For twenty years, being visible online meant one thing: ranking in Google's top ten. That is no longer true. A growing share of searches now ends without a single click, because the answer was written by an AI: in Google's AI Overviews, in ChatGPT, in Perplexity.
For a Swiss SME, that changes the question. It is no longer only "how do we rank?" but "how do we get cited?"
What GEO actually changes
GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) means optimising for these generative engines. It does not replace SEO; it builds on it. A model can only cite what it was able to read, understand and cross-check.
Three practical differences:
- Structure beats keywords. A model extracts claims, not densities. A page that answers one precise question clearly gets quoted; a page stuffed with semantic variants gets ignored.
- Verifiable sources win. Dated figures, author names, complete legal notices: these are trust signals that weigh heavily when citations are selected.
- Consistency across sources matters. If your address or opening hours differ between your site, your Google Business Profile and a directory, the model arbitrates: often against you.
The local foundation still comes first
In Switzerland, most commercial searches are geographic: "body shop Geneva", "accountant Nyon", "motorcycle dealer Valais". Local search remains the primary lever.
Four things that make the difference:
- A complete, living Google Business Profile: real opening hours, recent photos, replies to reviews. It is often the first result, ahead of your own site.
- One page per location, with the address as text, not only inside an image or a map.
LocalBusinessstructured data, giving both classic and generative engines an unambiguous version of your details.- NAP consistency: name, address and phone identical everywhere.
Writing to be quoted
Content that surfaces in generative answers shares a recognisable shape: an explicit question as the heading, a direct answer in the first two sentences, then the detail.
In practice, prefer "How much does a brochure site cost in Switzerland?" over "Our web packages". And answer for real: "Between CHF 6,000 and 15,000 depending on the number of pages and languages." A numeric range gets quoted; a marketing paraphrase never does.
What you can measure
GEO has a measurement problem: AI citations do not show up in Google Analytics. So we watch indirect signals:
- direct traffic rising with no active campaign;
- brand mentions in answers, tested by hand every month;
- referral traffic from
perplexity.aiorchat.openai.com: small today, but highly qualified.
In short
GEO is not a separate line item to budget for. It is the logical consequence of good technical SEO: a fast, structured site that is honest about its numbers and consistent with its other online presences. Sites that were already well built end up being cited; the others disappear slightly faster than before.
