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Measuring AI visibility
Before we optimise, we measure: for which questions do AI systems name your brand, and for which do they name your competitors? This gives us the baseline against which we track progress every month.
GEO Agency · Generative Engine Optimisation
GEO Agency: Your brand in the AI responses from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini.
Generative search systems no longer return ten blue links, but rather an answer with three to five sources. As a GEO agency, we work to ensure that your company is one of these sources. We measure progress, and we do not promise anything we cannot deliver.
The short answer
A GEO agency optimises websites and brands for generative AI systems. GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation: content, technology and mentions are built so that ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and the AI Overviews cite your company as a trustworthy source. At STARK, working together begins with a fixed-price GEO audit.
At a glance
GEO
- Service
- Measuring AI visibility, citable content, structured data, building mentions (digital PR), monthly reporting
- Systems
- ChatGPT and ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Google Gemini and AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Claude
- Who it is for
- B2B and SMEs with complex offerings, software vendors, consultancies, specialist service providers
- Offer
- Fixed-price GEO audit, followed by ongoing support, combined with SEO if you wish
- Initial consultation
- Free 30-minute call in which we check your current visibility in AI answers live
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services
What we deliver for you as a GEO agency.
Generative Engine Optimisation consists of four interlinked areas. We list them separately here so that you can see exactly what we are working on.
C
Content that gets cited
We structure content semantically so that language models can adopt individual passages as answers: the question as the heading, the answer in the first sentences, figures with sources, definitions without waffle.
E
Brand and mentions
AI systems recommend brands that appear beyond their own website: in trade media, directories, reviews and comparisons. With digital PR, we build these mentions rather than just counting backlinks.
T
Technology and structured data
We use technical SEO to ensure that AI crawlers such as GPTBot and PerplexityBot can access your pages and render them correctly. This is complemented by Schema.org markup, an llms.txt file and a site architecture that clearly separates topics.
systems
How AI systems choose their sources.
Every system searches differently. A GEO strategy that treats them all the same squanders most of its impact.
Google AI Overviews
The Google index decides
AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on classic Google Search and favour pages that already rank well. This is where solid SEO pays off most directly.
ChatGPT
Bing plus training knowledge
For current questions, ChatGPT searches via Bing; for recommendations, it draws on training data. Brands that appear there frequently and consistently are more firmly anchored.
Perplexity
Cites transparently
Perplexity shows its sources openly and rewards pages with clear statements, figures and evidence. Changes take effect fastest here, often within a few weeks.
Gemini & Copilot
Both worlds
Google Gemini combines a search index with a language model, and Microsoft Copilot does the same with Bing. If you are visible in Google and Bing and known as a brand, you will appear in both.
process
How we work.
Four phases, each with a result you can hold in your hands.
01 · Audit
Measuring the baseline
We build a prompt set from your customers’ questions and use it to evaluate performance across all four major AI systems, including comparisons with the competition. This is complemented by a technical check for AI crawlers. The end result is a prioritised roadmap.
02 · Foundation
Technology and structure
Technical SEO, structured data, llms.txt, author profiles and a site architecture that clearly positions each topic. Result: your website is readable by language models.
03 · Content
Reworking for citability
Existing pages are given an answer structure and evidence, and missing topics are added. In parallel, we work on mentions in trade media and directories so that your brand is named more often.
04 · Reporting
Refining every month
Every month we report how many questions you are named for, how much traffic comes from AI systems and which enquiries result from it. What works, we expand. What doesn't, we discuss openly.
investment
How much does a GEO agency cost?
The costs depend on the size of the domain, the number of topics and the languages involved. You will receive a specific quote following the free audit call.
GEO audit
Fixed price. Visibility measurement across the four major AI systems, competitor comparison, technical check, content analysis and a roadmap you can continue working with even without us.
Ongoing GEO support
Implementation of the roadmap: content restructuring, new citable pages, structured data, digital PR for brand mentions, monthly reporting on AI visibility. Cancellable on a monthly basis.
SEO + GEO combined
Classic search engine optimisation and GEO from one team, because both build on the same foundation and reinforce each other.
selection
GEO agency comparison 2026: how to recognise a good agency.
In 2026, the market is full of GEO agencies that were pure SEO agencies a year ago. Some have mastered the subject; others have simply renamed their website. Here are eight questions that reveal the difference, even if you ultimately choose a different provider.
Are measurements taken before the start?
A good GEO agency shows you which questions you currently appear for in AI answers and which you don't. Without a baseline measurement, any later success cannot be proven.
Is SEO the foundation?
Generative systems read the same sources as Google and Bing. Anyone selling GEO without technical SEO and without content work is skipping the step without which nothing works.
Does the agency understand your business?
The agency should know your products, speak your industry's language and understand how your customers make decisions. Without industry understanding, you get content that is linguistically correct yet convinces no one, not even an AI.
Does it think beyond the website?
AI systems expect signals from outside your domain: trade media, directories, reviews, comparisons. A GEO strategy that only optimises your own website stops halfway.
Are prices listed on the website?
Agencies that only reveal prices in a sales meeting usually have a reason. Reputable providers give ranges and explain what the price depends on.
Are AI-generated texts sold?
A hundred automatically generated pages are precisely the kind of content that Google penalises and that language models do not cite. Ask who writes the texts and who checks them for accuracy.
What does the reporting look like?
Ask for a sample report. It should show mentions per question, competitors, traffic from AI systems and enquiries, not just a visibility index without context.
Are there any guarantees?
If so, walk away. No one can guarantee that ChatGPT will name a particular brand. An honest agency talks about probabilities and timeframes, not placements.
What Generative Engine Optimisation means.
Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO for short, is the discipline companies use to build their visibility in generative AI systems. The term comes from a 2023 Princeton University study and has become established in Germany alongside LLMO (Large Language Model Optimisation) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation). All three describe the same goal: when a user asks ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini a question, your brand should appear in the answer, as a source, a recommendation or a definition. In online marketing, the GEO agency is therefore the specialist complement to the SEO agency: search engines and language models read the same sources but weight each signal differently.
The difference from traditional SEO lies less in the measures taken and more in the unit of focus. SEO optimises pages for rankings in a list. GEO optimises passages and brands for an answer that a language model compiles from multiple sources. Large Language Models assess clarity, evidence and consistency: if a statement on your website is corroborated elsewhere – for example, in specialist media or directories – the likelihood of it being included increases. We have summarised what changes in detail and what remains the same under GEO vs. SEO; we explain optimisation for the language models themselves under LLMO.
Which GEO agency is the best?
The honest answer: the one that understands your business, measures before starting and states its prices. Comparison lists of the best GEO agencies in Germany help you get your bearings but are no substitute for a conversation. Check whether an agency treats GEO as a discipline in its own right with its own measurement, or merely as an add-on to its existing SEO service. And check whether it has positioned its own brand in AI answers: a GEO agency that doesn't itself appear in ChatGPT and Perplexity has not yet kept its own promise. Good technology alone won't get you into the answers; you also need content that a language model classifies as trustworthy. AI-assisted analyses help with optimisation, but they don't replace knowing how a Google ranking comes about.
We put our cards on the table in this comparison. STARK has been operating as an SEO agency in Heidelberg since 2016, runs its own portals with several million visitors a year and has been measuring the AI visibility of these portals since 2025. Everything we offer you as a GEO agency, we have tested on our own projects first. What didn't work there, we don't sell.
Which companies stand to benefit from GEO.
The biggest beneficiaries are B2B companies and SMEs with complex products: software vendors, industrial suppliers, consultancies, specialist service providers and practices with high order values. In these fields, questions such as “Which provider suits a company of our size?” are now put to AI assistants, and the answer names three to five providers. If you are on that list, you receive enquiries from customers who are already pre-qualified. For purely local businesses, the Google Business Profile is currently the more important lever; for that, our local SEO agency is the right place to go.
At the same time, competition in AI answers is still thin in most industries. Brands that start building their brand signals and content for generative systems in 2026 secure a lead that competitors will only be able to close later with considerably more effort. We see this in our own measurements: the sources AI systems cite change more slowly than Google rankings.
What we don't promise as a GEO agency.
No agency can guarantee that a language model will name your brand. Answers vary depending on the wording, and providers change their systems without notice. What we do commit to: a clean baseline measurement, measures that demonstrably increase the likelihood of a mention, and reporting that shows progress and stagnation alike. We usually see first mentions in the live-searching systems after six to twelve weeks, and in ChatGPT after three to six months. If you need results faster, combine GEO with Google Ads and build both in parallel.
Read more about GEO and AI visibility.
AI SEO AgencySEO for Google and AI systems from a single team
GEO vs. SEODifferences, similarities and why you need both
ChatGPT SEOHow companies are mentioned in ChatGPT responses
LLMOLarge Language Model Optimisation explained simply
Check your AI visibilityFree check: Where does the AI mention you today?
Technical SEOThe foundation for Google and AI crawlers
faq
Frequently asked questions.
What is a GEO agency?
A GEO agency is an agency specialising in Generative Engine Optimisation. It optimises websites, content and brand signals so that generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini and AI Overviews cite a company as a source or recommendation. This includes measuring AI visibility, citable content, structured data and building mentions outside the company’s own website.
How much does a GEO agency cost?
At STARK, GEO starts with a fixed-price audit, followed by ongoing support, combined with classic SEO if you wish. You will receive a concrete quote after the free audit call. On the market, hourly rates for specialist GEO agencies range from €100 to €200; serious support is hardly feasible for less than around €1,000 a month.
What is the difference between SEO and GEO?
SEO optimises pages for rankings in a results list on Google or Bing. GEO optimises passages and brands for AI answers that a language model assembles from several sources. The foundation is the same: crawlable technology, substantial content, authority through mentions. GEO adds citability, brand signals beyond the website and a different way of measuring.
GEO, LLMO, AEO: what is the difference?
In practice, none that would change your decision. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) emphasises generative search systems, Large Language Model Optimisation (LLMO) the language models behind them, and Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) answer engines such as Perplexity. Some agencies also speak of GAIO or AIO. It always means the same work with the same goal.
How quickly does Generative Engine Optimisation take effect?
Systems that search in real time respond quickly: in Perplexity and the AI Overviews, we often see the first mentions after six to twelve weeks. ChatGPT also generates recommendations based on training data; there, it usually takes three to six months for new brand signals to take effect. We expect reliable results across all systems after six to nine months.
How do you measure GEO success?
Using a fixed set of prompts comprising your customers’ questions, which we run monthly against ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Overviews. This reveals the proportion of questions in which your brand is mentioned, compared with your competitors. Added to this is the traffic from AI systems, identifiable via the referrer, and the enquiries that result from it. We also report on Google rankings.
Do I need GEO if my SEO is working well?
In that case, you partly have it already. Good rankings on Google and Bing are a prerequisite for being cited, but not a guarantee: language models favour passages with a direct answer structure and brands that appear beyond their own website. A GEO audit shows within a few days whether your existing visibility is already reaching AI answers or whether the gap is large.
Is a GEO agency worthwhile for SMEs?
Yes, for SMEs with complex offerings and customers beyond their region, because competition in AI answers is still thin and a single mention can bring many pre-qualified enquiries. For purely local businesses relying on walk-in customers, the Google Business Profile is currently more important. We will tell you in the initial consultation which group you belong to.
next step
Where does AI name your brand today? We'll check it live.
In the free 30-minute call, we put your customers' questions to the AI systems and look together at who gets named. Afterwards, we will tell you honestly whether GEO is worthwhile for you.
