The short version
- Google says AI Overviews need no special optimisation, so GEO rests on solid SEO basics.
- Let search bots in, put key facts in plain text and give each service its own page.
- Keep your Google Business Profile complete and collect genuine reviews.
- Track five customer-style prompts every month, because answers vary between runs.
A GEO checklist for a small business comes down to ten jobs: let AI crawlers in, state clearly what you do and where, answer customer questions first on each page, keep your Google Business Profile accurate, collect reviews, get mentioned on other sites, and check the results each month. None of it needs a big budget.
Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the work of making your business easy for AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews to find, understand and quote. It builds on the same foundations as ordinary SEO. If you want the wider picture first, read our page on generative engine optimization.
This checklist is written for UK owners of shops, clinics, trades, restaurants and local services. Estate agents have their own version in our AI search guide for estate agents. Everything below works in a few hours a week.
What is GEO and does a small business need it?
GEO means shaping your website and online profiles so AI answer tools can find, understand and cite your business. A small business needs it if customers ask AI tools for recommendations in its area. For most local services that is already happening, and the work overlaps heavily with good local SEO.
Google is direct about this. Its documentation says there are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, and no special optimisations or schema needed. A page only has to be indexed and eligible to show in Search with a snippet. Google also says inclusion is never guaranteed.
So GEO is not a trick. It is a stricter version of the basics: clear pages, accurate listings and proof that real customers trust you. Our guide to what local SEO is covers the groundwork if you are starting from zero.
Steps 1 to 3: make your site readable by AI crawlers
Step 1: check that search and AI bots can reach you
Open yoursite.co.uk/robots.txt and look for blanket “Disallow: /” rules. Also check your host, security plugin or CDN, because these sometimes block bots without telling you. Google lists crawl access in robots.txt and by your CDN or host as the first thing to verify.
For ChatGPT, OpenAI documents three bots. OAI-SearchBot surfaces sites in ChatGPT search, GPTBot is used for model training, and ChatGPT-User handles actions a person starts. Each setting is independent, so you can allow search and refuse training. OpenAI says a robots.txt change can take about 24 hours to be reflected. Our post on which AI bots to allow in robots.txt has the exact lines.
Step 2: put key facts in plain text
Your services, prices where you can share them, opening hours, service area and phone number should sit in normal page text. Do not leave them inside images, sliders or pop-ups. Many AI crawlers read less of a page than Google’s own renderer does, so text that needs scripts to appear is a risk.
Step 3: add simple structured data
Structured data is code that labels the facts on a page for machines. Google’s LocalBusiness guidance makes name and address the required properties, with opening hours, telephone and URL as recommended. It says nothing about ranking benefits, so use it as tidy labelling and keep it identical to what visitors see. Our schema markup service covers more complex cases.
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Steps 4 to 6: write pages that answer the question first
Step 4: give every service its own page
One page per service and per town you cover beats a single “What we do” page. An AI tool can only quote a page that answers one question cleanly. Name the service, the place and who it is for in the first two sentences.
Step 5: lead with the answer, then the detail
Write the way a good receptionist answers the phone. State the answer in one or two sentences, then give the reasons. For example, a boiler engineer’s page should say what a service costs in a typical range and what changes the price before it tells the company history.
Step 6: add a real FAQ from customer emails
Take the questions your customers send, call about or ask at the counter. Write each as a heading and answer it in about 40 to 60 words that make sense on their own. Skip invented questions. Real ones match how people phrase prompts to an AI tool.
From our work: Cafe Peri in Berlin started with 4.7 stars from 3,532 reviews, but no website and no presence in AI answers. After its first website launched, the case study records 2,280 clicks from Google search and 1,130 impressions in Google’s AI features. Reviews alone had not been enough. Pages that stated the facts did the rest.
Steps 7 and 8: tidy your Google Business Profile and reviews
Step 7: complete the profile and keep it current
Google says local ranking is based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. Complete, accurate information improves relevance. Verify the business, set the right categories, keep hours and special hours up to date, and add real photos. Google adds that you cannot pay for a better local ranking.
Step 8: ask for reviews and reply to them
Prominence includes reviews and ratings, per the same Google page. Ask every happy customer within a day of the job, send them the direct review link and reply to each review in plain language. Never buy or invent reviews. It breaks platform rules and the trust you are trying to build.
Steps 9 and 10: get mentioned elsewhere and measure it
Step 9: earn mentions on sites AI tools already read
AI answers draw on more than your own site. Search your main service plus your town in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google, then note which sites get cited. Trade bodies, local press, supplier pages and review sites such as Trustpilot are common. Get listed or quoted where you honestly belong. Posting promotional comments on forums tends to backfire.
Step 10: track five prompts every month
Pick five questions a customer would ask, for example “best emergency plumber in Leeds”. Run them on the same day each month and record whether you are named and linked. Then watch real visits: our walkthrough on tracking AI referral traffic in GA4 shows how. Answers vary between runs, so look for a trend rather than a single result.
How long does GEO take to work?
Expect to wait weeks before anything changes and a few months before the pattern is clear. Crawler changes can register within a day, according to OpenAI, but new pages, reviews and mentions build up slowly. Anyone quoting an exact number of days is guessing, so judge progress by monthly trends.
Start with steps 1, 3 and 7, because they are quick and carry little risk. Then spend your time on pages and reviews. For a wider view of how this fits with the rest of your marketing, see our local business marketing overview.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, because local searchers already ask AI tools for recommendations such as the best dentist or electrician near them. The work is mostly shared with local SEO: an accurate Google Business Profile, service pages and reviews. You are not choosing between GEO and SEO, you are doing both with the same effort.
No. Google states there is no special schema.org markup needed for AI Overviews or AI Mode. Structured data is still worth adding when it matches the visible text, because it labels your name, address and hours clearly, but it is not a requirement for appearing.
That depends on whether you mind your content being used for model training. OpenAI treats GPTBot, used for training, separately from OAI-SearchBot, which surfaces sites in ChatGPT search. You can disallow the first and allow the second, so blocking training does not stop you appearing in ChatGPT search results.
Run the same five customer-style questions in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google each month and log whether you are named and linked. Check analytics for visits from AI tools as well. Answers change between runs, so a log over several months tells you more than one test.
Most of it, yes. Steps 1 to 8 are ordinary website and profile maintenance that an owner or office manager can do in a few hours a week. An agency helps most with technical fixes, structured data at scale and measuring results across many pages.
Want help working through the checklist?
LineUp is a digital marketing agency in Wrocław, Poland, working with clients in the UK and across Europe. If you would like a second pair of eyes on your site, profile and AI visibility, get in touch with the team and tell us what your business does and where.
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