What GEO means
GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, is the work of getting your brand quoted inside the answers of AI assistants. When a buyer asks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google AI Overviews a question, the system reads a handful of sources and writes one reply. GEO aims to put your page among those sources.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, works on the ranked list of links in a search engine. The two overlap: AI assistants often read pages that already rank, and Google's AI answers draw on Google's own index. They differ in what they reward.
| Question | SEO | GEO |
|---|
| What you want | A position in a list of links | A mention or citation in one answer |
| Main unit | The page | The passage |
| Main measure | Impressions, clicks, position | Appearances in AI answers, cited pages |
| Typical reader action | Click through to the site | Read the answer, sometimes click |
| What gets rewarded | Relevance, links, usefulness | Clear, sourced passages that answer alone |
A brand needs both today. A page that ranks gets read by assistants, and a page that assistants can quote tends to be well structured for search too. Cortex treats them as one pipeline.
What makes a passage quotable
An AI system lifts passages. A passage earns its place when it can stand alone, without the paragraph before it.
| Trait | Weak passage | Quotable passage |
|---|
| Answers one question | Opens with context | Opens with the answer |
| Carries a figure | "Rates are moderate" | States the rate, the year and the source |
| Stands alone | "This one is better" | Names the subject in the sentence |
| Is dated | No date on the page | A visible date and an update log |
| Has a source | No citation | A list of primary sources |
| Has an author | Anonymous | A named expert |
Every article Cortex writes follows those rules, and a condensed version of the answers sits above the body, so a reader who stops there still has the figures.
The loop
Cortex runs as a repeating cycle, and each stage feeds the next.
| Stage | What happens | What it leaves |
|---|
| Research | Maps your semantic field, search intent, competitor gaps and sitemap | A list of pages to write or fix |
| Production | Writes dated, sourced articles with illustrations | A page with links, schema markup and sources |
| Distribution | Publishes to your CMS and your social accounts | Live pages and posts |
| Boost | Earns citations and referring domains | Authority signals |
| Monitoring | Reads Search Console, AI answers and site logs | The next round of research |
The loop keeps going after a page goes live. Each published page gets measured after it goes live.
How an existing page gets updated
Most SEO tools hand you advice. Cortex checks that advice against your own data before it changes a page. A page keeps its address and internal links. Every figure is read on a source during the work, and each change is measured afterwards.
Results on France Épargne
France Épargne is a French savings and insurance brand. Figures below were read on 1 November 2026, in the client's own tools, over the last twelve months unless stated.
| Metric | Result | Source |
|---|
| Google impressions | 9.08M | Google Search Console |
| Clicks from Google | 75.5K | Google Search Console |
| Clicks in the last three months | 32.3K | Google Search Console |
| Average position | 13 | Google Search Console |
| AI citations a day | 10K+ | Search Console and site logs |
| Impressions in Google AI answers since May 2026 | 582K | Google Search Console |
| Domain Rating | 49 | Ahrefs |
| Referring domains | 1.8K | Ahrefs |
| Backlinks | 4.2K | Ahrefs |
| Ad spend | 0 | Client |
The domain started with no organic footprint. Impressions stayed flat at first and rose steeply from the fourth month.
This is a single case. It sits in French finance and insurance, on a site that received daily work, so treat it as evidence of what the engine can do. It predicts nothing for your market.
AI citations per day
France Épargne receives more than 10,000 AI citations a day, read on 1 November 2026.
| Source | Citations a day | Where it is read |
|---|
| Google AI answers | 7,000 | Google Search Console |
| Other assistants | 3,000 | Site logs |
| Total | 10,000+ | |
Google alone has served 582,000 impressions inside its AI answers since May 2026.
Third party trackers see a small part of this volume. Ahrefs Brand Radar tests its own set of prompts, so its count of 3,100 responses across 884 pages measures that sample, and daily volume sits far above it. Each engine behaves differently, so a brand needs a reading per engine.
How to measure GEO
| Signal | Where to read it | What it tells you |
|---|
| AI impressions | Google Search Console, for Google's AI answers | Volume on Google |
| Brand mentions | A brand monitoring tool | Presence across engines |
| Assistant visits | Your site logs, by user agent | Which pages assistants fetch |
| Referral clicks | Your analytics | Visits from assistants |
| Sales calls | Asking how a lead found you | What numbers miss |
Each reading has blind spots, so several together give a fairer picture. Cortex keeps AI bot visits in its reporting, and each target query of an update is followed for 180 days.
Links earned from content
Referring domains matter for both search and AI visibility. Cortex avoids private blog networks, link farms and paid placement. Links come from content other sites choose to cite. Authority earned this way carries less risk when search engines change their rules.
Connecting your site
| Your setup | How Cortex publishes |
|---|
| WordPress, Webflow, Shopify | Native API and plugins |
| Next or Astro | Native API |
| No website yet | The built in CMS |
| Social accounts | Plugins for LinkedIn, X, Instagram and YouTube |
Each client runs as a separate tenant, with its own database, its own encrypted connection and its own settings. Each brand gets a brief that sets its voice, vocabulary and forbidden wordings, and every run reads it first.
Cortex, SEO software or an agency
| Question | SEO software | Agency | Cortex |
|---|
| Who does the work? | Your team | Their team | The engine, with an operator |
| Output | Data and advice | Reports and articles | Published pages, updates and links |
| Pace | As fast as your team | Monthly plan | Daily |
| Monitors AI answers? | Often | Sometimes | Yes, and acts on the reading |
| Links | Tools to find them | Often bought | Earned from content |
A team with strong writers may prefer software and keep the work in house. Cortex fits a brand that wants the whole loop handled and accepts a queue for entry.
What a client provides
- A site, or the decision to use the built in CMS
- Access to Search Console and analytics
- The facts that define the business: offers, prices, legal limits
- A person who answers questions on the brief
- Time, since organic growth builds over months
In regulated sectors, your compliance team should review pages. Cortex checks figures against sources, and legal approval of your communications remains your responsibility.
Next step
Apply for a place or send a brief with your site and your market. For a quick reading of your site's AI readiness, try the free llms.txt tool. Paid traffic sits with Ads, and Analytics measures what happens on the site.