seo-geo

# AI Search / GEO Optimization (February 2026)
## Shared Data Cache

**Step 0 -- Check shared data cache:**

Before gathering, check `.seo-cache/` for reusable context from related SEO skills.
Reference: `../seo/references/shared-data-cache.md` for schemas and dependency map.

Check these cache files when present:
- `.seo-cache/site-meta.json` for domain, business type, industry, and crawl context
- `.seo-cache/audit-scores.json` for prior full-audit priorities
- `.seo-cache/pages/{url-slug}/page-analysis.json` for page-level context when a URL is provided

- If found: parse and use clearly valid fields (note "Using cached [X] from [date]")
- If missing, corrupt, or irrelevant: continue with fresh evidence
- If the user says "refresh" or "re-run": ignore cache reads and overwrite on write

## Key Statistics

| Metric | Value | Source |
|--------|-------|--------|
| AI Overviews reach | 1.5 billion users/month across 200+ countries | Google |
| AI Overviews query coverage | 50%+ of all queries | Industry data |
| AI-referred sessions growth | 527% (Jan-May 2025) | SparkToro |
| ChatGPT weekly active users | 900 million | OpenAI |
| Perplexity monthly queries | 500+ million | Perplexity |

## Critical Insight: Brand Mentions > Backlinks

**Brand mentions correlate 3x more strongly with AI visibility than backlinks.**
(Ahrefs December 2025 study of 75,000 brands)

| Signal | Correlation with AI Citations |
|--------|------------------------------|
| YouTube mentions | ~0.737 (strongest) |
| Reddit mentions | High |
| Wikipedia presence | High |
| LinkedIn presence | Moderate |
| Domain Rating (backlinks) | ~0.266 (weak) |

**Only 11% of domains** are cited by both ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews for the same query, so platform-specific optimization is essential.

---

## GEO Analysis Criteria (Updated)

### 1. Citability Score (25%)

**Optimal passage length: 134-167 words** for AI citation.

**Strong signals:**
- Clear, quotable sentences with specific facts/statistics
- Self-contained answer blocks (can be extracted without context)
- Direct answer in first 40-60 words of section
- Claims attributed with specific sources
- Definitions following "X is..." or "X refers to..." patterns
- Unique data points not found elsewhere

**Weak signals:**
- Vague, general statements
- Opinion without evidence
- Buried conclusions
- No specific data points

### 2. Structural Readability (20%)

**92% of AI Overview citations come from top-10 ranking pages**, but 47% come from pages ranking below position 5, demonstrating different selection logic.

**Strong signals:**
- Clean H1->H2->H3 heading hierarchy
- Question-based headings (matches query patterns)
- Short paragraphs (2-4 sentences)
- Tables for comparative data
- Ordered/unordered lists for step-by-step or multi-item content
- FAQ sections with clear Q&A format

**Weak signals:**
- Wall of text with no structure
- Inconsistent heading hierarchy
- No lists or tables
- Information buried in paragraphs

### 3. Multi-Modal Content (15%)

Content with multi-modal elements sees **156% higher selection rates**.

**Check for:**
- Text + relevant images
- Video content (embedded or linked)
- Infographics and charts
- Interactive elements (calculators, tools)
- Structured data supporting media

### 4. Authority & Brand Signals (20%)

**Strong signals:**
- Author byline with credentials
- Publication date and last-updated date
- Citations to primary sources (studies, official docs, data)
- Organization credentials and affiliations
- Expert quotes with attribution
- Entity presence in Wikipedia, Wikidata
- Mentions on Reddit, YouTube, LinkedIn

**Weak signals:**
- Anonymous authorship
- No dates
- No sources cited
- No brand presence across platforms

### 5. Technical Accessibility (20%)

**AI crawlers do NOT execute JavaScript.** Server-side rendering is critical.

**Check for:**
- Server-side rendering (SSR) vs client-only content
- AI crawler access in robots.txt
- llms.txt file presence and configuration
- RSL 1.0 licensing terms

---

## AI Crawler Detection

Check `robots.txt` for these AI crawlers:

| Crawler | Owner | Purpose |
|---------|-------|---------|
| GPTBot | OpenAI | ChatGPT web search |
| OAI-SearchBot | OpenAI | OpenAI search features |
| ChatGPT-User | OpenAI | ChatGPT browsing |
| ClaudeBot | Anthropic | Claude web features |
| PerplexityBot | Perplexity | Perplexity AI search |
| CCBot | Common Crawl | Training data (often blocked) |
| anthropic-ai | Anthropic | Claude training |
| Bytespider | ByteDance | TikTok/Douyin AI |
| cohere-ai | Cohere | Cohere models |

**Recommendation:** Allow GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot for AI search visibility. Block CCBot and training crawlers if desired.

---

## llms.txt Standard

The emerging **llms.txt** standard provides AI crawlers with structured content guidance.

**Location:** `/llms.txt` (root of domain)

**Format:**
```
# Title of site
> Brief description

## Main sections
- [Page title](url): Description
- [Another page](url): Description

## Optional: Key facts
- Fact 1
- Fact 2
```

**Check for:**
- Presence of `/llms.txt`
- Structured content guidance
- Key page highlights
- Contact/authority information

---

## RSL 1.0 (Really Simple Licensing)

New standard (December 2025) for machine-readable AI licensing terms.

**Backed by:** Reddit, Yahoo, Medium, Quora, Cloudflare, Akamai, Creative Commons

**Check for:** RSL implementation and appropriate licensing terms.

---

## Platform-Specific Optimization

| Platform | Key Citation Sources | Optimization Focus |
|----------|---------------------|-------------------|
| **Google AI Overviews** | Top-10 ranking pages (92%) | Traditional SEO + passage optimization |
| **ChatGPT** | Wikipedia (47.9%), Reddit (11.3%) | Entity presence, authoritative sources |
| **Perplexity** | Reddit (46.7%), Wikipedia | Community validation, discussions |
| **Bing Copilot** | Bing index, authoritative sites | Bing SEO, IndexNow |

---

## Ou