Generative engine optimization: how to get cited when search becomes an answer

For most of the last decade, the goal of search marketing was simple: rank on page one. The search box is turning into an answer box. Ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Google’s AI Overviews a question and you do not get ten blue links — you get one synthesized answer, assembled from the handful of sources the model decided to trust.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the work of becoming one of those trusted sources. It is where I spend much of my time at Health Action Council, and it has reshaped how I think about content. I am not going to invent a traffic percentage for this page. The method is the claim.

What actually moves the needle

Be unambiguous about who you are. Models cite sources they can attribute. A clear entity — a consistent name, bio, and structured data — makes you quotable. Anonymous content rarely gets pulled into an answer. That is why this domain exists, and why the spelling is Iltchev.

Answer the question early. Generative engines favor content that states the answer plainly up front, then supports it. Burying the payoff under 800 words of preamble is an old SEO habit that hurts you here.

Earn citations, not just links. The new currency is being referenced as the source of a claim. That comes from original data, real expertise, and saying something specific enough to quote.

Structure everything. Schema, clean headings, and FAQ blocks help a model parse exactly what you are saying — and parsing is the first step to being cited.

SEO asked, “How do I rank?” GEO asks, “How do I get quoted?” If you are producing content in 2026, that is the question worth obsessing over. Related: this site as the hub and the Rising Talent conversation.