Article Summary
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) - the practice of making community content discoverable and trustworthy to AI systems such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Google’s AI Overviews. It explains why communities are seeing drops in traditional page views and outlines why optimizing for AI-driven discovery is becoming essential.
Key Concepts
- GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): Strategies to ensure your community’s posts are selected, summarized, and cited by AI assistants and AI Overviews.
- AI Overviews: AI-generated summaries in search engines that highlight sources and answers, increasingly replacing traditional “ten blue links.”
- Discoverability and trustworthiness: The two pillars of GEO—AI systems must be able to find your content and consider it reliable enough to cite.
Why It Matters
- People are shifting from keyword searches to direct questions in AI tools, which now select and cite sources automatically.
- Without GEO, community content risks becoming invisible to a growing segment of users who depend on AI for answers.
What This Series Covers
- Clear explanations of GEO concepts tailored to community use cases.
- Practical, immediate actions community managers can take to start improving AI discoverability and credibility.
Scope and Caveats
- GEO is an evolving field; guidance may change as AI models and AI Overviews mature and more data becomes available.
Expected Outcomes
- Understand the shift from traditional SEO to GEO for communities.
- Identify first steps to make community content more AI-friendly, increasing the chance of being surfaced and cited in AI responses.
Link to Article: GEO Action Series Intro