Becoming visible in AI recommendations: what GEO means for your business

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) makes sure AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews name your company in their answers. This can be measured and improved in a targeted way.

How can you test whether ChatGPT recommends your company?

Try a quick test: ask ChatGPT for the best providers in your industry in your region. You will get a specific list of recommendations, and if your company isn’t on it, you are losing customers right now to those who are named.

This isn’t the distant future, it’s everyday life. More and more people no longer search Google for ten blue links but ask ChatGPT, Claude or Perplexity directly, and even Google has long been delivering ready-made answers with its AI Overviews rather than a list of links. These are exactly the answers in which specific brands are named. If you don’t appear there, you practically don’t exist for the people searching.

How many people already shop with AI?

According to an Adobe survey of around 5,000 US consumers, 39% have already used generative AI for online shopping and 53% planned to in 2025.

The trend is continuing: AI-driven traffic to US retail sites grew by around 693% year on year over the 2025 holiday season. That is a growth rate, not a market share.

What is the difference between GEO and SEO?

For years, everything revolved around SEO (Search Engine Optimization): the right keywords in the right places, so that Google classifies a page correctly and shows it high up. AI systems work differently. They aren’t interested in individual search terms, but in the context and the overall picture of a brand online.

GEO (some also say AEO, Answer Engine Optimization) no longer aims only at a good ranking, but at getting the AI to actively recommend your brand as the answer. To see why you still need SEO, read GEO + SEO: why the combination gives you the decisive edge.

The SEO route

Place keywords → rank in the list of results → users click through themselves.

The GEO route

Build context & reputation → AI names your brand directly in the finished answer.

Cited or mentioned: what is the difference?

If you take AI visibility seriously, you need to keep two things apart, because they mean completely different things for your business:

• Cited: the AI has accessed your website and used information from it. A technical prerequisite, but no guarantee yet that you will be recommended.
• Mentioned: your brand or product name actually appears in the text of the AI’s answer. This is the real visibility that brings in customers.

Many companies are technically well set up and still don’t appear in AI answers. Their name doesn’t come up in a single one.

Can AI visibility be measured?

Yes. GEO isn’t flying blind. With the right combination of AI and real search data, you can determine precisely whether and where a brand appears in AI answers, who is beating the competition and where the biggest gaps lie.

This is exactly where we come in at kohrmedia: we combine language models such as Claude with professional SEO data sources to make AI visibility objectively measurable, not through expensive tool subscriptions, but as needed and transparently.

An analysis like this answers questions such as:

• For which search queries is your brand named in AI answers, and for which is it not?
• Which competitors are being recommended, and why are they performing better?
• Which keyword and content gaps can you fill in a targeted way?
• Which sources do AI systems draw their recommendations from?

How does your company become visible in AI answers?

In practice, the same levers keep coming up:

• Claim your place in industry directories. For unbranded queries, AI systems rely heavily on directories (such as TrustLocal, Gelbe Seiten and the like). If your profile is missing there, you are missing from the recommendation. High leverage, low effort.
• Actively collect reviews. AI often repeats star ratings and the number of reviews word for word, so social proof becomes a direct ranking factor.
• HTML instead of PDF. Many competitors hide valuable content in PDFs, flyers or presentations. If you present the same topics as clean HTML guides, you can often overtake them with little effort.
• Win unclaimed search terms. There are often local core terms that nobody has really claimed organically yet: an open door for targeted content.
• Multilingual landing pages. A strong advantage, especially in Luxembourg and the Greater Region: if you offer content in several languages, you are found and recommended more widely.

How does an analysis become a roadmap?

A GEO analysis doesn’t just give you a snapshot, but a prioritised action plan: which steps bring quick, visible results, and which pay into your AI visibility in the long term?

In the end, though, only one thing matters: implementation. The data shows the way, the competitive advantage comes from acting. And that is exactly where we support you, from the analysis through content and landing pages to ongoing optimisation.

Does AI recommend your company?

We’ll check for you. In a GEO visibility analysis, we use data to show where you stand in AI answers and which measures will move you forward.