A website can rank well on Google and still be missing from ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. These platforms look for clear, trustworthy content they can reference, using signals that go beyond keywords and backlinks.
This article explains why competitors may appear in AI answers first and what Malaysian SME owners can do to improve their visibility- the GEO ranking factors.
Newnormz sees the same pattern across local business websites each week. Pages with unclear business information and thin content are often overlooked in AI answers, even when they rank well on Google.
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What Are GEO Ranking Factors?
GEO ranking factors are the signals AI tools use when choosing which websites to mention or cite in an answer. They differ from the signals that help a page appear in Google results. Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, focuses on how AI platforms find, assess and combine online information.
A website can rank first on Google yet remain absent from ChatGPT when its content lacks these signals.
Query fan-out helps explain this. A long question is split into several smaller searches, and the results are combined into one answer.
Pages that cover those related points clearly have a stronger chance of being cited. Content focused only on one exact keyword phrase may miss the wider context and be left out.
Book a free website audit with Newnormz to see exactly which of these factors your site is missing.
The Core GEO Ranking Factors That Get You Cited
Six factors determine whether AI systems treat your content as a citable source.
| Factor | What It Measures | How to Improve It |
| Entity authority | How often your brand is mentioned across trusted, unrelated sources | Secure media features, directory listings, Wikipedia notability if eligible |
| Content extractability | How easily AI can pull a direct answer from your page | Lead each section with the answer, use short paragraphs and lists |
| E-E-A-T signals | Author credentials, first-hand experience, transparency | Publish named bylines with credentials and real case data |
| Freshness | How recently a page was updated | Refresh core pages at least once per quarter |
| Structured data | Whether schema markup defines your content clearly | Add Organization, FAQPage and Article schema |
| Technical accessibility | Whether AI crawlers can actually read the page | Serve content server side; avoid gating it behind JavaScript or logins |
Entity authority supports brand visibility
Ahrefs studied 75,000 brands and found that web mentions had the strongest correlation with visibility in Google AI Overviews at 0.664, compared with 0.218 for backlinks.
This suggests that credible brand coverage across independent websites can matter more than link volume alone.
E-E-A-T signals help demonstrate credibility
Google says its AI search features rely on its existing ranking and quality systems, which look for helpful and trustworthy content.
Clear author information, relevant credentials, first-hand experience and supporting evidence help readers and search systems understand why the content is credible.
Technical accessibility determines if content can be considered
Google states that pages must be indexed, eligible for a search snippet and accessible to its crawlers before they can appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
OpenAI also advises website owners to allow OpenAI-SearchBot and its published IP addresses so their content can be included in ChatGPT Search.
GEO Ranking Factors vs Traditional SEO Ranking Factors
| Aspect | Traditional SEO | GEO |
| Success metric | Ranking position, click through rate | Citation frequency, share of voice |
| Core signal | Backlinks and keyword match | Entity authority and extractability |
| Content unit rewarded | The full page | Individual, quotable passages |
| Update cycle | Annual refresh is common | Quarterly refresh is the baseline |
SEO and GEO are not competing strategies. AI models rely on live web search to retrieve sources, so a site with weak technical SEO will also struggle to get cited.
Learn more about GEO vs traditional SEO for search dominance in 2026.
Get a free technical SEO and GEO audit from Newnormz to see where the two strategies currently overlap on your site and where they do not.
3 Common GEO Mistakes Malaysian SMEs Make
Malaysian SME sites reviewed by Newnormz often show three recurring gaps.
- Thin service pages with little supporting evidence make it harder to demonstrate expertise and answer customer questions clearly.
- Missing author details on expert content, which weakens transparency and makes the source less credible to readers.
- Treating Google Business Profile as a one-time setup, instead of keeping business details, photos and customer reviews current.
A 2026 BrightLocal survey found that 80% of US consumers were likely to use a business that responded to all its reviews, showing why review management should remain an ongoing task.
The survey covered 1,002 US adults, so it should not be presented as Malaysian consumer data.
How Newnormz Helps Malaysian Businesses Get Cited by AI
Malaysian SMEs lose customers the moment a competitor gets cited by ChatGPT for a question their own website already answers.
Newnormz’s GEO agency and SEO services audit identifies exactly which entity, content and technical gaps are keeping a site out of AI answers, delivered with a prioritised fix list within 5 business days.
Every audit includes a competitor citation check, showing which sources AI models are already pulling from in your industry so you know precisely who you are up against.
Strengthen Your Visibility Across Google and AI Search
A strong Google ranking does not always lead to a mention in ChatGPT or Perplexity.
Newnormz reviews the GEO signals affecting your visibility, compares your website against cited competitors and provides a clear list of improvements to tackle first.
Book your free website audit call with Newnormz today.
Frequently Asked Questions
As the Core Strategists at Newnormz, we don’t just follow digital trends, we engineer them. Our team bridges the gap between technical precision and creative growth, ensuring that every SEO campaign, ad spend, and web interface serves a single purpose: scaling your business with measurable ROI. By blending data-driven insights with a deep understanding of market psychology, we transform digital presences into high-performance engines. At Newnormz, our strategy is simple: Think bigger, optimize faster, and lead the norm.
