SEO/GEO Optimization

Optimize web content for both traditional search engines (Google, Bing) and AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Claude).

GEO = Generative Engine Optimization - Optimizing content to be cited by AI search engines.

Key Insight: AI search engines don't rank pages - they cite sources. Being cited is the new ranking #1.

When to Use

• Auditing a website's SEO/GEO status

• Optimizing content for AI search engine citations

• Implementing or fixing structured data (JSON-LD, Schema.org)

• Researching keywords and competitor strategies

• Ensuring AI bots can crawl your site

• Adding meta tags, Open Graph, Twitter Cards

• Improving content structure for both humans and AI

Don't use for:

• General content writing without SEO focus (use creative-writing skill)

• Backend API performance (use performance-optimizer)

Workflow

digraph seo_geo { rankdir=TB; "Audit current state" -> "Keyword research"; "Keyword research" -> "GEO optimization"; "GEO optimization" -> "Traditional SEO"; "Traditional SEO" -> "Validate & monitor"; "Validate & monitor" -> "Audit current state" [label="iterate", style=dashed]; }

Step 1: Website Audit

Get the target URL and analyze current SEO/GEO status.

Quick technical check:

Check meta tags and schema markup

curl -sL "https://example.com" | grep -E "<title>|<meta name="description"|<meta property="og:|application/ld+json" | head -20

Check robots.txt - verify AI bots are allowed

curl -s "https://example.com/robots.txt"

Check sitemap structure

curl -s "https://example.com/sitemap.xml" | head -50

AI bots to verify access for:

Bot Service

Googlebot Google

Bingbot Bing / Copilot

PerplexityBot Perplexity

ChatGPT-User ChatGPT with browsing

ClaudeBot / anthropic-ai Claude

GPTBot OpenAI

Step 2: Keyword Research

Use WebSearch to research target keywords:

• {keyword} keyword difficulty site:ahrefs.com OR site:semrush.com

• {keyword} search volume {current_year}

• site:{competitor.com} {keyword}

Analyze search volume, difficulty, competitor strategies, long-tail opportunities, and international keyword conflicts.

Step 3: GEO Optimization (AI Search Engines)

Apply the 9 Princeton GEO Methods (see reference/geo-methods.md):

Method Boost Priority

Cite Sources +40% Must-have

Statistics Addition +37% Must-have

Quotation Addition +30% Should-have

Authoritative Tone +25% Should-have

Fluency Optimization +15-30% Must-have

Easy-to-understand +20% Should-have

Technical Terms +18% Context-dependent

Unique Words +15% Nice-to-have

Keyword Stuffing -10% AVOID

Best combination: Fluency + Statistics = Maximum boost

Content structure for AI citation:

• "Answer-first" format (direct answer at top)

• Clear H1 > H2 > H3 hierarchy

• Bullet points and numbered lists

• Tables for comparison data

• Short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max)

FAQPage schema adds +40% AI visibility. See templates/schema-faqpage.json.

Step 4: Traditional SEO

Apply meta tags, Open Graph, Twitter Cards, and JSON-LD schema markup. See templates/meta-tags.md for copy-paste templates.

Quick checks:

• H1 contains primary keyword

• Images have descriptive alt text

• Internal links to related content

• External links have rel="noopener noreferrer"

• Mobile-friendly layout

• Page loads in < 3 seconds

Step 5: Validate & Monitor

Schema validation

open "https://search.google.com/test/rich-results?url={encoded_url}" open "https://validator.schema.org/?url={encoded_url}"

Check indexing

open "https://www.google.com/search?q=site:{domain}" open "https://www.bing.com/search?q=site:{domain}"

Generate report using checklists/seo-geo-audit.md.

Platform-Specific Quick Reference

Each AI search engine has different citation criteria. See reference/platform-optimization.md for full details.

Platform Key Factor Critical Action

ChatGPT Domain authority Update content within 30 days

Perplexity Semantic relevance FAQPage schema + PDF hosting

Google AI Overview E-E-A-T Authoritative citations (+132%)

Copilot / Bing Bing indexing Page speed < 2s

Claude Brave Search High factual density

Common Mistakes

Mistake Fix

Blocking AI bots in robots.txt Allow PerplexityBot, GPTBot, ClaudeBot explicitly

Keyword stuffing Reduces visibility by 10%. Use natural language.

Missing FAQPage schema Adds +40% AI visibility. Always include for FAQ content.

No statistics or citations GEO research shows +37-40% boost from data and sources

Ignoring Brave Search Claude uses Brave, not Google. Ensure Brave indexing.

Stale content ChatGPT cites 3.2x more from content updated within 30 days

Collaboration

• Works with: content-strategist agent (strategy + keyword planning), creative-writing skill (content quality)

• Complements: Content strategy with technical SEO implementation and GEO methodology

• Outputs: Optimized markup, schema, audit reports, GEO-enhanced content

Supporting Documentation

reference/ - Detailed optimization guides

• geo-methods.md - Princeton GEO research (9 methods in depth)

• platform-optimization.md - Per-platform citation criteria

checklists/ - Audit and validation

• seo-geo-audit.md - Complete SEO/GEO audit checklist with report template

templates/ - Copy-paste ready markup

• meta-tags.md - Meta tags, Open Graph, Twitter Cards

• schema-faqpage.json - FAQPage JSON-LD template

• schema-templates.md - All JSON-LD schema types