Generative Engine Optimization: How We Do It at ZD Design

Most agencies sell GEO as a mystery — proprietary voodoo they can't show you. We sell it as a program: four steps, run every month, with the results in a dashboard you can open anytime. Here's exactly how we do Generative Engine Optimization at ZD Design — the same process inside our AI Visibility program, step by step, nothing held back.

Step 1 — Open the door for the crawlers

Before anything else we make sure AI engines are allowed to read you: robots.txt rules that welcome every major AI crawler, an llms.txt file that points engines at your best pages, and server-side rendering so bots that don't run JavaScript still see every word. You'd be surprised how many websites quietly block their own recommenders — our step-by-step guide shows you how to check yours in ten minutes.

Step 2 — Publish content worth quoting

Engines quote sentences, not slogans. We publish unique, specific, answer-shaped pages — real questions your customers ask, answered plainly, with your services and service areas stated in the first paragraph. Not thin AI-spun filler: engines discount it, and customers can smell it. What GEO actually is explains why quotable beats clever every time.

Step 3 — Build authority beyond your site

AI engines hedge toward sources the rest of the web confirms. So we build the proof outside your walls too: backlinks from real directories and partners, a complete Google Business Profile with review velocity, and consistent facts everywhere engines cross-check. A restoration client's authority work alone lifted domain authority 20% in six months — the trust layer that makes engines comfortable naming you.

Step 4 — Measure mentions like rankings

You can't improve what you don't track. We watch when and how you're named in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude — which answers include you, which competitors they quote instead — and it all lands in the same monthly dashboard as your Google rankings. One place, both engines, every month.

What it costs

The full program — both engines, all four steps, run monthly — is $597/mo, month-to-month, cancel anytime. Founding clients lock **$397/mo** while spots last. If you'd rather run the steps yourself first, the free AI-answers checklist is the whole playbook in shareable form.