AI citation credibility. Specific percentages and data make content more likely to be cited by AI systems as an evidence-based source.
Yes — semantic SEO doubles AI citation rates. Definitive language lifts citation from 20% to 36%; entity echo structure appears in 78% of cited Q&A content at scale.
Yes — authoritative sources improve AI search credibility. Expert quotes and sourced statistics signal to AI systems that content is well-researched and trustworthy.
Yes — content freshness improves AI search citation for time-sensitive topics. AI systems prefer updated content, especially in fast-moving categories like AI.
Yes — direct answer format improves AI search extraction. Opening with a concise answer before elaborating makes content easier for AI systems to extract and cite.
Yes — dates and statistics are universal AI citation signals. DATE and NUMBER entities boost citation across all verticals; include both in the opening section.
No — keyword stuffing reduces AI citation rates. AI systems penalise keyword-heavy writing; forced repetition degrades the quality signals that drive AI retrieval.
Build trust & authority
Signals that make AI systems choose your content over competitors — on-page credentials, off-page mentions, and independent verification.
Yes — author bios improve AI search trust. Pages with named authors, credentials, and professional history are more likely to be cited as authoritative sources.
Yes — E-E-A-T SEO improves Google AI Overview eligibility. Author bios and credentials are evaluated when Google determines content for AI Overview inclusion.
Yes — digital PR builds AI citation authority. Mentions in credible publications — even without links — contribute to brand authority that influences AI citations.
Yes — YouTube SEO drives the most AI Overview citations. YouTube grew 34% in 6 months; 18.2% of AI Overview citations outside Google top-100 are YouTube video URLs.
Yes — LinkedIn SEO drives AI citations at 11% across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Perplexity — ranking #2. Articles of 500-2,000 words dominate citation counts.
Qualified yes — backlinks improve AI search indirectly. 87% of SearchGPT citations match Bing top results; backlinks drive organic rankings which drive AI retrieval.
Go platform-specific
Each AI platform has different citation behaviour and ranking signals. Once the fundamentals are solid, tailor per platform.
Yes — Google AI Overviews SEO draws from top-ranking pages. Topical authority across related sub-queries boosts citation likelihood versus single-topic strategies.
Yes — Perplexity SEO rewards credibility, recency, relevance, and clarity. Content scoring well on all 4 dimensions is consistently cited in Perplexity AI responses.