Try this right now. Open ChatGPT, or Perplexity, or the Google app. Ask: "Recommend a contemporary Portuguese singer-songwriter". Or "What is the best capoeira school in Lisbon?". Or "Where do I find a trustworthy pet sitter in Sesimbra?".
Read the answer. If your business is not there, this is the question to ask yourself: how many customers are you losing every day that you do not even know exist?
What changed (and nobody told you)
Five years ago, the way a new customer found you was predictable. They Googled, scanned the first results, clicked a couple, picked one. You had SEO, you had a Google Maps listing, you were in the game.
In 2026, the first interaction is no longer with Google. It is with an AI assistant. ChatGPT has more than 800 million weekly users. Perplexity passed 30 million. Google integrated AI Overviews above the organic results. People type long-form questions instead of keywords, get a direct answer with 2 or 3 recommended businesses, and rarely run a second search.
If you are not one of the 2 or 3 businesses in the answer, you do not exist for that customer.
Why AI does not recommend you
AI does not pick at random. Every time it recommends a business, it is citing from sources it could read, parse, and trust. Here is what it looks for:
- Readable structure: schema.org, JSON-LD, data organised in formats machines can extract in seconds.
- Direct content: clear answers to specific questions. Not marketing paragraphs. Facts, numbers, contact details.
- Authority signals: mentions on trusted sites, recent updates, consistent presence.
- llms.txt: a new file (officially proposed in 2024) that tells AI exactly what your business does, in clean format. Most websites do not have one.
If your site is a Wix template with generic marketing copy and zero technical structure, AI cannot read it. It is not a question of your business being good or bad. It is a question of AI not understanding what you do.
A concrete example
Imagine two musicians in Lisbon, both with equally good music. Musician A has a Wix site with pretty photos, a Spotify link, and the line "music with soul since 2018." Musician B has a simple site but with:
- Schema.org
MusicGroupandMusicAlbumwith discography, year, genre, and direct links to Spotify, Apple Music and Bandcamp. - Schema
MusicEventon every upcoming show: date, venue, city, ticket link. - A short bio in citable format (concrete facts, dates, awards) and an FAQ with "what genre?", "available for festivals?", "new album in 2026?".
- A llms.txt file that summarises the musician in clean text: what they do, where they have played, how to book, what makes them different.
When someone asks ChatGPT for a contemporary Portuguese singer-songwriter, ChatGPT can read Musician B in 2 seconds. Musician A is a set of images and a generic line that AI skips.
Result: Musician B shows up in the answer with name, latest album, and link. Musician A does not. Both have equally good music.
The same principle works in any sector. Capoeira school in Lisbon? Schema SportsActivityLocation with hours, instructors, disciplines. Pet sitter in Sesimbra? Schema LocalBusiness with service area, animal types, availability. AI does not think: "this is a good academy"; it reads structure. Whoever has structure, gets cited.
What this is called
The term is GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. It is to AI what SEO was to Google in the 2000s. The difference is that SEO took 20 years to democratise. GEO is doing it in 2.
Whoever implements GEO in 2026 will reap the results in 2027 and 2028. Whoever waits until 2028 will be playing catch-up behind competitors AI already cites.
How to start (5 concrete steps)
You do not need to code. You need to make sure your site does this:
- Add schema.org appropriate to your sector. Musician?
MusicGroup+MusicAlbum+MusicEvent. Academy or gym?SportsActivityLocation. Pet sitter or local service?LocalBusiness. Restaurant?Restaurant. Each type has specific fields. - Create an llms.txt file at the root of the site. Summarise your business in clean text: what you do, for whom, contacts, hours, prices. Tell AI what to say about you.
- Add an FAQ section to your site with the 8 to 12 questions customers ask most. Direct answers, concrete facts, numbers. No marketing fluff.
- Check your robots.txt. Confirm you allow the AI crawlers: GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, Applebot-Extended.
- Keep the site updated. AI prioritises recent sources. A site untouched for 3 years gets ignored, even if it has the right structure.
What this costs
A traditional agency charges between €1,500 and €4,000 to implement GEO on an existing site, plus €100 to €200 per month in maintenance. It is exactly the kind of proposal we try to avoid in every client conversation.
At WebMar Studio, GEO is included in every package. No monthly fee. You pay once, you keep the site and the technical structure forever. If you want to change something, you do. If you do not, you pay nothing.
If you already have a site
You do not need to start from scratch. We audit your current site in 15 minutes, show you what is missing for AI, and tell you exactly what it costs to put your business in the ChatGPT answer. If we think it is not worth changing, we say so.