The latest articles on DEV Community by Marco Caciotti (@marcocaciotti). https://dev.to/marcocaciotti https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4032848%2Fca86edf4-42dd-4e54-9482-1d8cf37cee9a.png https://dev.to/marcocaciotti en Marco Caciotti Thu, 16 Jul 2026 23:02:11 +0000 https://dev.to/marcocaciotti/is-your-site-ready-to-be-cited-by-ai-a-practical-intro-to-geo-generative-engine-optimization-m3m https://dev.to/marcocaciotti/is-your-site-ready-to-be-cited-by-ai-a-practical-intro-to-geo-generative-engine-optimization-m3m <p>More and more people search on ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. Being found is no longer enough — you need to be cited.</p> <p>For twenty years SEO had one clear goal: rank in Google's top results. Something deeper is changing now. A growing share of people, before buying or choosing a supplier, no longer open Google — they ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini. And to answer, these models cite some sources and ignore others.</p> <p>So the question for anyone with a website becomes different: is my site among the sources AI can read and cite? That's what GEO — Generative Engine Optimization — is about.</p> <p>The good news: GEO isn't magic. It rests on concrete, verifiable signals.</p> <h2> 1. Can AI crawlers reach your site? </h2> <p>ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity use dedicated crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended). If your <code>robots.txt</code> blocks them — often by mistake or an old setting — AI can't read you, so it can't cite you. That's the first thing to check.</p> <h2> 2. Do you have an llms.txt file? </h2> <p>It's a simple file, modeled on <code>robots.txt</code>, that tells AI which content is most relevant to read. Still uncommon, but becoming a standard: adopting it now is an early-mover advantage.</p> <h2> 3. Is your content "extractable"? </h2> <p>AI reuses structured content better: a single clear H1, subheadings, lists, direct answers, structured data (JSON-LD). A wall of undifferentiated text is hard to cite; a well-isolated answer isn't.</p> <h2> 4. The technical basics </h2> <p>HTTPS, descriptive title and meta description, indexable pages. Nothing new versus classic SEO, but still prerequisites.</p> <h2> Where to start </h2> <p>The fastest way to know where you stand is to measure. We published a free audit that checks these signals in seconds and returns an "AI-readiness" score, no signup to see the result: <a href="https://seoautohub.com/audit-geo" rel="noopener noreferrer">https://seoautohub.com/audit-geo</a></p> <p>SEO isn't dying, it's widening: beyond ranking on Google, being readable and citable by generative engines now matters. Those who move now — while the standard is still immature — gain an edge that will be far more expensive to win a year from now.</p> seo ai webdev marketing