Generative Engine Optimization, Explained by Kent Lundin
Helping marketers, educators, and creators stay visible in AI-driven search
I’m Kent Lundin, a digital marketing professor and practitioner focused on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — the discipline that helps brands and creators remain visible as search shifts from links to AI-generated answers.
This site is where I teach, research, and document how modern AI systems understand topics, identify entities, retrieve sources, and generate responses.
Search is no longer about ranking pages. It’s about being understood and included.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization?
Generative Engine Optimization focuses on how AI systems:
- Understand topics
- Identify entities
- Retrieve relevant sources
- Generate answers for users
Unlike traditional SEO, which emphasizes keyword rankings, GEO emphasizes meaning, structure, and relationships.
GEO asks a different question:
Does the AI understand who you are, what you’re about, and when to reference you?
Why Generative Engine Optimization Matters
Search engines and especially AI are no longer just matching keywords.
They are:
- Interpreting meaning
- Connecting concepts
- Selecting sources
- Generating answers
As AI systems increasingly answer questions directly, visibility depends less on rankings and more on whether the AI understands who you are and when to reference you.
Generative Engine Optimization addresses that shift.
My focus and perspective
I’ve spent years teaching digital marketing and SEO, and I now focus on how AI systems change the fundamentals of visibility.
My work on GEO centers on:
- How entities shape AI understanding
- How structured data clarifies meaning
- How content structure affects retrieval
- How sources are selected and cited in AI-generated answers
Everything on this site is built to be:
- Educational
- Structured
- Aligned with how generative engines actually work
Generative Engine Optimization Is a System
GEO is not a checklist or a collection of tricks.
It’s a system made up of connected concepts:
- Entities – how AI identifies people, organizations, and ideas
- Schema Structured Data – how meaning is made explicit
- Content Structuring – how information is organized for understanding
- Retrieval & Ranking Optimization (RRO) – how sources are selected
- Measurement – how AI visibility is evaluated
Each part reinforces the others. When one is unclear, visibility suffers.
The Core Pillars of GEO
Entities
Clear entity signals help AI:
AI systems understand the world through entities — identifiable people, organizations, concepts, products, and services.
- Classify your site
- Disambiguate meaning
- Build trust
→ Explore how entities work in GEO
Schema
Schema provides explicit, machine-readable signals that clarify:
- What something is
- How it relates to other things
- Who is responsible for the content
Schema doesn’t replace content — it clarifies it.
→ Learn how schema supports GEO
Structuring
Well-structured content helps AI:
- Identify main topics
- Extract key ideas
- Understand relationships between sections
Headings, definitions, summaries, and internal links all matter.
→ See how to structure content for GEO
RRO
Real-Time Retrieval Optimization: Before an AI can generate an answer, it must decide:
- Which sources to retrieve
- Which passages to prioritize
- Which voices to trust
GEO supports visibility at this retrieval stage.
→ Understand RRO in AI-driven searchties work in GEO
Measurement
Traditional SEO metrics don’t fully capture AI visibility.
GEO measurement focuses on:
- Inclusion in answers
- Citations
- Mentions
- Semantic relevance
→ Learn how GEO visibility is measuredrts GEO
Who This Site Is For
This site is designed for people who want to understand why AI search behaves the way it does, including:
- SEO and digital marketing professionals
- Educators and students
- Founders and creators building long-term authority
- Anyone adapting to AI-driven discovery
If you’re looking for surface-level tactics, this may feel slower.
If you want durable understanding, you’re in the right place.or building a full strategy, GEO provides the framework.
Explore the World
Where to Begin
If you’re new to Generative Engine Optimization, I recommend starting here:
- What Entities Are and Why They Matter
- How Schema Supports AI Understanding
- Content Structuring for AI Retrieval
- Measuring Visibility in Generative Search
Each section builds toward a clearer model of how AI systems interpret and generate information.
About This Site (and Me)
I’m Kent Lundin, a digital marketing professor and practitioner focused on how AI is changing search, visibility, and content strategy.
This site serves as:
- A learning resource
- A research notebook
- A practical guide to Generative Engine Optimization
Everything here is built to be:
- Clear
- Structured
- Grounded in how AI systems actually work
Final Thought
Search is no longer just about being found.
It’s about being understood.
This site reflects my work on how that understanding happens — and how to design for it intentionally.rer understanding of how AI discovers and uses information.
