Dambru / Dambru Ads / GEO / AEO
GEO & AEO: be the brand AI names.
Generative engine optimization (GEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO), delivered by Dambru Ads. The goal is not a ranking. It is a recommendation, repeated, across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude, whenever a buyer asks.
LAST REVIEWED: 15 OCTOBER 2026 · BY DAMBRU ADS (A DAMBRU DIVISION)
tions
GEO and AEO, defined plainly.
GEO (generative engine optimization) means making a brand accurately understood and preferentially recommended inside AI-generated answers. AEO (answer engine optimization) means structuring content so answer engines can extract and quote it directly. Together they replace “rank on Google” with a better question: when a buyer asks AI, does it name you?
| SEO | AEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Position 1–10 in results | Being quoted in the answer box | Being named & recommended in generated answers |
| Main metric | Rank, clicks, traffic | Answer extraction rate | Share of answer across a prompt set |
| Key signals | Links, keywords, technical health | Question headings, direct answers, FAQ schema | Entity consistency, third-party citations, evidence, freshness |
| Where | Google & Bing results | AI Overviews, featured answers, voice | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot |
YOU DO NOT ABANDON SEO. AI ENGINES STILL LEARN FROM CRAWLABLE, AUTHORITATIVE PAGES. GEO BUILDS ON IT AND AIMS HIGHER IN THE SAME MOTION.
chooses
How AI engines decide who to name.
Different engines, different appetites. A serious programme audits and optimises per engine rather than chasing a blended score.
| Engine | How it tends to choose | What we emphasise |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Brand-entity recognition learned from widely published sources; browsing mode retrieves live pages. Low overlap with Google's top 10. | Entity consistency everywhere, mentions in sources ChatGPT already trusts, use-case content that names the scenario and the brand. |
| Perplexity | Real-time retrieval with explicit citations; rewards freshness and quotable, sourced statements. | Recently updated pages, statistics with named sources, standalone sentences an engine can lift without paraphrasing you. |
| Gemini | Google-ecosystem signals: entity data, reviews, video and local presence. | Consistent business entity, review quality and recency, structured data, local accuracy where relevant. |
| Claude | Conservative, depth-preferring; sceptical of thin or hype-led content. | Genuine expertise, transparent methods, claims that survive scrutiny, well-referenced long-form. |
Three rules hold across all four: extractable beats eloquent (a direct, self-contained answer gets quoted; a wall of prose gets paraphrased or skipped), third-party agreement compounds (if several trusted sources name the same brands, AI repeats them), and consistency is identity (if your name, services and facts differ across the web, the model hesitates, and names someone clearer).
programme
What a Dambru Ads GEO/AEO programme includes.
100+ prompt visibility audit
Your category's real buyer questions, run across four engines and recorded: mentioned or not, position, sentiment, and which sources were cited. This becomes the baseline every later number is judged against.
Entity optimisation
One canonical version of who you are, name, services, location, proof, aligned across your site, profiles, directories and structured data, so machines stop hesitating.
Answer-ready content
Pages and articles built to be quoted: a 40–60 word direct answer under every major heading, question-shaped sub-headings, comparison tables, named evidence and honest FAQs.
Citation & proof building
Mentions in the publications, directories and round-ups AI already cites in your category; review quality and recency treated as the ranking factors they now are.
Weekly share-of-answer scorecard
The same prompt set, re-run weekly, per engine: share of answer, citation wins, AI-referral traffic, enquiries. You see movement, not adjectives.
Paid + outreach, when useful
ChatGPT Ads testing reveals which prompts convert; GEO then owns them organically. HRSMS makes sure the resulting leads are answered in minutes, not days.
MEASUREMENT NOTE: SHARE OF ANSWER IS CALCULATED ACROSS THE AGREED PROMPT SET ONLY. ANYONE QUOTING A SINGLE PERCENTAGE WITHOUT SHOWING THE PROMPT LIST IS SELLING YOU A NUMBER, NOT A MEASUREMENT.
prompts
One city isn't one prompt. It's a prompt set.
For any business serving a local market, in the US, the EU or elsewhere, a GEO audit that only tests “best [category] in [one city]” is measuring a fraction of demand. Buyers split their intent across neighbourhoods, suburbs and nearby towns, and AI answers each version separately.
| Layer | Example prompts |
|---|---|
| City | “best family dentist in Austin”, “top-rated roofers in Leeds” |
| Suburb / nearby town | “best family dentist in [suburb]”, “roofers near [town]”, the place names your buyers actually use |
| Metro / near-me | “best dentist in [metro area]”, “roofers near me” (asked from inside your market) |
| Comparison | “[You] vs [competitor], which do people recommend?” |
Each layer needs location-accurate entity data and proof. Claiming every suburb from one address is the fastest way to make an engine distrust all of them, so we build the honest version: win where you genuinely serve, in the order buyers actually ask.
Reading & references
- Dambru Field Notes, What GEO and AEO actually are (Oct 2026)
- AEO Guide 2026, answer-first structure, share of answer, engine-by-engine citation logic
- Generative Engine Optimization: The Complete 2026 Guide, measurement and audit method
We cite our sources on our own service pages for the same reason we will build citations for yours: AI engines trust what they can verify.
Your category is being answered today.
The only question is whose names are in the answer. The audit shows you, prompt by prompt.
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