GEO and Reputation Management
Communications is about two things: build the brand, protect the brand. That used to mean reaching people through journalists, analysts, and search. Now there's a new audience and gatekeeper in the mix: AI answer engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot and Perplexity.
If these systems decide how people discover and compare you, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) becomes core work. Ignore it, and you risk being misrepresented-or not appearing at all. The window to get this right is closing.
Start with a clear read on how AI sees your brand
Before improving anything, audit the current state. Ask the tools the questions your audiences ask. Compare answers across models, topics and competitors.
- Content readiness: Can AI find, parse and summarize your content accurately? Is it structured and current?
- Search visibility: How often do you show up in answers? Where do competitors outrank or out-quote you?
- Brand vulnerability: Which gaps-outdated pages, inconsistent claims, lingering misinformation-could get amplified?
These audits often reveal missing or stale messaging, surprise competitors and total absence from relevant queries. You'll also see the sources models lean on: credible media, trusted wire services, Wikipedia and brand-owned sites.
The playbook to influence GEO outcomes
Earned media still matters-just in a different way
High-authority press coverage signals credibility to AI. It's treated as fact-checkable and frequently becomes the backbone of generated answers. Reports show the vast majority of citations come from non-paid, earned sources-especially when users ask for "what's new" or "latest."
- Move beyond basic pickups: Prioritize thought leadership, executive commentary and expert explainers in well-indexed outlets with strong domain authority.
- Make it quotable: Provide clear, on-record statements, stats and definitions AI can lift without confusion.
Make owned content AI-digestible
Your website is the foundation of your AI presence. If your "About," product pages and bios aren't structured, precise and updated, you're handing the narrative to others.
- Rebuild cornerstone pages: Use clear language, logical hierarchy and internal links that reinforce key entities (company, products, executives).
- Add structured data: Mark up organization, person and product info so machines can parse facts without guessing. See Google's guidance on structured data for websites for technical best practices here.
- Keep it fresh: Update claims, stats and timelines. Stale pages lead to stale answers.
Press releases are back (for machines, too)
Releases don't just reach reporters anymore-they feed structured facts into knowledge systems used by AI. Wire services increasingly support formats that are easy for bots to read.
- Standardize the format: Include descriptive subheads, consistent metadata, clear quotes, product specs, pricing, availability and source links. Make facts easy to extract.
Monitor AI answers-and adapt fast
Use AI answer monitoring tools (e.g., BrandRank.AI) to track how you appear across models. Treat this like media monitoring, with faster feedback loops.
- Build GEO checks into your workflow: If an answer is wrong or incomplete, fix the upstream signals-earned stories, owned pages, press releases or Wikipedia citations-and recheck.
Respect Wikipedia's rules
Wikipedia is a frequent source for AI. But direct editing with a conflict of interest undermines trust and can backfire.
- Earn citations, don't force edits: Drive high-quality coverage and third-party references that independent editors can use. Review Wikipedia's conflict-of-interest guidance here.
GEO is the new front of reputation management
GEO isn't a technical sidecar to SEO. It's core to how your brand gets discovered, described and compared by systems people trust for answers. Winning requires tight coordination across PR, content, digital and exec comms-and a bias for clear, structured, consistently updated information.
If your team is leveling up skills for PR+AI work, explore role-based AI learning paths here.
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