The AI Search Landscape
Understanding the major AI platforms helps you prioritize your GEO efforts.
The Major Players
ChatGPT (OpenAI)
- Users: 200M+ weekly
- How it finds content: Training data + web browsing (when enabled)
- Citation style: Cites sources when browsing
- For GEO: Need both training data presence AND search visibility
Claude (Anthropic)
- Users: Growing rapidly
- How it finds content: Training data only (no web browsing)
- Citation style: References knowledge, analyzes uploaded documents
- For GEO: Focus on being authoritative enough for training data
Perplexity
- Users: Millions daily
- How it finds content: Real-time web search every query
- Citation style: Always shows numbered citations with links
- For GEO: Traditional SEO critical—it uses search results
Google AI Overviews
- Users: Billions of Google users
- How it finds content: Google's existing search index
- Citation style: Source links within AI summary
- For GEO: SEO fundamentals + GEO optimization
Key Differences
| Platform | Discovery Method | SEO Important? |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Training + browsing | Yes (for browsing) |
| Claude | Training data | Less directly |
| Perplexity | Real-time search | Critical |
| Google AI | Google index | Critical |
Strategic Implications
If you can only focus on one thing: Optimize for Perplexity and Google AI Overviews first—they rely heavily on search rankings you may already be working on.
For comprehensive coverage: Build lasting authority (for training data) AND optimize for real-time retrieval (for search-based systems).
Key Takeaway
Different AI systems find content differently. A unified strategy that builds both search visibility and lasting authority covers all bases.
Want the full strategy? Our GEO course covers platform-specific optimization.