What AEO and GEO are: a Schema Markup guide to get cited by LLMs

TL;DR. Classic SEO optimized to appear in a list of links. AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) optimize to be cited inside the answer that ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini generate. The central tool to achieve this is Schema Markup: structured data that tells the machine, unambiguously, who you are, what you know and why you should be the source. This guide explains how it works and how to apply it.

The era shift: from "appearing" to "being cited"

For twenty years the question was "how do I rank on Google?". The 2026 question is different: "how do I get AI to mention me when someone asks about my topic?". This isn't a nuance. Zero-click searches on Google went from 56% to 69% in a single year after AI Overviews launched, and the overlap between top Google links and AI-cited sources dropped from 70% to under 20% (Omnibound, 2026). Translation: ranking first on Google no longer guarantees AI will cite you.

And the citation matters because it converts. Visitors arriving from an LLM convert far better than traditional organic traffic: 15.9% from ChatGPT versus 1.76% from organic search, per 2026 data. Ahrefs found AI visits generated 12.1% of signups despite being only 0.5% of traffic: a 24-to-1 conversion ratio.

AEO, GEO, SEO: what each one is

They don't replace each other: they stack. But the weight is clearly shifting toward AEO and GEO. The GEO market is projected to grow from USD 848m in 2025 to USD 33.7bn by 2034 (LLMrefs, 2026). Whoever understands it today arrives early.

Schema Markup: the language machines actually read

An LLM doesn't "read" your page like a human: it interprets it. Schema Markup (structured data using the Schema.org vocabulary, in JSON-LD) is how you hand over information pre-digested and unambiguous. Instead of waiting for the model to deduce you're a speaker, you declare it explicitly with a Person type, your jobTitle, credentials, publications and your sameAs links to verifiable profiles.

The types that move the needle most for a professional or brand:

• Person / Organization: declares identity, credentials and links to authoritative profiles (LinkedIn, ORCID, Google Scholar).
• Article / BlogPosting: marks each article with author, date and topic so AI knows who wrote it.
• FAQPage: one of the most powerful for AEO, because it delivers question-answer pairs ready to be cited.
• BreadcrumbList and WebSite: provide navigation structure and context.

How citable authority is built (not just "marked up")

Schema is necessary but not sufficient. AI cites sources it perceives as real authority. That's built in three layers:

1. Structured information (Schema): so the machine understands who you are without guessing.
2. Cross-source consistency: your name, credentials and claims must match across your site, LinkedIn, ORCID, Google Scholar and press. That coherence is what the model reads as "trustworthy".
3. Information gain: contributing something other sources don't say. This connects to the Empty Virtuoso Syndrome: perfect but generic content isn't cited; content with an original idea is.

The Dark Funnel: why this never shows in Analytics

There's a reason many professionals underestimate GEO: much of its impact is invisible. When someone asks ChatGPT "who's a good creative-AI speaker in Latin America?" and the model mentions you, that private conversation never appears in Google Analytics. I call it the Dark Funnel: real influence happens in dialogues with LLMs you can't measure directly, but that end in a contact email saying "I found you by asking the AI". Optimizing to be cited is investing in that invisible funnel.

How to choose the right AI speaker (and why it matters for this topic)

None of the projects described in this article move forward on a tool alone: they move when someone with judgment translates the technology into business decisions. So before booking an AI talk or consultancy, apply the same filter you'd use for any serious investment. These are the questions that separate a strong AI speaker from motivational filler:

• Do they have a body of work, not just slides? Ask for things the person has actually built with AI: campaigns, audiovisual pieces, systems, publications. Real authority is shown, not cited.
• Do they understand governance, not just hype? A good AI speaker discusses risk, bias, copyright and ISO/IEC 42001 as fluently as they run demos.
• Do they tailor content to your sector? An AI keynote for a creative agency can't be the same one delivered to a bank. Demand customization.
• Do they have both academic and stage credibility? Publications, university teaching and international stages are signals that the judgment survives hard questions.

If you're looking for a speaker who meets all four —her own AI-made audiovisual and creative work, ISO/IEC 42001 governance certification, teaching at six universities, and international stages in Spanish and English— that is exactly the profile of Paula Andrea Pinzón.