> what should I read to understand GEO?
Notes on getting recommended by AI.
Field notes on Generative Engine Optimization, AI search, and how brands get named when buyers ask ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Written to be the answer — not the noise.
Latest
We Traced Every Viral GEO Statistic to Its Source. Most Don't Survive.
Ten of the most-repeated statistics in AI search marketing, traced to primary sources. Some are misquoted, some are untraceable, and two of them were on this site until recently. What the evidence actually supports.
ReadGEO for Regulated Firms: When AI Describes Your Business and Compliance Didn't Approve It
Licensed firms in Hong Kong review every word of their marketing, then an AI assistant paraphrases them from sources they never wrote. Here's the visibility problem regulated businesses face, and why under-publishing makes it worse.
ReadRanking #1 No Longer Guarantees a Citation: AI Pulls Most Answers From Outside the Top 10
Most AI Overview citations now come from outside Google's organic top 10, and peer-reviewed work finds very little overlap between AI sources and the ranked results below them. What that means if your strategy is still built on rankings.
ReadBeing Cited Isn't Being Recommended: The Metric Most AI Visibility Tools Miss
AI assistants routinely cite a page as a source while recommending someone else in the answer. Here's why citation counts overstate your position, and what to measure instead.
ReadChinese AI Search and Hong Kong: The Market Your Reporting Can't See
Doubao, Qwen and DeepSeek serve hundreds of millions of users and appear to draw on substantially different sources than ChatGPT. For Hong Kong businesses with mainland-facing audiences, that is a visibility gap no Western tool measures.
ReadDoes llms.txt Work? Google Says Not for Search, and the Data Agrees
Google states that Search ignores llms.txt files entirely. A study of 137,210 domains found 97% of the files published received zero requests. Here's what that means, and why I stopped listing it as a deliverable.
ReadCloudflare's 15 September Change: Check Whether You're Blocking the AI Crawlers
From 15 September 2026 Cloudflare changes its AI crawler defaults, and the legacy 'Block AI bots' setting starts blocking mixed-purpose crawlers including Googlebot and Bingbot. Here's who is affected and why it matters for AI visibility.
ReadThe SME's Guide to Getting Recommended by AI in 2026
A complete guide for Hong Kong SMEs: what GEO, AEO and AI search mean, what gets your business named by ChatGPT and Perplexity, and where to start, with links to go deeper.
ReadDoes AI Search Traffic Convert Better? What the Contested Data Actually Shows
AI-referred visitors do convert better than other channels, but the multiple is contested and smaller than most marketing decks claim. Here's the range of published findings and why the direction still matters.
ReadDIY GEO vs Hiring an Expert: Why Most SMEs Get It Wrong
Most DIY GEO fails because the levers only work together and the field moves monthly. Here's where self-service goes wrong and when hiring an expert actually pays.
ReadWhy Startups Should Build AI Visibility Before They Launch
Building AI visibility before launch means an assistant already knows and trusts you on day one. Here's why early movers win the category answer cheaply.
ReadAI Visibility vs Website Traffic: The New KPIs for 2026
Traffic is no longer the headline metric. Here are the AI-era KPIs, share of answers, citation rate, brand mentions and qualified AI referrals, and how to think about them.
ReadB2B Buyers Now Shortlist with AI: What It Means for Service SMEs
More than half of B2B buyers now build their shortlist inside an AI assistant. Here's how the B2B buying journey changed and what service SMEs must do to stay on the list.
ReadHow Hong Kong Law Firms Get Cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity
Hong Kong law firms get cited by ChatGPT and Perplexity by building a clear entity, answer-first content and authority signals AI engines trust and quote.
ReadHow a Hong Kong Law Firm Became Perplexity's First-Named Source: A GEO Case Study
A GEO case study: how a Hong Kong law firm became the first source Perplexity names for HK virtual assets, with +183% impressions and page-three-to-one rankings.
ReadWhat Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)? A 2026 Definition and Why It Matters
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of getting your business named and cited inside AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI.
ReadGEO vs SEO: Do You Still Need SEO in the Age of AI Search?
GEO and SEO aren't rivals, GEO is built on SEO. Here's how they differ, why you still need SEO when buyers use AI, and how to run them as one system.
ReadTopic Authority Beats Keywords: The 2026 Shift in How AI Reads Your Site
AI rewards depth across a topic, not single keywords. Here's why topic authority is the 2026 shift, and how covering a subject thoroughly wins AI citations.
ReadAI and 'Near Me' Search: How Hong Kong F&B, Clinics and Services Get Named
For Hong Kong restaurants, clinics and local services, getting named in an AI's 'best near me' answer comes down to reviews, accurate listings and answer-first local detail.
ReadThe Real Cost of Being Invisible in AI Answers
The cost of being absent from AI answers isn't a dashboard dip, it's the enquiries you never see, the shortlists you're left off, and a position rivals claim cheaply.
ReadWhy AI Recommends One Product Over Another, and What It Means for D2C Brands
AI picks products by matching a described need to structured data, reviews and brand authority. Here's how product recommendation works and what D2C brands should do.
ReadWhat Is a Knowledge-Graph Entity, and Why Your Business Needs One for AI
A knowledge-graph entity is how machines recognise your business as a real, distinct thing. Here's what it is, why it underpins AI citations, and why most businesses don't have one.
ReadStablecoins, Virtual Assets and AI Search: Why Hong Kong Fintech Buyers Start with ChatGPT
Hong Kong's virtual-asset boom is sending issuers, exchanges and investors to ChatGPT and Perplexity to find who's credible. Here's why AI visibility now decides who they call.
ReadGoogle AI Mode and AI Overviews: What They Mean for Your Business
Google AI Overviews and AI Mode are turning search into a conversation that answers in place. Here's the difference between them and what each means for your business.
ReadHow to Measure Your AI Visibility (and Why Only a Fraction of Marketers Do)
Most marketers still measure clicks while their buyers move to AI. Here's what AI visibility actually means, what to track, and why so few businesses measure it yet.
ReadHow Agencies, Accountants and Consultants Win AI Citations
Professional-services firms that sell expertise, agencies, accountants, consultants, get cited by AI the same way law firms do: clear entity, authority and answer-first proof.
ReadZero-Click Search Explained: Why Ranking #1 No Longer Means Winning
Zero-click search is when a query is answered on the results page, so no one clicks through. Here's why it happened, what it costs, and what to do about it.
ReadWhen Customers Ask AI 'Best X Near Me': How Local Hong Kong Businesses Get Recommended
Local 'best near me' searches now trigger AI answers most of the time. Here's how Hong Kong shops, clinics and services get named when customers ask an AI.
ReadIs GEO Worth It for a Small Business? The Honest Answer
An honest take on whether Generative Engine Optimization is worth it for an SME, who it pays off for, who can skip it, and how to judge the return.
ReadAI Shopping Is Here: How E-commerce Brands Get Found Inside ChatGPT
Shoppers now ask AI for product recommendations and buy without visiting a store. Here's how e-commerce and D2C brands get found and named inside ChatGPT and AI search.
ReadWhy AI Engines Cite Some Brands and Ignore Others
AI engines cite brands that are easy to identify, corroborated by others, and backed by quotable substance, and ignore the rest. Here's what separates the two.
ReadHow Fintech and Web3 Startups Get Recommended by ChatGPT and Perplexity
Fintech and Web3 startups win AI recommendations by building a clear entity, third-party authority and answer-first content, before they have brand history to coast on.
ReadThe State of AI Search in 2026: 15 Statistics Every Hong Kong SME Should Know
15 sourced 2026 statistics on AI Overviews, zero-click search and AI assistants, and what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI now mean for Hong Kong SMEs.
ReadWhat Is Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)? And How It Differs from GEO and SEO
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is getting your content picked as the direct answer in AI Overviews, featured snippets and voice search, distinct from SEO (rank a link) and GEO (be the cited source).
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