How You Can Leverage GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) to Dominate Search in 2025

Search is evolving—again. With generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity becoming go-to sources for information, traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is no longer enough. Now it’s time to merge SEO & GEO to dominate search.

Why does GEO need Proper SEO?

Generative engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity crawl or source content from the web and different cited sites like Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn, YouTube, NYTimes, etc (1). Web content is often ranked or discovered via traditional SEO signals like:

Domain authority
Page load speed
Mobile-friendliness
Keyword relevance
Backlinks and citations, etc

Moreover 200 signals work behind the web content visibility and ranking. Structured SEO helps a content get easily indexed on the web or get visible by clear structure (H1, H2, etc), Schema markup (FAQ, HowTo, Article, etc), Author bios for expertise, External links to reputable sources, Internal linking to relevant content, readable and skimmable formats.

These SEO techniques make it easier for AI bot to extract accurate and useful answers. Which is exactly what GEO wants to achieve. That’s why every SEO enthusiast says “SEO is the foundation, GEO is the evolution.”

How AI Chatbots Crawl Information?

Currently there are many AI engines present but most famous is Google AI, ChatGPT, Perplexity, etc. We will dive deep into how ChatGPT, Google AI, and Perplexity works.

All AI engines work in a similar model, let’s dive in.

Advanced AI chatbots can access the internet in real-time, but only if the feature is turned on and users allows it. When browsing is enabled, it works like this:

The chatbots sends a query to a search engine or on vast database
It looks for authoritative & UGC content
Than it summarize the content and represent it

Not every Chatbots work in the same model but it reflects the same way. All chatbots want to represent the better content to the users. As Google AI has its own database but other Open Sources like ChatGPT and Perplexity don’t have databases like Google but they have the features to read contents of all over the platforms.

That’s the reason ChatGPT & Perplexity look for Authoritative & UGC sources to generate the responses.

Recently SEMRush share a report of most cited domains in Google AI overviews,

Img: This image is source from SEMRush

It shows that most of the platforms are based on User Generated Content.

Why AI Engines Willing to Represent UGC Content?

AI chatbots and the companies behind them actively collect user-generated content (UGC) because it’s a powerful fuel for improving performance and creating better user experiences. Let’s deep dive into why UGC matters:

Training & Fine-Tuning Models

UGC offers real, diverse examples of how people speak, ask questions, and express opinions. By learning from this, chatbots improve their natural language understanding and conversational flow. These textual contributions become robust training substrates. Fine-grain data that helps large language models (LLMs) improve their understanding of idiomatic expressions, contemporary slang, industry jargon, and emergent topics. (2)

Marketing & Social Proof

As consumers trust organic, user-generated content more than traditional advertising in 92% of cases, as the Nielsen Consumer Trust Index shows. Moreover, according to 93% of marketers, UGC performs better than branded content, as it is created by real people and, as a result, is perceived as more authentic and unbiased. (3)

User Generated Content helps LLMs model to understand more accurate and human natural opinion and give real world content what users want to see. I think this is the main reason AI engines are willing to grab content from Quora, Reddit, LinkedIn and basically they follow the EEAT Principle.

How We Can Do GEO for Hotel & Hospitality Business?

We can do Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) specifically for hotels and hospitality business by getting more citations, building authority, and gathering user-generated content (UGC). Let’s dive into each section on how we can do this.

Build Topical & Local Authority

We can create high-quality conversational content like blog-posts, FAQs and local guides in natural language that directly answer traveler queries. Add author bios, credentials and cite authoritative sources to build trust with AI platforms.

How can we find related Queries or Questions to answer or write blogs?

We can find related queries or questions on SEMRush > Keyword Magic Tool > Questions.

SEMRush keyword Research dashboard showing only broad match Question

Another way is we can look into Google SERPs People Also Ask section. This section has a huge collection of real questions with answers with sources. We can see who (competitors) is replaying the questions.

Use Structured Data and Schema Markup

We can include SchemaMarkup like FAQ, Hotel or Local Business, Reviews and specific details like “Does this hotel allow pets?”, “Does it have EV charging?”. This helps AI know where to look when composing responses.

Build Citation as Much as Possible

As I discuss in above, AI engines pull data from across the internet, not just only our website’s. That includes review platforms, social media, Google Business Profiles, third-party listings, and even media coverage. A complete and up-to-date digital presence is essential for strong GEO.

We can improve content visibility in GE (generative engine) by including:

Citations
Quotations from relevant sources, and
Statistics in our content

This inclusion can significantly boost source visibility. (4)

Also we have to get top listed on:

Booking.com
Airbnb
Expedia
Hotels.com
Tripadvisor
Vrbo
Hostelworld
Google Hotels and more like these.

This OTA sites are more trustworthy for there:

User Reviews & Rating
Verified Listings
Price Comparisons
Filtering & Search Tools
Booking Protections
Reputation & Track Records

Another research shows that maintaining plenty of Digital footprint can higher the chances of getting recommended by AI engines. Those are:

Have your own website
Listed on Tripadvisor
Listed on Booking.com
Featured on YouTube
Featured in a travel blog
Listed on Agoda
Mentioned on Reddit
Active on Instagram
Listed on Expedia
Active on TikTok

We can say that, these are the must have citations we had to build and maintain regularly.

Implement LLMs sitemap on Website

We have done experiments so far on LLMs sitemap implementation. Our ongoing analysis, while not yet yielding a definitive correlation, is providing intriguing insights into the emergence of AI search as a significant traffic source. Specifically, we have observed an increasing presence of AI search platforms, notably ChatGPT, being identified as direct referral sources within our Google Analytics data.

GA4 dashboard of showing ChatGPT as First user channel group

Adding AI share buttons to your Content

Instead of just a “Share on Social” button we can implement some AI share buttons for different purposes. Here is it,

Add ChatGPT share button for generating summary
Add Perplexity share button for Research
Add Claude share button for Analyze

By adding this share button on pages, social posts, anywhere. Users will easily go through these platforms and feed your content link to AI with your prompts. By doing this AI engines can remember you for future citations and it also helps to get memorized by AI. Ultimate results is,

Citations in AI responses
Brand recognition in AI systems
New traffic source beyond Google

How To Create AI Share Buttons with Your Prompts and URL?

You can easily create your AI share button with your prompts by making your Prompts URL-Encoded versions.

Let’s see in 5 steps how you can do this,

1. Go to ChatGPT

2. Write a Prompt with your URL

3. Commend “Make this Prompts for URL-Encoded”

It returns with

4. ChatGPT will generate a URL-Encoded version for your prompts

5. Now copy and replace your Encoded prompts for selected AI chatbots

a. https://www.perplexity.ai/search/?q=”Your URL-Encoded Version”
b. https://chatgpt.com/?q=”Your URL-Encoded Version”
c. https://www.google.com/search?udm=50&aep=11&q=”Your_URL-Encoded_Version”

All done, your final AI share button URL will look like,

Now just copy this link and past to share through your button.

Conclusions: Key Takeaways

Many SEO principles still apply to GEO. But GEO introduces new dimensions — especially around trust signals, content diversity, and contextual relevance. Based on the study’s findings, here are 18 key focus areas to help hotels strengthen their presence and performance in the answer economy.

Get listed on a mix of global, regional and niche OTAs, especially those that align with your audience.
Keep room descriptions, amenities, pricing, and images consistent and up to date across channels to establish trust with AI engines.
Update listings regularly to ensure consistency across platforms.
Ensure that your property name is the same everywhere online to avoid AI treating them as separate entities and diminishing authority.
Maintain a fast, user-friendly website with an integrated booking engine, especially as we move towards an agentic booking experience.
Publish helpful content such as blog posts, travel tips, and local guides.
Use natural, conversational language that mirrors how travelers ask questions and search for information.
Use structured data markup to make content easily indexed by AI systems.
Invest in video content like property tours to increase the likelihood of citations on Perplexity and Gemini.
Encourage satisfied guests to leave reviews on frequently cited platforms and post content, including YouTube reviews, posts in Reddit threads, and mentions in travel blogs.
Respond to reviews in natural, conversational language – these responses may also be processed and referenced by AI.
Monitor and analyze review trends to identify keywords and themes that align with what travelers (and AI) prioritize.
Use review widgets and structured markup on the hotel website to showcase ratings in a machine-readable format.
Build visibility through local media and collaborate with bloggers, influencers, and travel media for authentic exposure.
Seek third-party recognition (e.g., industry awards, travel site listings, sustainability certifications) that boosts credibility in AI citations.
Maintain a presence on forums such as Tripadvisor and Reddit, where traveler conversations take place.
Ensure consistent branding and messaging across all digital touchpoints.
Highlight what sets the property apart, such as design, history, experiential offerings, or ties to local culture.
Showcase guest testimonials and stories to add emotional appeal and conversational context for AI.

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