Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the new SEO. We show you how to optimize your WordPress website for ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity.
Search behavior is changing faster than ever. According to Previsible, AI-referenced traffic to websites has grown by over 500% in the past year — and this trend is accelerating.
At the same time, Google AI Overviews are showing AI-generated answers at the top for more and more searches, before organic results follow. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI search tools answer questions directly — and cite sources in doing so.
What this means for you as a WordPress site owner:
GEO is the optimization of your content and website for AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude, and others. The goal: being cited as a trusted source in AI answers.
While classic SEO focuses on keywords and backlinks, GEO prioritizes:
AI systems aren't search engines — they try to give the best answer to a question. Whoever provides that best answer gets cited.
Google's E-E-A-T concept (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) isn't just important for classic SEO — AI systems use similar signals to identify trustworthy sources.
How to strengthen E-E-A-T on your WordPress website:
Build author profiles: Create a dedicated WordPress author page for each author with photo, bio, LinkedIn link, and areas of expertise. Add visible author boxes on articles with Schema Markup (@type: Person with sameAs links to professional profiles).
Source citations: Back up claims with links to primary sources (studies, official data, original articles). AI systems prefer content that references reliable sources and is itself reliably cited.
Ensure content freshness: Regularly update important articles and visibly display the update date. AI systems prefer current content — a 2026 article will be preferred over one from 2023.
AI systems process text differently from humans. They look for clear, directly quotable answers.
Direct answers at the beginning: Answer the core question of an article completely and precisely in the first 2–3 sentences. Many AI systems extract exactly this first paragraph for their answers.
Include FAQ blocks: Add 4–6 questions and answers at the end of each article covering common search queries on your topic. Use FAQPage Schema Markup for this.
Lists and numbered sequences: Structured lists like this one are particularly easy for AI systems to extract and cite. If your content describes a ranking, process, or options, use lists instead of prose.
Schema Markup helps AI systems correctly categorize and use your content.
FAQPage Schema for frequently asked questions
HowTo Schema for guides and step-by-step instructions
Article Schema with author, datePublished, dateModified, and publisher
Organization Schema on the homepage with complete company information
Many WordPress site owners accidentally block AI crawlers in their robots.txt — and give away GEO potential.
Important AI crawler user agents:
GPTBot (ChatGPT / OpenAI)anthropic-ai and Claude-Web (Claude / Anthropic)PerplexityBot (Perplexity)CCBot (Common Crawl — basis for many AI training datasets)Make sure none of these user agents are blocked in your robots.txt.
Set up llms.txt: The emerging llms.txt format (analogous to robots.txt, but for LLMs) allows you to provide AI systems with structured information about your website and product. AniSEO provides an optimized llms.txt at aniseo.io/llms.txt.
AniSEO was built from the ground up for the new search reality:
Check for free how well your website is positioned for AI search →
Related Articles:
With AniSEO you can implement these SEO strategies directly for your WordPress site.
Start for free →