Generative Engine Optimization: How to Dominate AI Search
A new paper from the The University of Toronto AI Search Engines Donât Rank - They Write ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini - these arenât search engines in the old sense. Theyâre answer engines. What Their Research Found 1. AI search favors earned media, not your blog. Reviews, expert commentary, and credible news sources win, not self-published posts. 2. Google still mixes brand, social, and earned results.ChatGPT and Claude mostly ignore your brand pages. 3. Language and phrasing matter.What works in English doesnât automatically carry over to French, Chinese, or other markets. 4. Big brands dominate by default.Niche players can still win, but only by building verifiable, third-party authority. The New Playbook: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Engineer for machines.Use clean schema, structured data, and justification-rich copy. Dominate earned coverage.Get cited by authoritative reviewers, journalists, and publications. Build local-language authority.Every regionâs AI search runs on a different media ecosystem. Treat your website like an API, not a brochure. In short: Stop optimizing for clicks. Start optimizing for citations. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08919