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I've spent the last few months obsessively researching GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), AEO, AI Search, AI Citations, and what some people are now calling Agentic Search Optimization.

The deeper I go, the more I feel that the industry is focusing on the wrong layer.

Most GEO discussions today revolve around:

• llms.txt
• schema markup
• AI-ready content
• citation-friendly formatting
• GEO audits

These things matter.

But after testing dozens of brands across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity, I keep seeing the same pattern:

A company can have a "perfect" GEO score and still never get recommended.

Meanwhile, another company with a mediocre website gets mentioned constantly.

That led me to a question:

Are we optimizing pages when we should be optimizing entities?

My current thinking is that AI visibility is driven by three layers:

Layer 1: Retrieval

Can AI systems find your content?

• crawlability
• robots.txt
• sitemap
• llms.txt
• structured data

Layer 2: Citation

Will AI actually use your content as evidence?

• unique information
• statistics
• definitions
• comparisons
• FAQs
• expert opinions

Layer 3: Entity Authority

Does the model believe your brand deserves to be recommended?

This seems heavily influenced by:

• third-party mentions
• review sites
• Reddit discussions
• comparison articles
• media coverage
• co-occurrence with competitors

This is where many GEO tools stop short.

They audit websites, but they don't explain:

>

Lately I've also been exploring what I call AGO (Agent Optimization).

The hypothesis is that future discovery won't happen through a single answer engine.

Instead:

• AI agents will search
• compare sources
• browse websites
• evaluate evidence
• make recommendations

In that world, we're no longer optimizing for retrieval alone.

We're optimizing for an entire decision-making process.

I'm considering building a product around this idea.

Not another GEO score checker.

More like:

• Prompt Discovery
• Citation Analysis
• Entity Authority Mapping
• Competitor Recommendation Analysis
• Agent Journey Tracking

Before I spend months building it, I'd love to hear from people working in SEO, GEO, AI Search, or SaaS.

A few questions:

1. What's the biggest misconception about GEO today?
2. What data do existing GEO tools still fail to provide?
3. If you could see one metric for AI visibility, what would it be?
4. Do you think AGO / Agent Optimization becomes a real category, or is it just GEO with a new name?

Would appreciate any thoughts, criticism, or holes in the model.