Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Preparing Your Optimizely Site for the Age of AI Search

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of making your content discoverable and citable by AI search engines. It's not about replacing SEO; it's about adapting your existing practices to work with large language models (LLMs) that power these AI tools.

This guide walks you through implementing GEO on your Optimizely CMS site, from technical configuration to content adjustments. You'll learn how to set up AI crawler access, structure your content for machine readability, and use Optimizely's built-in GEO features to track your progress.

Prerequisites

Before you begin implementing GEO on your Optimizely site, make sure you have:

• Optimizely CMS version 12 or higher (earlier versions lack GEO-specific features)
• Admin access to your Optimizely instance and hosting environment
• Basic understanding of SEO principles (meta tags, structured data, crawling)
• Access to your site's robots.txt file and ability to modify server configurations
• Google Search Console or similar tools set up for monitoring
• Development environment for testing changes before production deployment

If you're running an older version of Optimizely, consider upgrading first. The GEO features introduced in version 12 significantly simplify the implementation process.

Step-by-Step Implementation

Step 1: Configure AI Crawler Access

The first thing AI systems need is permission to access your content. Unlike traditional search engines, AI crawlers use different user agents that many sites accidentally block.

Start by updating your robots.txt file to allow AI bots:

# Allow OpenAI's GPTBot
User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /
Crawl-delay: 1

# Allow Anthropic's Claude
User-agent: Claude-Web
Allow: /

# Allow Common Crawl (used by many AI systems)
User-agent: CCBot
Allow: /

# Allow Google's Bard/Gemini
User-agent: Google-Extended
Allow: /

Working with teams has taught us that many sites unknowingly block these crawlers by using overly restrictive robots.txt rules. Check your current file. If you see User-agent: * followed by Disallow: /, you're blocking everything, including AI systems.

Next, create an llms.txt file in your root directory. This new standard specifically tells AI systems which content to index:

# llms.txt - AI crawler instructions
User-agent: *
Allow: /blog/
Allow: /resources/
Allow: /documentation/
Disallow: /admin/
Disallow: /private/
Disallow: /checkout/

# Specify high-value pages
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap-ai.xml

Step 2: Structure Content for Machine Readability

AI systems need clear, well-structured content to understand and cite your pages accurately. This goes beyond basic HTML; you need to think about how machines parse information.

First, implement proper heading hierarchy on every page:

<article>
  <h1>Main Topic - Only One Per Page</h1>
  
  <section>
    <h2>Primary Subtopic</h2>
    <p>Clear, concise explanation...</p>
    
    <h3>Supporting Detail</h3>
    <p>Additional context...</p>
  </section>
</article>

Add structured data using JSON-LD format. In your Optimizely Razor views, implement this pattern:

@model ArticlePageViewModel

<script type="application/ld json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Article",
  "headline": "@Model.Title",
  "description": "@Model.Summary",
  "author": {
    "@type": "Person",
    "name": "@Model.AuthorName",
    "url": "@Model.AuthorProfileUrl"
  },
  "datePublished": "@Model.PublishDate.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")",
  "dateModified": "@Model.LastModified.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd")",
  "publisher": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "Your Company Name",
    "logo": {
      "@type": "ImageObject",
      "url": "https://yoursite.com/logo.png"
    }
  }
}
</script>

Our experience shows that FAQ schema particularly helps with AI citations. Implement it for any Q&A content:

@if (Model.FAQItems.Any())
{
    <script type="application/ld json">
    {
      "@context": "https://schema.org",
      "@type": "FAQPage",
      "mainEntity": [
        @foreach (var item in Model.FAQItems)
        {
            <text>
            {
              "@type": "Question",
              "name": "@item.Question",
              "acceptedAnswer": {
                "@type": "Answer",
                "text": "@item.Answer"
              }
            }@(item != Model.FAQItems.Last() ? "," : "")
            </text>
        }
      ]
    }
    </script>
}

Step 3: Implement Content Summaries

AI systems prefer concise, direct answers. Add a summary field to your content types in Optimizely:

public class ArticlePage : PageData
{
    [Display(
        Name = "Article Summary",
        Description = "2-3 sentence summary for AI systems",
        GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content,
        Order = 10)]
    [Required]
    [StringLength(300)]
    public virtual string Summary { get; set; }
    
    [Display(
        Name = "Key Takeaways",
        Description = "Bullet points of main insights",
        GroupName = SystemTabNames.Content,
        Order = 20)]
    public virtual IList<string> KeyTakeaways { get; set; }
}

Then display these summaries prominently at the top of your pages:

@model ArticlePage

<div class="ai-summary">
    <p class="lead-text">@Model.Summary</p>
    
    @if (Model.KeyTakeaways?.Any() == true)
    {
        <ul class="key-points">
            @foreach (var takeaway in Model.KeyTakeaways)
            {
                <li>@takeaway</li>
            }
        </ul>
    }
</div>

Step 4: Configure Optimizely's GEO Features

Optimizely CMS 12 includes built-in GEO capabilities. Enable them through the admin interface:

• Navigate to Admin > Add-ons > GEO Configuration
• Enable "Auto-generate Q&A pairs" for your content types
• Turn on "Markdown summary generation"
• Configure "llms.txt auto-generation" with your content rules

For programmatic configuration, add this to your startup:

public class Startup
{
    public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
    {
        services.AddOptimizelyGEO(options =>
        {
            options.EnableQAGeneration = true;
            options.EnableMarkdownSummaries = true;
            options.AutoGenerateLlmsTxt = true;
            options.CrawlDelaySeconds = 1;
            options.ExcludedPaths = new[] { "/admin", "/util", "/episerver" };
        });
    }
}

Step 5: Add Authority Signals

AI systems evaluate credibility before citing content. Implement author profiles and expertise signals:

public class AuthorProfile : BlockData
{
    [Display(Name = "Author Name")]
    [Required]
    public virtual string Name { get; set; }
    
    [Display(Name = "Professional Title")]
    public virtual string Title { get; set; }
    
    [Display(Name = "Bio")]
    [UIHint(UIHint.Textarea)]
    public virtual string Biography { get; set; }
    
    [Display(Name = "LinkedIn Profile")]
    [Url]
    public virtual string LinkedInUrl { get; set; }
    
    [Display(Name = "Years of Experience")]
    public virtual int YearsExperience { get; set; }
}

Display author information prominently:

<div class="author-info" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/Person">
    <img src="@Model.Author.ProfileImage" alt="@Model.Author.Name" itemprop="image">
    <div class="author-details">
        <h3 itemprop="name">@Model.Author.Name</h3>
        <p itemprop="jobTitle">@Model.Author.Title</p>
        <p>@Model.Author.YearsExperience years experience</p>
        <a href="@Model.Author.LinkedInUrl" itemprop="url">LinkedIn Profile</a>
    </div>
</div>

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Blocking AI Crawlers Unintentionally

Many sites use blanket blocking in robots.txt without realizing they're excluding AI systems. Always explicitly allow AI user agents.

Wrong:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /

Right:

User-agent: *
Disallow: /admin/

User-agent: GPTBot
Allow: /

2. Over-Optimizing with Keyword Stuffing

AI systems detect and penalize unnatural content just like traditional search engines. Write naturally and focus on answering questions clearly.

3. Neglecting Mobile Rendering

Some AI crawlers use mobile user agents. Ensure your content renders properly on mobile devices without JavaScript dependencies.

4. Missing Update Timestamps

AI systems prioritize fresh content. Always include and display last-modified dates:

<meta property="article:modified_time" content="@Model.LastModified.ToString("yyyy-MM-ddTHH:mm:ssZ")" />
<p class="last-updated">Last updated: @Model.LastModified.ToString("MMMM d, yyyy")</p>

5. Ignoring Regional Variations

If you serve multiple regions, implement hreflang tags to help AI systems understand content variations:

<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://yoursite.com/us/page" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://yoursite.com/uk/page" />

6. Using JavaScript-Only Content

We've found that AI crawlers often struggle with JavaScript-rendered content. Always provide server-side rendered HTML for critical information.

Testing and Verification Steps

1. Verify Crawler Access

Test your robots.txt configuration using Google's robots.txt tester, then verify AI bot access:

# Test with curl using AI bot user agent
curl -H "User-Agent: GPTBot" https://yoursite.com/test-page

# Check response headers
curl -I -H "User-Agent: Claude-Web" https://yoursite.com/

2. Validate Structured Data

Use Google's Rich Results Test to verify your JSON-LD implementation:

• Go to https://search.google.com/test/rich-results
• Enter your page URL
• Review any errors or warnings
• Fix issues and retest

3. Monitor AI Crawling Activity

Check your server logs for AI crawler activity:

# Search for AI bot activity in logs
grep -E "GPTBot|Claude-Web|CCBot|ChatGPT" /var/log/nginx/access.log

# Count requests by bot
awk '/GPTBot/ {count  } END {print "GPTBot requests:", count}' access.log

4. Test AI Citations Manually

Regularly test whether AI systems cite your content:

• Ask ChatGPT questions related to your content topics
• Search in Perplexity for your key topics
• Use Google's AI Overview trigger queries
• Document which content gets cited and which doesn't

5. Use Optimizely's GEO Dashboard

Access the GEO analytics in Optimizely:

• Navigate to Reports > GEO Health Index
• Review your crawl-to-refer ratio
• Check which AI models access your site most
• Identify pages with low GEO scores
• Export reports for trend analysis

6. Set Up Automated Monitoring

Create alerts for AI crawler activity:

public class GEOMonitoringService : IHostedService
{
    private readonly ILogger<GEOMonitoringService> _logger;
    
    public async Task CheckAICrawlerActivity()
    {
        var logs = await ReadServerLogs();
        var aiCrawlers = new[] { "GPTBot", "Claude-Web", "CCBot" };
        
        foreach (var crawler in aiCrawlers)
        {
            var count = logs.Count(l => l.Contains(crawler));
            if (count == 0)
            {
                _logger.LogWarning($"No {crawler} activity in last 24 hours");
                // Send alert
            }
        }
    }
}

Conclusion

Implementing GEO on your Optimizely site requires both technical configuration and content adjustments. You've learned how to enable AI crawler access, structure content for machine readability, implement Optimizely's GEO features, and verify everything works correctly.

The key is starting with the basics, proper crawler access and structured data, then gradually improving your content based on what AI systems actually cite. Remember that GEO isn't about tricking AI systems; it's about making your valuable content accessible and understandable to them.

We've found that sites implementing these GEO practices see increased visibility in AI-generated answers within 4-6 weeks. The exact timeline depends on your content quality, update frequency, and competition in your space.

Ready to implement GEO on your Optimizely site but need guidance on prioritizing changes? Our team can audit your current setup, identify the highest-impact improvements for your specific content, and help you create a phased implementation plan that fits your development schedule. Contact us to discuss your GEO readiness and get a customized roadmap for AI search visibility.