The short answer
GEO stands for generative engine optimisation: helping AI search and AI answers understand your brand and mention it accurately when they respond to a question. It builds on SEO rather than replacing it.
Why Hong Kong companies should care
Google shows AI Overviews in Hong Kong, and buyers increasingly search in full questions, such as which firm in Hong Kong builds reliable B2B websites. The answers often list a few names directly. If you are not among them, you are harder to shortlist.
What GEO actually involves
First, consistent brand facts: name, services, districts and credentials agree across your site, profiles and structured data. Second, answer-ready content: clear passages that answer buyer questions directly. Third, technical access: crawlable pages with complete HTML. Fourth, ongoing observation: a fixed question set re-tested on a schedule, with dates and results recorded.
What it cannot do
Nobody can guarantee an AI will mention you. Answers change with phrasing, location and time. Treat any service that guarantees citations with suspicion.
How to begin
List the twenty questions buyers ask most, search each on Google yourself and note what the AI Overview says. Then check whether your site answers those questions clearly. That is a basic GEO baseline.
Want to know where your site stands in AI search?
Technical audit