GEO: Shape your story with your digital footprint

Jamal Dayes, Director, Digital at Bladonmore, unpacks why generative AI is changing how your story gets told, and what you can do about it.

The discovery landscape has quietly but fundamentally changed. Generative AI tools including ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity are reshaping how people find and understand organizations. Instead of serving up a list of links, these systems synthesize answers from information gathered around the web. In this new environment, traditional SEO on its own will no longer ensure you’re accurately represented.

Your digital footprint now forms the narrative that AI presents on your behalf.

Why does your digital real estate matter for GEO?

Your corporate website, socials and earned media are no longer just assets, they’re authoritative signals. If they’re inconsistent or incomplete, generative engines will struggle to accurately articulate who you are and what you offer. This shift has implications for every corner of your digital presence – from your homepage to your press coverage.

Where should you focus, and what do you need to fix?

1. Start with your website

This is the foundation. If your website is confusing or out of date, people – and large language models (LLMs) – struggle to grasp the basics. Make sure it clearly explains who you are, what you do and how you’re structured. Use schema markup to make it machine-readable. If generative engines can’t interpret your content confidently, they’ll turn to other sources – which may be less accurate.

Common pitfalls:

• Pages that look good to humans but read poorly to machines
• Missing or conflicting information (e.g., founding dates, product launches)
• Poor structure and lack of schema data

2. Align your external profiles

From LinkedIn and Wikipedia to Crunchbase and Bloomberg, your public profiles should match what’s on your site. Inconsistent leadership names, vague business descriptions or old language all introduce risk. These sources are often treated as high-authority inputs – when they’re misaligned, so is the narrative that gets generated. Don’t just go and edit them, though – liaise with the publishers to correct inconsistencies or inaccuracies.

Common pitfalls:

• Discrepancies in language and positioning
• Neglected or outdated accounts
• Lack of ownership or governance over profile content

3. Consolidate your earned media

Press releases, analyst notes, and articles feed directly into generative responses. If they contradict your internal messaging or speak to a former version of your business, they dilute your credibility. A fragmented presence becomes a fragmented story.

Common pitfalls:

• Media coverage that doesn’t reflect current positioning
• Legacy statements that haven’t been corrected or updated
• External commentary that gains authority by default

Together, these weak points don’t just blur your message, they create reputational risk. They undermine your authority, increase inconsistency, and leave your corporate story open to misinterpretation.

Steps to strengthen your digital presence

• Define your sources of truth. Pick your master identity pages. Make sure everything else ties back.
• Structure your data. Use schema markup for organization, people, products, FAQs, articles.
• Align external profiles. They all should reflect your core identity.
• Standardize your narrative. One description, one set of terms, carried across channels.
• Test how you appear in generative engines. Create a short bank of questions (“Who is our CEO?”, “What business units do we have?”, “Where are we active?”) and audit the answers you find and check what sources the generative engines are referencing. Work on refining the sources you have control over then iterate.

How to write for generative engines, and people, too

A few simple habits make your content far easier for AI tools (and people) to interpret:

• Be concise and direct
  Lead with the essential fact and keep wording tight
• Use clear, descriptive headings
  Make each section self-explanatory
• Write for real questions
  Phrase content as answers to questions your audiences might ask
• Keep language simple and conversational
  Avoid jargon and stick to everyday wording
• Make it scannable
  Use short paragraphs and bullet points so key details are easy to lift

These small adjustments help generative engines reproduce your story accurately and consistently.

What good looks like

When generative engines answer questions about your business, they:

• Correctly describe your organization
• Reinforce your positioning consistently
• Reflect leadership, structure and focus in real time
• Avoid legacy or inaccurate statements

In short: the machine-version of you matches the version you intend.

New frontier for digital reputation

We’re entering a new era. GEO isn’t simply about website/metatag tweaks, it’s a strategic frontier where corporate comms, brand, digital and reputation converge. The organizations that act now will control their digital narrative. The rest risk leaving their story to AI.

If you’d like to explore how your digital real estate stacks up and build a roadmap to GEO success, let’s connect.