How GEO Works

Question 1

How do AI engines pick sources to cite?

Accepted Answer

AI engines typically favor sources that are clearly relevant to the question, easy to extract (structure, headings, lists), credible (reputation, consistency, corroboration), and accessible to fetch/crawl without blocks or friction.

Question 2

What makes content 'easy to extract'?

Accepted Answer

Content is easy to extract when it uses question-based subheadings, provides direct answers in the first paragraph, uses bullets/steps/tables, includes explicit definitions and constraints, and maintains consistent terminology.

Question 3

What makes content 'credible' to an answer engine?

Accepted Answer

Credible content features transparent authorship and expertise, citations to primary sources where applicable, consistent entity details (brand, product, people), and corroboration by other reputable sites through mentions and links.

Question 4

Do backlinks still matter for GEO?

Accepted Answer

Backlinks matter as part of reputation and discoverability, but the 'best-linked page' doesn't automatically become the 'most-cited' page in AI answers. Extraction clarity and topical completeness often decide the final selection.

Question 5

Do social mentions matter for GEO?

Accepted Answer

Social mentions can matter indirectly. They increase discovery, brand/entity signals, and sometimes become part of a system's trusted corpus. They're not a direct ranking factor but contribute to overall authority.

Question 6

Does page speed matter for GEO?

Accepted Answer

Yes, especially for systems doing live fetches. Slow or JavaScript-heavy pages can fail retrieval or time out, preventing your content from being considered as a source for AI answers.

Q1How do AI engines pick sources to cite?

Q2What makes content 'easy to extract'?

Q3What makes content 'credible' to an answer engine?

Q4Do backlinks still matter for GEO?

Q5Do social mentions matter for GEO?

Q6Does page speed matter for GEO?

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