A plumber in San Antonio told me last month that his call volume dropped 15% this year even though his Google ranking hadn’t changed. He was confused. “I’m still on page one. Why am I getting fewer calls?”

The answer: his customers didn’t stop searching. They stopped searching the old way. Instead of typing “plumber near me” into Google and scanning the results, more of them are asking ChatGPT “who’s a good plumber in San Antonio” or letting Google’s AI Overview answer the question for them. And his business wasn’t showing up in those answers.

That’s where GEO comes in.

What GEO actually means

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It’s the practice of making your business visible to AI-powered search tools — ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, Bing Copilot, and whatever launches next.

Traditional SEO optimizes your website for Google’s algorithm. GEO optimizes your entire online presence so that AI systems recommend you when someone asks a question.

The distinction matters because AI search works differently than traditional search. When someone Googles “best HVAC company in San Antonio,” Google shows a list of ten results. The searcher clicks around, compares, decides. When someone asks ChatGPT the same question, the AI picks 2-3 businesses and presents them as the answer. There’s no list of ten. You’re either mentioned or you don’t exist.

This isn’t a future problem — it’s happening now

BrightLocal’s 2026 consumer survey found that 45% of consumers now use AI tools to find local businesses, up from about 6% in early 2025. That’s not early adopter territory anymore. That’s approaching half your potential customers.

Google’s own AI Overviews now appear at the top of roughly 30% of local search queries. When they show up, they push the traditional results — including the Map Pack — further down the page. Even if you rank well in the old system, you’re losing visibility if AI Overviews are answering the query before users scroll to your listing.

How AI decides which businesses to recommend

AI models don’t rank websites the way Google does. They synthesize information from across the internet and pick businesses that have the most consistent, detailed, and well-reviewed presence. Here’s what matters:

Reviews are the single biggest factor. AI models pull heavily from Google reviews when recommending local businesses. Not just the star rating — the actual text of your reviews. If 30 customers mention “fast response time” in their reviews, an AI tool will confidently recommend you when someone asks “who responds quickly for emergency plumbing.” The content of your reviews is training data for AI recommendations.

Your website needs to answer real questions. AI tools look for pages that directly answer the questions people ask. A page titled “Emergency Plumbing Services in San Antonio” that explains response times, pricing, and what to expect ranks better in AI results than a generic services page. Think FAQ-style content that addresses what customers actually want to know.

Consistency across the web matters more than ever. Your name, address, phone number, hours, and services need to match everywhere — Google, Yelp, Facebook, industry directories, your website. AI models cross-reference multiple sources. Inconsistencies make them less confident about recommending you.

Third-party mentions carry weight. Being mentioned in local news articles, blog posts, industry forums, or community sites gives AI models more data points to pull from. A roofer mentioned in a neighborhood Facebook group discussion about storm damage has a better chance of being recommended by AI than one who only exists on their own website.

What you should actually do about this

You don’t need to hire a GEO specialist or buy new software. Most of what works for GEO is the same stuff that works for traditional local SEO — just done more thoroughly.

Start with your Google Business Profile. Fill out every single field. Write a full 750-character description that mentions your services and cities by name. Add 25+ photos. Post updates at least twice a month. This is still the richest data source that AI tools pull from.

Then look at your reviews. Not just how many you have, but what they say. If your reviews are mostly “Great service, 5 stars,” they’re not giving AI models much to work with. Coach your customers to mention specifics: what service was performed, which neighborhood, what made the experience good. “They replaced our water heater in Alamo Heights and were done in three hours” gives AI tools something concrete.

Build out your website content around the questions customers actually ask you on the phone. Every question you answer five times a week should be a page on your website. “How much does a roof inspection cost in San Antonio?” is a page. “What should I do if my AC stops working at night?” is a page. These are the exact queries people are asking AI tools.

The businesses that will win this shift

The shift to AI search rewards the same things that have always mattered: being good at your job, having happy customers who say so publicly, and having a clear online presence that accurately describes what you do.

The businesses that struggle will be the ones with thin profiles, few reviews, and websites that say nothing specific. AI tools can’t recommend you if there’s nothing substantive to pull from.

You don’t need to panic about GEO. But you should take it seriously. The window to build a strong AI-visible presence while your competitors are still ignoring it won’t stay open forever.

Want to see if AI tools can find your business right now? Get a free audit — we’ll check your visibility in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and traditional search, and tell you exactly what to fix.