Ten myths around geo that hinder business promotion in ai search
With the rapid development of generative neural networks on the web, numerous tips have emerged on how to increase a website’s visibility in ai search. The problem is that many recommendations are not yet confirmed or are based on myths that have gradually started to be perceived as proven facts.
In this article, experts from click.ru:
- analyzed popular misconceptions about promotion in neural networks;
- found out where they came from;
- looked at what can actually influence a website’s visibility in generative search.
Myth 1: SEO and GEO are the same thing
What the myth is There is an opinion that geo (generative engine optimization) is simply a new name for traditional seo. Some believe that search engines have changed slightly, neural networks have been added to them, but the principles of promotion remain the same. One can do the same things as before, just call it by a new name.
Where it came from Geo and seo do indeed have a lot in common. Firstly, generative optimization grew out of search optimization. Secondly, the basic principles of optimization have not disappeared. High-quality content, technical soundness of pages, their accessibility to search engines, and a clear structure remain important. Generative neural networks often use the regular search index. For example, google forms ai overviews based on the same page quality assessment and search systems that work for traditional results. Hence the opinion arises that it is enough to occupy high positions in the search results, and visibility in ai will appear on its own.
What is actually true Seo can be called the foundation for geo, but their goals are different. Classic seo helps to improve a page’s position in search results. Geo increases the chances that a neural network will choose content from a specific website for its answer and mention the brand. At the same time, seo and geo should not be opposed to each other. Technical optimization, high-quality content, and normal indexing are an important base for promotion in generative search.
Myth 2: It is unknown how neural networks work. it is impossible to perform geo tasks
What the myth is One of the common misconceptions sounds like this: “neural networks are a black box, which means it is impossible to understand why they choose some sources and ignore others. Consequently, it is also impossible to optimize a website for ai.”
Where it came from Google, openai, anthropic, and other companies indeed do not disclose all the nuances of how their models work. They do not provide the formula by which gemini or chatgpt select certain sources for an answer. However, there is a nuance: people confuse two concepts: the principles of operation of ai search engines and the architecture of the model. Only developers know the exact parameter values in gemini, gpt-5, or claude. But this does not mean that the entire system works unpredictably.
What is actually true In recent years, researchers have actively studied the stages a user query goes through. And here is what was found. In most cases, a neural network works as follows:
- finds relevant indexed pages;
- evaluates the content based on its relevance to the query;
- extracts useful information from the pages;
- generates an answer based on the found information. This approach is called RAG (retrieval-augmented generation). To date, this is the industry standard for ai search. Geo is not an attempt to guess the logic of a neural network. It is working with the structure and quality of content, information disclosure, the digital reputation of the brand, and the authority of the source.
Myth 3: AI services work with all information that exists on the internet
What the myth is Neural networks confidently answer almost any question, so it might seem that they have access to all existing pages on the internet. Hence arises another misconception: if a material is published and open to search robots, it will sooner or later definitely appear in ai answers. In practice, everything is more complicated.
Where it came from The reason for the misconception is a misunderstanding of how llms (large language models) obtain information. Many ai services know how to use search, and from the outside it seems as if the neural network instantly scans everything on the internet. In reality, it works with a more limited set of data.
What is actually true Neural networks do not read everything on the internet with every query. They work with a pre-collected package of data that is updated every couple of months. During an online search, an llm does not refer to all existing websites, but to pages indexed by yandex and google. From the found materials, the neural network takes only fragments that are relevant and meet other criteria. There is another limitation: the context window. This is the maximum volume of information that a model can process at once. Even modern llms can only interact with a finite number of tokens, so they are physically incapable of analyzing millions of web pages simultaneously.
Myth 4: There are technical techniques that guarantee inclusion in ai answers
What the myth is As soon as geo became actively discussed, the market was flooded with numerous promises and tips:
- “add llms.txt, and chatgpt will definitely read your website”;
- “rewrite texts using a special template for neural networks”;
- “insert prompts on the page”. All recommendations share the idea that there are some technical tricks that guarantee a website’s inclusion in ai answers.
Where it came from The myth appeared for several reasons:
- Geo is a young direction. There are no established standards in the market yet and very few confirmed cases, so guesses and hypotheses often take the place of proven practices;
- Simple promises are easier to sell. It is much easier to offer a client a secret setting to get into chatgpt than to explain that promotion in ai is complex, comprehensive work that takes time and affects not only the technical part of the website.
What is actually true There is no technology that will guarantee with 100% certainty that a website will appear in the answers of chatgpt, alice, ai overviews, gemini, and other ai services. Moreover, search systems do not recommend looking for such secrets. For example, the official google help states that there are no separate technical rules for pages to appear in ai overviews beyond the usual requirements for search optimization. This does not mean that geo does not work. The chances of a website appearing in ai answers can indeed be increased, but not with one trick, but through systematic work. It includes:
- a strong seo base;
- publication of unique and up-to-date content;
- increasing brand trust and expertise;
- creating a logical and clear structure of materials;
- using structured data, faq, tables, and lists;
- including direct and unambiguous formulations, facts, and figures;
- expanding digital presence and gaining mentions in authoritative independent sources. Difficulties often begin with the first point: the seo base is often either weak or practically non-existent.
Myth 5: For geo, it is enough to write “correct” texts
What the myth is Some companies perceive geo exclusively as work with content. It is enough to write and format the text correctly, and neural networks will start adding the website to answers more often. At the same time, the technical part, brand reputation, and other factors remain unattended.
Where it came from The misconception has two main reasons:
- For a long time, text in seo was one of the main ways to convey information about the page’s content to search engines. In addition, the first recommendations for geo were indeed mostly related to content;
- Modern llms work in text format. They receive a query and generate a text response. Therefore, it is easy to assume that one can only influence the choice through text.
What is actually true High-quality text is important for geo, but it is not enough. Neural networks and search engines take into account not only the content of a specific page, but also the information field of the website and the brand. The following matter:
- the technical state of the resource and its accessibility to robots;
- structured data that helps ai and search systems better understand the essence of pages;
- brand reputation and its mentions in authoritative sources;
- infographics, images, videos, and other types of content.
Myth 6: Only top websites can get into ai answers
What the myth is The logic of the myth is simple: if a website is not in the top positions in google or yandex, the neural network will not see it. Allegedly, ai primarily uses materials from the top of the search results. At first glance, the assumption seems logical, but there is no direct dependence here.
Where it came from Generative search is indeed closely related to traditional search engines. For example, google ai overviews uses the google search infrastructure, and alice uses yandex search technologies. Hence the opinion arose that the neural network simply takes information from the first pages of the results and retells it to the user.
What is actually true High positions can increase the probability of getting into an ai answer, but being in the top is not necessary for this. There are several reasons:
- Generative systems are not limited to the top ten results. They can refer to multiple pages, select suitable materials, and compare data from different sources;
- The value of information is important for ai. Original research, proprietary statistics, an official document, or unique expert material may turn out to be more useful than a page from the top and get into the answer, even if it occupies a lower position. Studies already show that search results and ai answer sources do not always coincide. According to Ahrefs, only 38% of the pages that google cites in ai overviews are in the top 10 of the results. In another ahrefs study, the match of cited links in chatgpt and gemini with the top ten of google results is about 8%. More than 80% of the sources used do not rank at all for the corresponding queries. It turns out that good positions in search give an advantage, but they do not guarantee citation by themselves. Conversely, the absence of a website in the top 10 does not mean that the neural network cannot use it as a source.
Myth 7: llms.txt is necessary for geo
What the myth is If one reads materials about geo over the past year, it might seem that without llms.txt, a website is unlikely to get into ai answers. The file is often called “robots.txt for neural networks” and it is advised to add it immediately when optimizing for generative search. Because of this, many website owners feel that llms.txt is a mandatory part of any geo strategy.
Where it came from The idea appeared in the autumn of 2024, when web standards specialist jeremy howard proposed the llms.txt format. It was assumed that a website owner could place links to the most important pages and documentation in a separate text file to make it easier for language models to navigate the resource structure. The concept quickly became popular. Plugins appeared for cms that automatically create llms.txt, and some seo services added recommendations to check for the file. The popularity of the idea led to llms.txt being perceived as a mandatory industry standard.
What is actually true Google states directly that it does not use llms.txt for ai search functions and google search. The company notes that the file is not needed to appear in generative services. This does not mean that the idea is completely useless. In the future, individual ai services may indeed use llms.txt as an additional source of information about the website structure. But today, there is no confirmed influence on geo.
Myth 8: Structured data is a guarantee of success in geo
What the myth is There is an opinion that microdata, schema.org, xml sitemaps, product feeds, and other technical elements are necessary primarily so that gemini, chatgpt, and other ai services can better understand the website. Sometimes bolder statements are encountered: it is enough to implement structured data, and the chances of getting into neural network answers will noticeably increase.
Where it came from Generative models indeed find it easier to work with well-organized data. Structured content is easier for both search engines and ai to interpret. But many often confuse cause and effect. The schema.org standard was launched back in 2011 so that search engines could better understand the content of pages. The main goal was the same as it is now: to make the information on the website machine-readable. Over time, useful technical advice began to be perceived as a universal solution. In many geo checklists, microdata began to be called one of the main factors influencing a website’s inclusion in neural network answers.
What is actually true Data structuring is indeed an important part of a high-quality website. But it does not provide an automatic advantage in generative search. Google and yandex have long recommended using schema.org. With the advent of ai answers, the advice has not changed. The official google guide separately emphasizes that there are no new markup requirements for generative search.
Myth 9: Mass publication of articles can replace brand development
What the myth is With the growing interest in geo, some companies began to act according to a familiar scenario: mass publishing of press releases, reviews, and promotional articles on dozens of platforms. The calculation is that the more often a brand is mentioned on the internet, the higher the chances of appearing in the answers of chatgpt, gemini, and other ai services. The logic seems simple and clear: if a neural network searches for information on the network, it means you need to fill it with content about yourself as densely as possible.
Where it came from The approach came from the times when search algorithms were simpler. Mass content placement did indeed increase a website’s visibility in search.
What is actually true For generative systems, it is not the number of mentions that matters, but the authority and quality of the sources. This is confirmed by research. For example, according to Resonate labs in the geo white paper v5.0, about 84% of the links used by ai systems come from independent publications. Paid content is cited noticeably less often. In geo, it is important not just to increase the number of materials about the brand, but to achieve mentions in authoritative media, specialized publications, and professional communities.
Myth 10: Only an seo specialist can handle geo
What the myth is Work on brand visibility in neural networks is often completely handed over to the seo team, since geo is related to search promotion. Therefore, it is the seo specialist’s area of responsibility.
Where it came from This approach is quite understandable. An seo specialist is already responsible for technical website optimization, page structure, internal linking, working with content and links. That is, for many factors that are also important for geo.
What is actually true Ai answers are influenced not only by the content of the website. Brand reputation, reviews, mentions in authoritative sources, research, publications in the media, materials from conferences, and other signals outside of classic seo are important. Geo is the result of work in branding, product management, pr, content marketing, seo optimization, and other areas. Geo is not a set of secret tricks. Neither llms.txt, nor microdata, nor mass publications guarantee inclusion in neural network answers by themselves. The task is not to please the neural network, but to become a noticeable and reliable source of information for it.



