More shoppers now start product research by asking an AI assistant instead of typing keywords into Google. They ask things like "what is a good gradual self-tan for pale skin" or "best CBD balm for runners" and get a short answer with a few brands named. If your brand is not in that answer, you are not in the consideration set.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), sometimes called Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), is the work of making your brand easy for these systems to find, understand and trust. It builds on SEO rather than replacing it. Here is the checklist we use with ecommerce brands.
1. Find out where you stand today
Before changing anything, measure.
- Write 20 to 30 prompts a real customer would ask. Mix category questions ("best vegan self-tan"), problem questions ("how to stop gym clothes smelling") and comparison questions ("Brand A vs Brand B").
- Run them in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google (to see AI Overviews).
- For each prompt, record: is your brand mentioned, is your site cited as a source, which competitors appear, and which third-party pages are cited.
That last column is the most useful. It tells you which review sites, publications, forums and marketplaces the AI tools lean on in your category.
2. Make sure AI crawlers can actually read your site
You cannot be cited if your pages cannot be fetched.
- Check robots.txt. Make sure you are not blocking search-related crawlers such as Googlebot, Bingbot, OAI-SearchBot (ChatGPT search) and PerplexityBot. Decide separately whether to allow training crawlers like GPTBot and Google-Extended; that is a business choice, not a ranking requirement.
- Check your CDN or firewall. Bot protection rules sometimes block these crawlers by accident.
- Make sure key content is in the HTML. If product descriptions, prices or reviews only load through JavaScript, some crawlers will miss them. View the page source and confirm the important text is there.
- Keep pages fast and stable. Slow, error-prone pages get crawled less.
3. Turn product pages into clear answers
AI tools pull facts. Give them clean, specific facts.
- State plainly what the product is, who it is for and what problem it solves, in the first few lines.
- List the details people ask about: ingredients or materials, sizes, usage, shade or fit guidance, shipping times, returns policy.
- Add a short FAQ on each key product page using real questions from your customer service inbox and reviews.
- Avoid vague copy like "the ultimate glow experience". A sentence like "a gradual self-tan lotion for fair to medium skin that develops in 4 to 6 hours" is far easier to quote.
4. Add structured data
Schema markup helps machines understand your pages without guessing.
- Product and Offer schema on product pages (name, brand, price, currency, availability, GTIN or SKU).
- AggregateRating and Review schema, only for genuine reviews shown on the page.
- Organization schema on the homepage, with your logo, contact details and sameAs links to your official social profiles.
- FAQPage schema where you have real FAQ content.
- Validate with Google's Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator.
5. Publish content that answers buying questions
Look at the prompts from step 1 and create pages that answer them directly.
- Buying guides: "How to choose a gradual tan for sensitive skin."
- Comparisons: your product vs a common alternative, written fairly.
- Problem pages: "Why gym clothes still smell after washing, and what helps."
- Start each page with a two or three sentence direct answer, then go deeper. Use clear headings that match how people phrase the question.
- Add an author or reviewer with real expertise where it matters, especially in skincare, supplements and wellness.
6. Build your presence beyond your own site
AI answers often cite third-party sources more than brand sites.
- Use the "cited sources" list from step 1. If a category roundup on a publication keeps getting cited, that is where you want a mention.
- Keep your brand name, description and contact details consistent across your site, marketplaces, social profiles and directories.
- Encourage reviews on the platforms that show up in answers for your category.
- Take part honestly in communities like Reddit where your customers already ask questions. Helpful answers age well; promotional posts do not.
- Pursue digital PR: expert comments, original data from your own customers, and founder stories.
7. Keep product feeds clean
Shopping answers in Google and in AI assistants rely heavily on product data.
- Keep your Google Merchant Center feed accurate: titles, prices, availability, images, GTINs and shipping.
- Make sure feed data matches the live page exactly. Mismatched prices or stock hurt trust.
- Watch merchant programmes from AI assistants as they open up in your markets, and make sure your feed is ready.
8. Handle regulated categories with care
If you sell CBD, supplements or skincare with active ingredients, be precise.
- Avoid medical claims you cannot support. AI tools and ad platforms are both cautious here.
- Publish lab reports, certificates of analysis and ingredient sourcing where relevant. Verifiable documents are good citation material.
- Explain what your product does and does not do in plain language.
9. Measure and repeat monthly
- Re-run your prompt list every month and track mentions and citations over time.
- In GA4, watch referral traffic from chatgpt.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com and copilot.microsoft.com. ChatGPT often adds utm_source=chatgpt.com to links.
- Note which pages get cited and build more pages like them.
A simple starting order
If you only have a few hours this month:
- Run the prompt audit (step 1).
- Fix crawler access and HTML rendering (step 2).
- Rewrite your top five product pages with clear facts and FAQs (step 3).
- Add Product and Organization schema (step 4).
That alone puts many brands ahead of their competitors, because most ecommerce sites have not done the basics yet.
I'm Hitesh Singh, Sales & Marketing Director at Web Consulting Agency, a Dublin team that helps ecommerce and wellness brands with website design, SEO, GEO and paid media. If you'd like a second pair of eyes on how your brand shows up in AI answers, we offer a free 30-minute consultation.
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