A GEO checklist is a list of the concrete tasks that make AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini and Grok more likely to find your pages, trust them and cite them. This one has 30 steps grouped into five areas: crawlability, content, third-party sources, entity and brand, and measurement. Each step fits on one line and links to the guide that explains it in depth.
Generative engine optimization isn’t one big project. It is a set of small checks, most of which you can do in an afternoon, plus a few habits you keep. Use this page as a working document: go through it once, note what’s missing, then come back to it each quarter.
Key takeaways
- Start with crawlability: an assistant can’t cite a page its search bot was never allowed to read.
- Write pages that answer one question clearly, in quotable sentences, with facts that stay current.
- Assistants often cite third-party pages for “best X for Y” questions, so review sites, roundups and community threads belong on your checklist.
- Describe your company the same way everywhere, so assistants can tell what you are and who you serve.
- Measure with a fixed set of buyer prompts, run repeatedly across several assistants, before and after each change.
How to use this checklist
Work through the five areas in order. Crawlability problems block everything else, and measurement only makes sense once you know what you changed. If you’re new to the topic, read what generative engine optimization is first, then come back. For a planned approach rather than a list, see our GEO strategy guide.
Mark each item as done, not applicable, or to do. None of these steps guarantees a citation, because no assistant publishes its selection rules. Together, they remove the obstacles that are documented and make your pages easier to use.
Crawlability: let AI assistants read your pages
- Allow AI search bots in robots.txt, such as OAI-SearchBot, Claude-SearchBot and PerplexityBot. See AI crawlers and robots.txt.
- Decide on training bots separately (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, Google-Extended), using the AI robots.txt generator.
- Check your CDN and firewall for “block AI bots” settings that stop bots before robots.txt is read. See Claude SEO.
- Make sure key pages are indexed in Google and eligible for a snippet. See getting cited in Google AI Overviews.
- Put your key facts in the HTML text, not only in images, PDFs or content that appears after a script runs. See Grok SEO.
- Keep an XML sitemap with accurate dates, and add an llms.txt file if you want one. See llms.txt explained.
OpenAI is explicit on the first point: its bots documentation says that “sites that are opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers”. Other vendors describe similar effects for their search bots, though not all of them publish a bot name.
Content: write pages AI assistants can quote
- Map your buyer prompts and the narrower searches behind them. See query fan-out explained.
- Answer the question in the first two sentences of each page. See how to write content AI cites.
- Write self-contained sentences with specific facts, such as prices, limits and integrations. See how AI assistants choose sources.
- Publish honest comparison and “best X for Y” pages that include competitors. See how to rank in ChatGPT.
- Keep pricing and plan details on a public, crawlable page. See GEO for SaaS.
- Show an updated date and keep facts current on pages that answer time-sensitive questions. See how to rank in Perplexity.
- Use headings, lists and tables that mirror real questions. See answer engine optimization.
- Add structured data that matches the visible text. See schema markup for AI search.
On the last point, Google’s guide to AI features and your website recommends “making sure your structured data matches the visible text on the page”, and says there are no additional requirements or special optimizations needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
Third-party sources: be present where assistants look
- List the domains assistants cite for your prompts before you pitch anyone. See the AI visibility audit.
- Get listed and reviewed on the review sites those answers cite. See getting cited through review sites.
- Ask to be included in the roundups and “best of” articles already cited. See backlinks vs brand mentions.
- Take part in community threads honestly, under your own name and with disclosure. See how AI assistants choose sources.
- Keep directory and marketplace listings complete and consistent. See AI visibility for local businesses.
- Aim for mentions in relevant context, not only for links. See backlinks vs brand mentions.
Entity and brand: make it clear who you are
- Write one description of what you do and for whom, and reuse it everywhere. See entity SEO for AI.
- Add Organization structured data with links to your official profiles. See schema markup for AI search.
- Publish an About page with plain facts: founders, founding year, location, what you sell. See entity SEO for AI.
- Ask assistants what they say about you, and fix errors at their source. See fixing wrong AI information about your brand.
- Keep official profiles current, including LinkedIn and X, which Grok can search. See Grok SEO.
Measurement: know whether it’s working
- Choose 10 to 30 buyer prompts without your brand name. See choosing prompts to track and the AI prompt generator.
- Run them several times in several assistants, since answers vary between runs. See tracking your brand across AI assistants.
- Track your share of voice against named competitors. See AI share of voice.
- Measure AI referral traffic in your analytics. See tracking AI traffic in GA4.
- Change one thing at a time, re-run the same prompts and report the trend. See measuring GEO ROI.
Where to start if you only have one afternoon
If you can’t do all 30, these five give you a baseline and remove the most common blockers:
| Step | Item | Why it comes first |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Check robots.txt and CDN settings (items 1 and 3) | A blocked search bot can’t cite you at all |
| 2 | Pick your buyer prompts (item 26) | Every other decision depends on what buyers ask |
| 3 | Run them and note the cited domains (items 15 and 27) | Shows where answers come from today |
| 4 | Fix the opening of your three most important pages (item 8) | The answer-first sentence is the easiest passage to quote |
| 5 | Ask assistants what they say about you (item 24) | Wrong facts are worth fixing before anything else |
Run the measurement steps with Citegram
The measurement area is the one most teams skip, because asking dozens of prompts in several assistants by hand is slow. Citegram is a free Chrome extension with a dashboard that does it for you:
- Add your buyer prompts and competitors in the dashboard (items 26 and 28).
- Run them in the real assistants. Citegram asks each prompt in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, Grok and Google AI Overviews, in background tabs, with the accounts already signed in to your browser. No API key, and questions count toward your own plan usage.
- Check mentions and position. Each run records whether your brand was mentioned and where (item 27).
- Review the cited sources. Citegram records the sources each answer cited, the web searches ChatGPT ran, and whether a Google AI Overview appeared (items 7 and 15).
- Follow the trend. Reports show share of voice per brand and per assistant, the most cited domains, and trends over repeated runs (item 30).
First results arrive in about 10 minutes.
FAQ
What is a GEO checklist?
A GEO checklist is a list of tasks that make your pages easier for AI assistants to find, trust and cite. It usually covers crawler access, content structure, third-party sources, brand consistency and measurement. It is a working tool, not a guarantee of being cited.
How is a GEO checklist different from an SEO checklist?
Many items overlap, such as indexing, clear headings and structured data. A GEO checklist adds AI-specific steps: allowing AI search bots, writing quotable passages, getting onto the third-party pages assistants cite, and measuring mentions in AI answers rather than only rankings. Our guide to SEO vs GEO covers the differences.
Which GEO steps should I do first?
Start with crawler access, because a blocked search bot can’t cite you. Then choose your buyer prompts and record which domains assistants cite today. That baseline tells you which content and third-party steps matter most for your category.
How often should I review this checklist?
Go through it fully once, then review it every quarter or after a major site change. Run your tracked prompts more often than that, since AI answers change between runs and over time.
Start with the measurement
Before you work through the other 29 steps, see where you stand today. The free plan tracks one prompt and one competitor across all assistants, forever. Pro adds unlimited prompts and competitors for $10 per seat per month. See pricing.
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