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Arclign · 2026 · Free Resource

The GEO & AEO Step by Step Guide

50 action items to make your brand visible, citable, and recommended by every major AI search engine — from ChatGPT to Perplexity to Gemini.

📅 Updated March 2026

✅ 50 action items

⏱️ ~45 min to complete

Part 1

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)

25 items

👤

GEO 1: Entity & Brand Clarity

How clearly does AI understand who you are?

0 / 5 complete

Brand name is 100% consistent across your website, Google Business Profile, social media profiles, and all business directories

Your "About" page contains: founding year, HQ location, key team members, mission statement, and a clear description of what you do

Organisation Schema markup (JSON-LD) is live on your homepage, including name, URL, logo, and contact details

Your company's core value proposition is expressed in one clear, factual sentence that AI can quote verbatim

NAP (Name, Address, Phone) is identical across every web property — not just similar, identical

📄

GEO 2: Content Architecture

Is your content built to be quoted and cited by AI?

0 / 5 complete

Key pages open with a direct, concise answer in the first 40–60 words — before any background or context

Page headings are written as natural questions your audience actually asks ("What is X?" not "X Overview")

Long-form content follows a clear structure: Problem → Context → Answer → Evidence → Next Step

Product and service pages explain what it is before pitching why to buy it — AI cannot sell, only describe

You have dedicated comparison pages covering your brand versus named competitors, written factually and without bias

🛡️

GEO 3: Authority & E-E-A-T Signals

Does AI see you as a credible, trustworthy source?

0 / 5 complete

All authored content has a named author with a visible bio, credentials, and a link to their professional profile

Long-form content cites a minimum of 3 reputable external sources per major claim — linked, not just mentioned

All statistics and data points are verified and linked to primary research (not secondary aggregators)

Key topic pages include expert commentary, third-party endorsements, or co-authored credibility signals

Content is reviewed, updated, and date-stamped on at least a quarterly basis — stale content loses AI trust

⚙️

GEO 4: Technical Foundations

Can AI crawlers access and parse your content?

0 / 5 complete

FAQPage schema (JSON-LD) is implemented on every page that contains FAQ content — question and acceptedAnswer included

Article or BlogPosting schema is applied to all editorial and long-form content, including datePublished and dateModified

Core Web Vitals are in the green zone: LCP under 2.5s, CLS under 0.1, FID under 100ms

Key content renders fully server-side — it is not locked behind JavaScript that AI crawlers cannot execute

XML sitemap is complete, up to date, and submitted to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools

📊

GEO 5: AI Engine Monitoring

Are you tracking your AI search visibility?

0 / 5 complete

Your brand is tested monthly across all five major engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Bing Copilot

You have documented which top-20 category queries currently return your brand in AI answers

Citation frequency is logged and trended month over month — you know if you're growing or declining

Competitor citation rates are monitored — you know who is being cited instead of you

AI citation performance is included in your monthly marketing report to leadership

Part 2

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)

25 items

❓

AEO 1: Question Targeting

Are you answering the questions AI gets asked about your category?

0 / 5 complete

You have identified and documented the top 50 questions your target customers ask AI assistants about your category

Each high-priority question has a dedicated answer section on your website, not buried in a long article

Querying "What is [Your Brand]?" in ChatGPT and Perplexity returns an accurate, positive description

Querying "What does [Your Brand] do?" returns your value proposition — not a blank or a competitor

Answer sections lead with the direct response in the opening sentence — not background, not context first

🗄️

AEO 2: Structured Data Implementation

Are you giving AI engines machine-readable signals?

0 / 5 complete

FAQPage schema covers your top 15 most-asked questions — each with a complete question and acceptedAnswer

HowTo schema is implemented on all process, tutorial, and step-by-step content

Product schema includes: name, description, brand, offers (price, currency, availability), and aggregate rating

BreadcrumbList schema is present on all interior pages, helping AI understand your site hierarchy

All schema is validated with Google's Rich Results Test and returns zero errors

✏️

AEO 3: Content Depth & Format

Is your content comprehensive enough to be the definitive source?

0 / 5 complete

Each answer page includes 3–5 related follow-up questions with their own direct answers — AI loves follow-up context

Key answers are available in multiple formats: paragraph summary, bullet list, and where relevant, a comparison table

Your content is more comprehensive than the top 3 ranking competitors on the same query — depth beats brevity

Each key landing page has a "Quick Answer" or "TL;DR" box within the first 100px — AI extracts these directly

Pages covering rapidly-changing topics are updated within 30 days of relevant industry changes or new data

✅

AEO 4: Source Credibility

Do authoritative sources back up your content?

0 / 5 complete

Every factual claim links to a primary source — not a blog that cites another blog that cites the original

Your domain earns links from 10+ high-authority referring domains relevant to your industry

A dedicated Press or Media page exists — journalists and AI systems both use this to verify your credibility

Author credentials are independently verifiable through external profiles (LinkedIn, academic, industry body)

You are mentioned or cited in at least 5 industry publications or authoritative third-party websites

⭐

AEO 5: Distribution & Amplification

Is your brand appearing in the content AI is trained on?

0 / 5 complete

You have an active distribution plan targeting channels that feed AI training data: Reddit, Quora, GitHub, LinkedIn articles

Brand mentions in third-party publications are tracked, encouraged, and responded to consistently

You contribute guest content or expert commentary to 3+ authoritative industry publications per quarter

Your social profiles and content link back to the authoritative pages you want AI engines to cite

A quarterly PR strategy actively earns new brand citations, bylines, and mentions across target verticals

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