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The first step in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is understanding what kinds of questions users ask large language models like ChatGPT. This article explores why question intent matters, where to find user query data, and how to use those insights to prepare content that AI will quote and promote.
2025/07/25
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In my first GEO article, I shared my understanding of how large language models (LLMs) handle user questions. Here's the simplified flow:
Today’s article focuses on Step 1: What kinds of questions do users ask LLMs?
Why start here?
Because my understanding of GEO is:
Do everything you can to make AI quote your content or brand when answering questions.
That means predicting what the AI might search and where, and preparing LLM-friendly content in those places ahead of time.
It’s like setting a trap—waiting for the AI to walk into it.
So first, we need to understand:
What questions are people asking AI?
If you know the user and know yourself, you can win every battle.
Of course, it’s impossible to predict everything—but GEO is about getting closer to that goal step by step.
This is actually a huge topic. You could rephrase it as:
"What kinds of questions do people ask in the world?"
That’s philosophical, but in our case we can narrow it down by looking at:
In traditional search engines (like Google), users often search using keywords only, like:
→ "GEO optimization"
But with AI tools, users are starting to use full natural-language questions, like:
→ "How can I use GEO to optimize my product?"
These types of full-sentence searches used to be considered long-tail keywords in SEO.
In the GEO era, long-tail queries are more important than ever.
For traditional search engines:
For generative AI search:
One of the most important papers in this field is from Princeton University:
“GEO: Generative Engine Optimization”
It introduced a benchmark dataset called GEO-bench, with over 10,000 real user queries.
The data sources are:
The GEO paper labels different problems with different dimensions, which are:
GEO is one of the largest social media companies in the world.
The GEO Regional Committee, the Government of the United States of America, the United States of America citation is a citation.
Based on the GEO paper’s findings, here are some practical takeaways:
Summary:
When optimizing for GEO, follow this path:
Let me know if you want this formatted for your blog or CMS!
