People are getting answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews instead of clicking links. Traditional SEO keeps you visible on a channel that's shrinking. GEO gets you cited on the channels that are growing.
Gravitas is a generative engine optimization (GEO) agency based in Boulder, Colorado. GEO is the practice of making a brand's content and entity data clear enough that AI answer engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode) cite it when people ask questions in that category.
SEO and GEO chase different outcomes. SEO earns a position in a list of links, and rankings and backlinks are the currency there. GEO earns a mention inside a written answer, where the currency is entity clarity and corroboration. An answer engine has to know what your company is, what it sells, and where it operates, and it has to find that same story on the other sites that describe you. Ranking first on Google buys you nothing if the model has never seen your brand defined cleanly.
We measure the work two ways and report both every month. Citation rate is the share of prompts in an agreed prompt set where an engine names or links your brand. Share of voice puts that number next to named competitors on the same prompts. The prompt set stays fixed, so the trend line means something.
If you are still sizing up the category, we wrote a longer piece on what a generative engine optimization agency does and what it costs, including how to tell a working GEO practice from an SEO shop that relabeled its retainer.
Google follows links. AI systems are trained on text corpora, updated with retrieval systems, and optimized for factual synthesis. Ranking signals built over years of SEO investment don't translate. The game has different rules and most brands haven't updated their playbook.
Your domain authority means nothing if AI has never seen your brand described clearly and consistently across the web. AI systems cite sources they trust, and that trust is built through topical authority, entity clarity, and structured content. Not the backlink profiles you've spent years building.
When someone asks an AI about your industry or your competitors, it synthesizes an answer from what it knows. If you haven't shaped what it knows about you, someone else has. AI creates impressions at scale, and those impressions are sticky. Getting it right now is easier than correcting it later.
We test how AI systems currently describe your brand, your products, and your category. We identify what's accurate, what's missing, what's wrong, and where competitors are getting cited instead of you. You get a clear picture of your AI search presence before we touch anything.
We rewrite and restructure your content so AI systems can parse, trust, and cite it. That means clear entity definitions, factual density, structured data markup, and content that answers questions directly. We also build out topical authority clusters so AI sees you as the definitive source in your space.
AI search is moving fast. Platforms update their retrieval systems, new players enter the market, and your competitive set shifts. We monitor your citation rate across platforms monthly, track how AI describes you and your competitors, and adjust the strategy as the landscape evolves.
We identify the queries where you should be getting cited and aren't. Then we create and restructure content that gives AI systems what they need to include you. Direct answers, clear claims, verifiable facts. The format AI rewards.
Schema markup isn't just for Google anymore. We implement structured data that helps AI systems understand your organization, products, services, and expertise. Proper entity markup means AI knows exactly who you are and what you do.
AI systems cite sources that have demonstrated expertise across a topic. We build out your content architecture so you own the conversation around your core subjects. Long-form guides, FAQ content, comparison pages, and definitional articles that establish you as the authority AI goes back to.
You can't improve what you don't measure. We track how often you're cited across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and other platforms. Monthly reports show citation volume, sentiment, accuracy, and competitive benchmarks so you know exactly where you stand.
What GEO-optimized brands see within the first 90 days of engagement.
B2B software company went from appearing in 12% of relevant AI queries to 48% within 90 days. Focused on entity clarity, structured data, and a complete FAQ content overhaul across their top product pages.
Professional services firm became the most-cited source in their category on Perplexity after a 60-day content authority build. Now cited ahead of industry associations that have been publishing for decades.
Consumer brand found that AI systems were describing their products inaccurately in 60% of queries before GEO work. After structured content optimization, accurate descriptions jumped to 91% across major platforms.
"We had strong Google rankings but couldn't figure out why ChatGPT kept recommending our competitors. Now we're cited first in most of the queries that matter to us."
B2B Technology Company
GEO is the practice of optimizing your brand's content, structure, and authority so that AI systems like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews cite you in their answers. Where traditional SEO targets Google's ranking algorithm, GEO targets the training data, crawling patterns, and citation logic of large language models. It's a fundamentally different discipline with its own signals and best practices.
SEO optimizes for a ranking algorithm that returns a list of blue links. GEO optimizes for AI systems that synthesize information and return one direct answer, often with citations. Backlinks matter less. Factual accuracy, clear entity definition, structured data, and topical authority matter more. You can rank #1 on Google and still be invisible to AI search. They require separate strategies.
We optimize for the major AI search surfaces: ChatGPT (including GPT-4o Browse), Perplexity AI, Google AI Overviews (Search Generative Experience), Claude with web search, Microsoft Copilot, and emerging platforms as they gain traction. Each platform has different crawling patterns and citation preferences, and we tailor our approach to each.
GEO engagements typically run $3K-$8K per month depending on scope, industry competitiveness, and how much content work is involved. We start with a GEO visibility audit, then move into ongoing optimization and monitoring. Most clients see measurable citation improvements within 60-90 days.
AI search visibility isn't instant, but it's faster than traditional SEO in some ways. Structural fixes and schema improvements can take effect in weeks. Content authority and citation frequency build over 60-90 days. We track your brand's citation rate across platforms and report monthly so you can see momentum as it builds.
A GEO agency makes a brand legible to AI answer engines so those engines cite it. The work covers entity data (who you are, what you do, where you operate), content written to answer the questions people actually ask, structured data, and corroboration on the third-party sources engines already trust. Gravitas runs that work and reports on which prompts you get cited for.
SEO competes for a position in a list of links. GEO competes for a mention inside a generated answer. SEO leans on rankings, keywords, and backlinks. GEO leans on entity clarity, factual consistency, and whether the rest of the web describes your brand the same way you describe yourself. Most brands need both programs running side by side.
We track citation rate and share of voice against a fixed prompt set. Citation rate is the percentage of prompts where an engine names or links your brand. Share of voice compares your mentions against named competitors on those same prompts. We run the set monthly across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, and we report the prompts you lost alongside the ones you won.
Entity and citation changes typically show up 4 to 12 weeks after AI engines recrawl your site and the sources that describe you. Structured data and on-page fixes land fastest. Work that depends on corroboration elsewhere on the web, directories, press, third-party profiles, moves on whatever schedule those sources keep. We measure monthly so you can see which changes moved the number.
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Find out where you stand in AI search today and what it would take to get cited consistently. No pitch, just a clear-eyed look at your current AI visibility.
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