Updated
Updated What changed on
- Added the measurements behind the questions on this page, with their sources and sample sizes.
- Added the Seer Interactive 2026 finding that click-through on AI Overview queries recovered in early 2026, against their own forecast of continued decline.
Every question UK buyers keep asking about AI search.
GEO and AI search advice is currently 60% folklore and 40% useful. This hub strips the folklore. Every answer below links to a long-form page with the source of the claim, and what the data actually says rather than what consultants want it to say.
How to use this hub: jump to the section you need, or skim the headings. Definitions for the jargon, comparisons for the "X vs Y" decisions, how-to for the work itself, troubleshooting if something is broken, cost and timeline for budget conversations, and tool picks at the bottom. Every page has a 30-second answer at the top for AI citation, then the longer version with sources.
What the measurements behind these questions show
of UK Google searches end without a click on anything, the highest rate of the six countries measured and above the United States at 68.0%.
How it was measured: Similarweb mobile and desktop clickstream panel, January to April 2026. Zero-click means no click to anywhere, including to Google's own properties and to paid results. Germany was lowest at 62.1%.
more organic clicks go to a brand cited inside an AI Overview than to one that is not cited on the same query.
How it was measured: 3,119 search terms across 42 client organisations, 25.1M organic and 1.1M paid impressions, June 2024 to September 2025. Informational and educational queries only, which are the ones most exposed to AI Overviews, so this is not a whole-market figure. In absolute terms it is 0.70% against 0.52%. Paid click-through was 91% higher when cited.
is what click-through did in early 2026, against every forecast. Organic click-through on queries showing an AI Overview rose from a floor of 1.3% in December 2025 to 2.4% in February 2026.
How it was measured: 53 brands, 5.47 million tracked queries, 2.43 billion organic impressions and 296.9 million paid impressions, January 2025 to February 2026. Wider than the earlier studies, which covered informational queries only. Seer's own regression model had forecast continued decline and the actuals beat it in both January and February. One dataset and one agency's client base, so treat it as a signal to watch rather than a settled reversal.
35 answers, grouped by what you are trying to work out.
Definitions 9 pages
Start here if the jargon is the blocker. Each definition gives you the plain answer first, then the academic or industry source.
What is generative engine optimisation?
The definitional anchor for the whole category. Plain answer with the academic paper and industry source for the term.
What is answer engine optimisation?
AEO, GEO and LLMO are mostly the same thing in different sales decks. Which term to use depends on who you are talking to.
What is AI search visibility?
How to measure whether your brand actually appears in AI engine answers. Metrics worth tracking, metrics that are vanity, and what a baseline reading takes.
What is llms.txt?
A proposed markdown file at site root that curates content for AI consumption. What mine looks like and what changed since I added it.
What is query fan-out?
The way Google AI Mode and ChatGPT expand one question into many parallel sub-queries, and how to write so you sit in the answer for all of them.
What is RAG and why does it matter for SEO?
Retrieval-augmented generation in plain language. Why your content needs to be retrievable as facts, not just rank-able as pages.
What is WebMCP?
The Model Context Protocol for websites. What it is, where it is going, and whether you should do anything about it yet.
What is the GA4 AI assistant channel?
GA4 now reports AI assistant traffic as its own channel. What counts, what does not, and how to read the numbers.
What does a GEO audit include?
The exact checklist behind a proper GEO audit. Schema, entity, bot access, citation tracking, prompt set, the lot.
Comparisons 8 pages
Pick one of these when the question is which-of-the-two. No vendor-marketing answers, the actual decision criteria.
SEO vs GEO: the real difference
Side-by-side. They overlap more than the marketing makes out. Read this before paying for GEO services as a separate line item.
GEO vs AEO: what is the actual difference?
Two names, mostly the same job. The honest distinction, who uses which term, and why it usually does not matter.
AI Overviews vs AI Mode
Google now has two AI surfaces. How they differ, which one your buyers actually see, and what wins citation in each.
How do I optimise for Google AI Mode?
The practical Google AI Mode guide: query fan-out, source exploration, tracking and what to change on the page.
llms.txt vs robots.txt
Different files, different jobs. One controls access, the other curates content for AI. Both have a place.
Claude vs ChatGPT for research
Which one cites your site, which one hallucinates more, and which one I actually use day-to-day.
ChatGPT vs Perplexity
Both call themselves answer engines. The citation behaviour, source quality and traffic profile are very different.
Ahrefs vs Semrush vs DataForSEO for AI search
Which traditional SEO tool actually pulls its weight for AI search tracking, and where each one falls short.
How-to 5 pages
The work itself. Playbooks, sequencing, the cheap wins first, the expensive ones flagged honestly.
How to do generative engine optimisation
A playbook for the work itself. Entity, schema, sources, community presence, citation tracking. Sequenced so you do the cheap wins first.
How to rank in ChatGPT
Bing-index dependency, GPTBot access, content extraction. What Ahrefs found about Reddit citation rates - less than perception suggests.
How to improve AI search visibility
A consolidated checklist across the four major engines. Schema, named author, source quality, content depth, bot access.
Can I do GEO myself with ChatGPT?
The honest DIY answer. What you can absolutely do yourself, what is a false economy, and where a consultant earns their fee.
How do I measure if GEO is working?
The metrics that move when GEO is genuinely working. Plus the vanity metrics that flatter the agency but tell you nothing.
Troubleshooting 2 pages
Something should be working and is not. Read these before reaching for a bigger budget - the fix is usually free.
Why is my site not showing in ChatGPT?
Five reasons your site is invisible to ChatGPT and the order to fix them in. Most fixes are technical, not editorial.
Why is my site not in AI Overviews?
The Ahrefs data shows 38% of citations come from the top 10, not "almost always". So what actually wins AI Overview eligibility?
Cost and timeline 2 pages
For the budget and planning conversations. UK pricing ranges, realistic timelines by engine, and what to measure when.
How much does GEO cost in the UK?
Real UK pricing ranges for GEO audits, one-off projects and ongoing retainers. With what you should actually be paying for at each tier.
How long does GEO take to show results?
A realistic timeline by engine. ChatGPT moves fastest, Google AI Overviews slowest. What to measure at week 4, month 3 and month 6.
Decisions 3 pages
Should-I questions about your team, your stack, your roadmap. Where the answer changes the shape of the work.
Will GEO replace SEO?
The short answer is no. The longer answer is more interesting and explains where the work actually shifts.
Do I need both an SEO and a GEO consultant?
When two specialists make sense, when one generalist is enough, and how to brief either without paying for overlap.
SEO consultant vs GEO consultant
What each role actually does day-to-day. The deliverables, the tooling, the reporting and where the disciplines meet.
Tools 6 pages
My working picks for 2026. What I pay for, what I trial, what I dropped, and what is still on the watch list.
Best GEO tools UK 2026
My working stack for GEO. What I pay for, what I trial, what I dropped, and why.
Best AI search rank trackers (UK)
Which trackers cover ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews and AI Mode honestly, and which are still padding their feature lists.
Best AI visibility tools UK
Which tools track ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, AI Mode and competitor share of voice without wasting budget.
Best schema generators
The schema generators worth using in 2026, including the ones that get Person, Article and FAQ right out of the box.
Best llms.txt tools
Generators, validators and editors for llms.txt. What I use to keep mine in shape.
Best AI bot detection tools
How to see GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and Googlebot in your logs, and which tools surface them without you running grep.
Want it as one read? The GEO field guide for UK B2B stitches the same material into a single long-form piece - useful if you would rather read top to bottom than jump around the hub.
Jason Burns
Independent UK SEO, GEO and AI consultant. 17 years in search. Portfolio includes 3M, BlackRock, Unilever and E.ON. Owner of SEO Moves Ltd since 2014.
More about Jason →None of these answer your specific question?
Drop me a line with what you are trying to work out. If it deserves a long-form answer it goes into this hub. If it deserves a quick reply, you get that instead.
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