Bounce — Web Development & SEO
Guide

What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of making your website easy for AI answer engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews — to find, understand, trust and cite. SEO helps you rank in a list of links. GEO helps you become the source the AI quotes in its answer.

By Janine Meyer, Bounce Design — 25+ years in web development and SEO.

How AI engines choose sources

Most AI assistants search the web in real time, read a handful of the best-matching pages and summarise them. They favour pages that are accessible to their crawlers, answer the question directly, are clearly structured, come from a recognisable expert or business, and agree with what other trusted sources say.

7 steps to get cited

  1. 1. Let AI crawlers in

    Check robots.txt allows GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and Google-Extended. Make sure your content is in the HTML the server sends, not only rendered by JavaScript later.

  2. 2. Answer first, then explain

    Open each page with a two- or three-sentence answer to the main question. AI tools quote short, self-contained statements far more often than long introductions.

  3. 3. Add structured data

    Use schema.org markup for your organisation, the people behind it, your services, articles and breadcrumbs, so machines understand who you are and what each page is about.

  4. 4. Show real expertise

    Name the author, show experience, link to professional profiles and include specific facts, numbers and examples. Vague marketing copy is rarely cited.

  5. 5. Be consistent everywhere

    Describe your business the same way on your site, Google Business Profile, LinkedIn and directories. Consistent mentions build the confidence AI models need to recommend you.

  6. 6. Publish an llms.txt file

    A short plain-text summary at /llms.txt lists your key pages and what they cover, giving AI tools a clean map of your site.

  7. 7. Keep classic SEO healthy

    AI answers lean heavily on pages that already rank. Fast pages, clean indexing, canonical URLs and a sitemap remain the foundation.

Testimonials

What clients say

A few words from people I've worked with over the years.

"Jannie is a master at her craft. From simple splash pages to database and high-impact websites, her work is always above industry standard."
Brian Mawdsley
Head of Sales: Websites @ Huble | Website Development, Strategy
"The work Janine did for Stellenbosch University designing Wordpress themes and theming our blog sites was creative, accurate and excellent value."
Ralph Pina
Chairperson, Rooiels Conservancy, & retired
"Professional, knowledgeable and consistently producing outstanding work — Janine is dedicated, reliable and a pleasure to work with."
Leora Kudo
Business Development
"From simple HTML sites to complex web ordering systems, everything we throw at Janine is handled with ease. She can provide it all, and she's got my vote, big time!"
Aubrey Davies
ISN - Business Architect | Driving Value Through Technology & Automation
"Knowledgeable, professional and always on time — Janine is honest about limitations and hungry for new challenges, making her ideal for new ventures."
Tim James
Director at sustainableIT
"Our vision was translated into an interactive website beautifully. Janine's design talents are endless, and she brings a high level of collaboration and professionalism."
Anne Melanson, BPR, CFRE
Retired President @ Bloom Non Profit Consulting | CFRE, Nonprofit Strategy
"Thank you for all your help and assistance over the last six years with ongoing maintenance of our site. You are efficient, helpful and a pleasure to work with. We value long-term relationships, and you have never let us down."
Francois Joubert
Law firm IT (1-25 users) | Microsoft 365 for Attorneys | Cyber Essentials for Law Firms™
"Excellent, reliable web services — Janine has continually delivered for my consulting firm and I'd recommend her highly."
Ross Allchorn
Founder of SCF & creator of things
"Jannie is a master at her craft. From simple splash pages to database and high-impact websites, her work is always above industry standard."
Brian Mawdsley
Head of Sales: Websites @ Huble | Website Development, Strategy
"The work Janine did for Stellenbosch University designing Wordpress themes and theming our blog sites was creative, accurate and excellent value."
Ralph Pina
Chairperson, Rooiels Conservancy, & retired
"Professional, knowledgeable and consistently producing outstanding work — Janine is dedicated, reliable and a pleasure to work with."
Leora Kudo
Business Development
"From simple HTML sites to complex web ordering systems, everything we throw at Janine is handled with ease. She can provide it all, and she's got my vote, big time!"
Aubrey Davies
ISN - Business Architect | Driving Value Through Technology & Automation
"Knowledgeable, professional and always on time — Janine is honest about limitations and hungry for new challenges, making her ideal for new ventures."
Tim James
Director at sustainableIT
"Our vision was translated into an interactive website beautifully. Janine's design talents are endless, and she brings a high level of collaboration and professionalism."
Anne Melanson, BPR, CFRE
Retired President @ Bloom Non Profit Consulting | CFRE, Nonprofit Strategy
"Thank you for all your help and assistance over the last six years with ongoing maintenance of our site. You are efficient, helpful and a pleasure to work with. We value long-term relationships, and you have never let us down."
Francois Joubert
Law firm IT (1-25 users) | Microsoft 365 for Attorneys | Cyber Essentials for Law Firms™
"Excellent, reliable web services — Janine has continually delivered for my consulting firm and I'd recommend her highly."
Ross Allchorn
Founder of SCF & creator of things

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