What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) in plain English? GEO is the practice of improving how AI answer engines describe and recommend your brand. Instead of optimizing for clicks, GEO optimizes for inclusion, accuracy, and recommendation inside AI-generated answers.

What’s the difference between SEO and GEO? SEO improves your visibility in traditional search results and drives traffic to your website. GEO improves your visibility and sentiment inside AI answers, where users may not click at all.

Why are AI answers becoming a bigger part of the funnel? More buyers are starting research by asking AI for recommendations, comparisons, and shortlists, so brands can be included (or excluded) before someone ever reaches a website. In a McKinsey survey, half of consumers now intentionally seek out AI-powered search engines. 

What does it mean to be “recommended” in an AI answer engine? Recommendation means the AI explicitly suggests your brand as a “best choice,” “top option,” or strong fit for the use case the prompter described. This is different from a casual mention and combines multiple factors, including placement (how visible you are) and sentiment.

Why do AI answers vary between ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Perplexity? Each engine relies on different retrieval methods, ranking logic, and source preferences, and they can interpret prompts differently. Variability is normal; your goal is to improve consistency across engines for priority questions.

Which AI engines does Optivara analyze? Optivara measures how your brand appears across major AI answer engines (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, and others) using our proprietary, industry-tuned models. It tracks whether you show up, how you’re described, and how you compare to competitors.

How does Optivara account for differences by industry? Optivara uses industry-tuned benchmarks because buyer questions and authority sources differ by market. Scoring and question sets are aligned to the way people evaluate providers in your category.

Does Optivara use industry-tuned questions? Yes. Optivara uses a proprietary set of buyer questions that are subject-matter (SME) validated and designed to reflect real research behaviors across industries (comparisons, best providers, pricing, use cases, etc.).

Do I create the prompts and queries in Optivara? Optivara comes with a benchmark question set out of the box, and you can also add custom queries for one-off analysis, but they do not feed the benchmark. Benchmark questions power the score, so performance is comparable over time; custom queries are for exploration.

What exactly is an “industry-tuned benchmark,” and why does it matter? It’s a consistent set of questions and scoring rules built around your category’s buying behavior. It matters because it lets you track performance changes over time without “moving the goalposts.”

How does Optivara reduce volatility from run to run? Optivara uses consistent question sets, normalization, and repeated measurement patterns to separate noise from real shifts. The goal is trend accuracy, not overreacting to one-off variations in answers.

How often does Optivara re-check engines and update trends? We update benchmarks weekly, but most teams evaluate performance and progress monthly, and increase cadence during launches or reputation events. Optivara is designed to support a repeatable measurement rhythm.

Can we track multiple brands, products, or campuses/units? Yes. Teams can track multiple entities when they have distinct positioning, audiences, or competitive sets. This is especially useful for multi-product companies or universities with multiple schools/programs.

What deliverables do we get in the first 30 days? You get a baseline benchmark, visibility + sentiment results, competitor gaps, source drivers, and a prioritized action plan. The output is designed to turn “AI answers” into specific, executable fixes.

What is the Generative Positioning Score™ (GPS)? GPS is a benchmark score that shows how well your brand performs in AI-generated answers to an industry-standard question set. It helps you track progress and prioritize the changes most likely to improve results. At an operational level, it is a combination of sentiment and visibility.

What is the Visibility Score? Visibility measures how often and how prominently your brand appears in AI answers for the tracked questions. It reflects inclusion, frequency, and placement.

What is the Sentiment Score? Sentiment measures how favorably AI engines describe your brand when you appear. It also highlights themes that shape perception (strengths, weaknesses, trust signals, risks). This follows the Net Promoter Score (NPS) approach.

What’s the difference between visibility, placement, and share of voice in AI answers? Visibility is whether you show up at all. Placement is how prominent you are (top recommendations vs. buried mentions). Share of voice is how your presence compares to competitors across the question set.

How is sentiment measured (and what does it include beyond positive/negative)? Sentiment includes tone and language (positive/neutral/negative), as well as the underlying themes driving it, like trust, support quality, security, innovation, or value. This helps teams fix the narrative, not just track it.

What is “recommendation posture,” and how do you measure it? Recommendation posture is whether the AI frames you as a leader, a safe choice, a niche option, or not recommended. It’s measured by analyzing recommendation language, position in shortlists, and comparative framing.

How should we use GPS in executive reporting and strategic planning? Use GPS as a leading indicator for brand discoverability and narrative health in AI-driven research. Combine it with pipeline/lead signals to show how improvements in AI visibility relate to demand and conversion.

What does Optivara actually show me in the platform? Optivara shows visibility, sentiment, competitor placement, and the sources/themes shaping answers, plus prioritized actions. It’s designed to move from diagnosis to a clear plan.

How does Optivara help improve performance in AI answers? Optivara identifies gaps in owned content, inconsistencies in positioning, and missing authority signals. It also highlights third-party sources influencing answers and recommends the highest-impact fixes.

How quickly can we improve our results in ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Perplexity, and other AI answer engines? Some improvements can be fast (clarifying category language, updating key pages, and adding missing proof points). Larger shifts, especially those driven by third-party authority, often take longer and require sustained content + PR effort. In addition, some engines default to trained data rather than live data, so some changes may take months to appear, which make is more imperative to act now.

What influences whether an AI engine recommends a brand? Recommendations tend to reflect credible third-party validation, consistent positioning, strong proof points, and clear category association, which follow a Hierarchy of Authority for each engine. If those signals are weak or inconsistent, the AI is less likely to recommend you.

How do you identify the sources driving AI answers? Optivara surfaces the recurring domains and citations that appear to influence answers across questions and engines. Then it maps those sources to visibility and sentiment outcomes.

What is the Hierarchy of Authority (in GEO), and why does it matter? The Hierarchy of Authority is the idea that AI answer engines don’t treat all sources equally. When engines decide how to describe or recommend a brand, they tend to rely more on high-trust third-party sources (industry publications, analyst reports, reputable review sites, associations, and widely referenced knowledge sources) than on brand-owned pages, which typically represent less than 25% of the course the engines use to form opinions. It matters because improving your GEO performance often requires strengthening the right authority signals, not just publishing more content, so you’re cited, framed accurately, and recommended more often.

How much of AI influence is off-site vs. on-site (owned vs. earned)? Both matter: owned content helps clarity and accuracy, while earned authority (press, reviews, analyst mentions, associations) often drives trust and recommendation. Optivara helps you see which side is limiting you. It’s important to know what percentage of AI sources comes from your owned properties; in most cases, this is less than 25%.

How do PR and thought leadership improve AI visibility and sentiment? PR creates credible third-party references that AI engines often trust more than brand claims. Thought leadership can shape category narratives and establish your brand as an authority worth citing and recommending. It’s important to note, for example, that not all PR newswire services have the same level of authority in AI answer engines.

What are the most common third-party sources that shape AI narratives? Common sources include reputable publishers, review platforms, analyst coverage, association sites, Wikipedia-like entities, and major comparison directories. The mix varies by industry, which is why Optivara is tuned by category.

Can Optivara help us win “X vs Y” and “best provider” comparisons? Yes. The Optivara Insights platform highlights where you’re absent or framed poorly in those high-intent comparisons and identifies the sources and themes that appear to drive competitor advantage.

Can Optivara identify where competitors are winning, and why? Yes. Optivara shows competitor placement and recommendation posture and links those outcomes to recurring narratives and sources, so you can target the exact levers that shift results.

What are the fastest “quick wins” to improve AI visibility? Clarify category positioning on core pages, add comparison and use-case pages, publish proof points (customers/outcomes), and clean up inconsistencies across your site and key third-party profiles.

How long do GEO improvements typically take to show up? It depends on the engine and the change. On-site improvements can show impact faster in retrieval-heavy systems, while authority-driven shifts often take longer because they depend on third-party coverage and broader web signals. It’s important to understand that some engines default to trained data that can be months old, which can lead to the impact occurring over a longer timeframe.

Who should own GEO internally: marketing, comms, sales, HR, or product? GEO works best with a single owner and a cross-functional team supporting the actions. SEO is often viewed as a marketing “problem”, but GEO is a corporate problem that needs to be driven by the executive team in a coordinated fashion.

How do you turn insights into an execution plan across teams? Translate findings into a prioritized backlog: owned content fixes, new pages to publish, PR/authority targets, and technical or governance cleanups. Optivara’s outputs support that “plan → execute → re-measure” loop.

Can agencies or consultants use Optivara with clients? Yes. Agencies can use Optivara to benchmark clients, uncover competitive gaps, and produce a repeatable action plan. It also supports ongoing reporting tied to AI outcomes. The actions that need to happen in most organizations are complex, and an agency can often accelerate them and yield a positive outcome more quickly than an organization acting on its own. In addition, agencies often have expertise in specific industries, which further optimizes the speed and impact of changes. 

What’s the difference between Insights and Insights+ in day-to-day workflow? Insights is typically a baseline measurement and reporting. Insights+ adds deeper guidance, support for multiple users, and backend system integration to accelerate execution and drive measurable improvement.