More and more clients no longer search Google for "accounting firm Timișoara". They ask ChatGPT directly: "recommend me an accounting firm in Timișoara" — and get three names, with links. If your business is not among them, you have not lost a ranking position: you were absent from the conversation entirely.
Optimising for this kind of search is called GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). It does not replace classic SEO — it is built on top of it. This guide explains how AI models decide which sites to cite, and what you can do concretely, even if you are not technical.
What has actually changed in search
In a classic search, Google gives you a list of ten links and you choose. In an AI search, the system reads several sources on your behalf, composes an answer and presents it with 2-5 citations. The consequence is brutal and simple:
- There is no more "position 7" still bringing you traffic. Either you are cited, or you do not exist.
- The answer matters, not the page. The AI extracts a paragraph or a list, not your whole article.
- Your brand becomes a signal. If your business name appears on other sites (directories, local press, reviews), your chances of being mentioned rise even without a click on your own site.
An honest caveat: in Romania, the volume of AI-driven search is still far smaller than classic Google search. GEO is not a replacement for SEO — it is an investment made now for positioning, at a low cost if you do it properly from the start.
How AI systems "see" your site
Each platform works differently, and the differences matter for what you optimise:
- Google AI Overviews — uses the Google index. If you are not indexed and have no authority on the subject, you do not appear. Classic SEO is the entry condition here.
- ChatGPT (with web search) — relies mainly on the Bing index plus its own crawler,
OAI-SearchBot. Many Romanian sites are poorly indexed in Bing, which is an opportunity: register in Bing Webmaster Tools and you start ahead of the competition. - Perplexity — its own crawler, very keen on recent, well-structured content. It rewards pages with concrete data, figures and lists.
- Microsoft Copilot — the Bing index, the same rules as ChatGPT.
The practical conclusion: you do not optimise "for ChatGPT". You build a site any machine can read easily — and then make sure it is indexed in both major engines, not just Google.
Problem #1: sites that only load through JavaScript
This is where most sites lose, without knowing it. Many badly built modern sites serve the browser an almost empty HTML document, with all the text appearing only after JavaScript runs. Google usually manages to render JavaScript. Most AI crawlers do not — or do so inconsistently.
The result: to ChatGPT or Perplexity, your page is a blank page. There is nothing to cite.
The test you can run in 30 seconds: open the page, right click → "View page source" (not "Inspect"). If the code that appears does not contain the text from the page (search with Ctrl+F for one of your headings), then your content does not exist as far as AI is concerned.
The fix is technical and sits at the architecture level: the site has to serve complete HTML from the server — through SSR (server-side rendering) or static generation. That is how we build every project at Netreach, with Next.js: complete HTML in the first response, not text assembled later in the browser. If you have a site you are unsure about, this is the first thing to check before investing in content. More on our approach on the web platforms page.
How to write content AI can cite
An AI model does not cite "a good article". It extracts a self-contained fragment — a passage that makes sense outside the context of the page. That changes how you write.
Answer the question in the first two sentences. If the section heading is "How much does a business website cost", the first paragraph has to contain a direct answer, with figures: "Between 2,000 and 8,000 RON, depending on complexity." Long warm-up introductions are useless — they never make it into the AI's answer.
Use headings that are real questions. ## How long does a website take to build? works better than ## Duration. Users ask questions; your sections should look like them.
Give concrete figures, dates and units. "Affordable pricing" cannot be cited. "From 2,000 RON, delivered in 3-5 weeks" can. AI systems prefer verifiable statements because the risk of saying something wrong is lower.
Structure with lists and tables. A comparison table is the ideal format for extraction. A 200-word paragraph carrying the same information is not.
Make every passage stand on its own. Avoid "as we said above" or "in this case". Repeat the subject: "A licensed online store costs…" instead of "This costs…".
Write what only you can write. Real prices from the local market, mistakes you have seen at clients, actual project durations, comparisons you have genuinely made. Generic content recycled from other sites has no reason to be cited — it already exists in the model.
The technical side: what has to be on the site
A few elements matter disproportionately relative to the effort of implementing them:
Structured data (Schema.org). JSON-LD markup tells machines explicitly what is on the page: that you are a local business with an address and opening hours (LocalBusiness), that a page is an article with an author and date (Article), that you have frequently asked questions (FAQPage). It is not a guarantee of citation, but it removes ambiguity. Our own site uses exactly these types.
An llms.txt file. A plain text file at the root of the domain (site.ro/llms.txt) summarising, in a clean format, what you do, which services you offer, your pricing and contact details. It is a relatively new convention, adopted unevenly — but it costs 20 minutes and gives models a correct summary of your business instead of leaving them to infer one. You can see our implementation at netreach.ro/llms.txt.
Check robots.txt does not block AI crawlers. Many sites block GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot or ClaudeBot out of inertia or copied configuration. If you want AI visibility, these crawlers have to be let in. The decision is yours: some content owners block them deliberately, so as not to be used for training. Just do it consciously, not by accident.
Speed and clean HTML. AI crawlers have less patience than Google. A slow page, or one loaded with tracking scripts, is more likely to be abandoned halfway.
Indexing in Bing, not just Google. Register the site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit the sitemap. It is the cheapest gain in ChatGPT and Copilot visibility available to you today.
The signals outside your site
Part of the "who do I recommend" decision is not made on your site at all. AI models synthesise what is said about you elsewhere:
- A complete Google Business Profile with real reviews — for any business with a local component, it is the most cited source.
- Consistent details (NAP) — identical name, address and phone number on the site, in Google Business Profile, in directories and on social media. Contradictory data lowers confidence.
- Mentions on third-party sites — local press, business directories, guest articles, listings in niche communities. The mention counts, not just the link.
- An identifiable entity — Wikidata entries or official profiles help models tie your brand name to a real entity rather than to an arbitrary word.
This is where it is clearest that GEO is not a trick: it rests on real reputation. There is no shortcut that simulates people actually talking about you.
How to check whether you are visible
Mature reporting tools do not exist yet, but you have three simple checks:
- Ask directly. In ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode, ask the questions a client would ask: "best web agency in Timișoara", "how much does an online store cost in Romania". Note whether you appear and what exactly gets cited.
- Check your server logs. Look for the user agents
GPTBot,OAI-SearchBot,PerplexityBot,ClaudeBot. If they never appear, your site is not being crawled by AI — and that is the first problem to solve. - Watch referral traffic. In analytics, sessions arriving from
chatgpt.comorperplexity.aiare few, but usually carry very high intent.
A necessary warning: AI answers vary from one query to the next and from one user to another. There is no "position 1 in ChatGPT" and nobody can guarantee it to you. Anyone promising that is selling something they cannot deliver.
The right order of priorities
If your budget and time are limited, this order gets you the most:
- Server-rendered HTML — without it, nothing else matters. Check with the "View page source" test.
- Indexing in Google and Bing — the entry condition for AI Overviews and ChatGPT.
- A complete Google Business Profile + reviews — if you have local clients, this is the biggest gain relative to effort.
- Rewrite your key pages with direct answers and figures — start with the service and pricing pages.
- Schema.org on the main pages +
llms.txt. - New content answering the real questions your clients ask.
Points 1, 2 and 5 are technical and done once. Points 3, 4 and 6 are continuous work — and that is where the long-term difference is made.
Conclusion
Visibility in ChatGPT and AI Overviews cannot be bought or forced. It comes from three things: a site machines can read, content with concrete and verifiable answers, and a real reputation outside your own site.
The good news for businesses in Romania is that most competitors have not yet taken step one. A site with server-rendered HTML, indexed in Bing as well, with clear pricing and clear answers, has a real advantage today.
At Netreach we build every project with Next.js and server rendering, with structured data and SEO included from the start — exactly the foundation you need to be found both in Google and in AI answers. See our SEO and marketing services, our business websites or our custom web platforms.
Get in touch for a free analysis — we check whether your current site is readable by AI crawlers and tell you, point by point, what needs to change.