I'm Lilach Bullock, a GEO consultant with 23 years in marketing who gets businesses named in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI answers. A GEO agency should work from evidence, not tricks: the research paper that named generative engine optimization found visibility gains of up to 40%, and found that what works varies by subject.
GEO, or generative engine optimization, is the work of getting your business cited and recommended inside AI answers. It's a young field, and now almost every SEO agency has added it to the menu, which makes picking one harder, not easier.
I do GEO for clients and on my own site, so I know what the work involves day to day. Here's where the idea came from, what the research means for anyone hiring a GEO agency, and the proof I'd ask to see.
Where GEO came from
The term comes from a research paper by Pranjal Aggarwal and colleagues, titled GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. It was first submitted on 16 November 2023, revised on 28 June 2024, and accepted to KDD 2024, one of the main data science conferences.
The authors built a benchmark called GEO-bench, a large set of user queries across many subjects, and tested ways of changing content to see whether generative engines would show it more. Their headline result is that GEO can boost visibility by up to 40% in generative engine responses.
Two other points from the paper matter more for buyers than the headline. First, they treat the engine as a black box: content creators can't see inside it, so GEO is about testing and measuring, not secret switches. Second, they found the efficacy of strategies varies across domains, so what works for a law firm may not work for a software company.
What the research means when you hire a GEO agency
If what works varies by subject, then any GEO agency selling the same checklist to every client is guessing. The useful question isn't which tactics they use. It's how they'll find out which tactics work in your market, and how they'll measure it.
It also means you should be wary of big promises. Up to 40% was the best case across a research benchmark, not a guarantee for your business. A good GEO agency will talk about testing, baselines and honest reporting, not certainties.
- Ask: how will you test what works in my sector?
- Ask: what's the baseline today, and how will you measure change?
- Be wary of: one checklist for every client, or guaranteed mentions.
What I check first on a GEO project
This is the order I work in for a new client.
- The baseline: I ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI answers the questions your buyers ask, and record who gets named.
- Access: I check that AI search crawlers can reach your site and that nothing in your hosting blocks them.
- Your key pages: does each one answer a real question clearly in its opening lines?
- What others say: AI answers lean on third-party sources, so I look at where you're mentioned and where you're missing.
- Test and repeat: we change a few pages, check the answers again a few weeks later, and keep what moves.
GEO myths I hear in sales calls
The most common one is that GEO replaces SEO. It doesn't. AI engines still need to find, crawl and trust your pages, and most of that is classic SEO work. GEO builds on it rather than starting again.
The second is that there's a trick, a file or a phrase that makes AI engines name you. The research treats the engines as black boxes for a reason. What moves the answers is clear, useful content, consistent facts about your business and mentions on sites the engines already trust.
GEO agency or independent consultant
An agency makes sense if you need a lot of content produced every month and you have the budget for a team. An independent consultant makes sense if you want a senior person to diagnose the problem, make the changes that matter and show your team how to keep going.
Before you choose, my list of questions to ask an AEO or GEO agency before hiring will help you compare answers side by side.
Proof I'd ask any GEO agency to show
Talk is easy in a new field. Ask for evidence.
- A before-and-after record of AI answers for a real client, with dates.
- Their own site named in AI answers for the service they're selling you.
- A sample monthly report that shows AI answers, not just rankings.
- A clear explanation of what they'll change on your site and what they'll do off it.
How I do GEO
I test everything on lilachbullock.com before I suggest it to a client, and AI assistant traffic to my site more than doubled in a single week. Perplexity has cited my own pages for searches like generative engine optimization consultant. I'd rather show you that than tell you about it. For the strategic side, my guide to GEO strategy lays out how I plan the work.
My advice on choosing a GEO agency
Ask the agency to run your buyers' questions through ChatGPT and Perplexity on the first call, and show you who gets named today. That's your baseline, and any GEO agency worth hiring should be able to do it in minutes. Then judge them on how they'll move it, not on how confident they sound.
If you'd like me to run that check for your business, start with my work with me page.
Frequently asked questions
What is a GEO agency?
A GEO agency works to get your business cited and recommended inside AI answers from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI features.
Where does the term GEO come from?
From the paper GEO: Generative Engine Optimization by Pranjal Aggarwal and colleagues, first submitted in November 2023 and accepted to KDD 2024.
How much can GEO improve visibility?
The GEO paper found visibility gains of up to 40% in generative engine responses on its benchmark, and found that what works varies by subject.
What should I ask a GEO agency?
Ask how they'll test what works in your sector, what your baseline is today, and for a before-and-after record of AI answers for a real client.
Does Lilach Bullock offer GEO?
Yes. Lilach Bullock offers generative engine optimization for businesses, tested on her own site first, with 23 years in marketing.