Systems and technology
Generative engine optimisation (GEO)
Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is the practice of making a website and brand easy for AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity to find, understand and cite in their answers.
1 min read · Updated: September 28, 2026
SEO aims to rank pages in Google’s list of results. GEO aims to be included and quoted when someone asks an AI assistant a question, for example “where to stay in York with a dog”. The two overlap, but GEO puts extra weight on clear, factual answers, consistent information about the hotel across the web and structured data that machines can read.
How it works in practice
Example: a guest planning a weekend in the Lake District asks an AI assistant for a quiet hotel with a spa near Windermere. The assistant builds its answer from sources it trusts: the hotel’s own website, reviews, maps and directories. A hotel whose website answers the questions guests actually ask, with up-to-date facilities and prices, is far more likely to be mentioned than one with a vague brochure page.
GEO basics for hotels:
- short, direct answers to real guest questions on the website,
- consistent name, address, facilities and prices everywhere online,
- structured data (schema.org) and an llms.txt file,
- monitoring how AI assistants describe the hotel.
How technology helps
hotelspot offers AI visibility as one of its services for hotels: structured data, llms.txt, content that answers real guest questions, and monitoring of how AI assistants describe the hotel.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the difference between GEO and SEO?
- SEO focuses on ranking in search engine results, while GEO focuses on being cited in answers from AI assistants. Good GEO builds on solid SEO.
- How can a hotel appear in ChatGPT answers?
- By publishing clear, factual answers to guest questions, keeping its details consistent across the web and using structured data, then checking regularly how assistants describe it.
