FAQ
Questions, answered honestly.
Straight answers to what local business owners actually ask about SEO, GEO, and working with us — including the ones about guarantees.
About GEO
- What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of getting your business named and cited inside AI-generated answers — the responses from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, and Claude. Where SEO aims to rank your page in a list of links, GEO aims to make your business the recommendation the AI gives directly.
- How is GEO different from SEO?
- SEO optimizes how you appear in a list of search results — rankings, clicks, and traffic. GEO optimizes how AI systems describe and recommend you when they answer a question in a single response. SEO competes for position on a page; GEO competes to be the answer. They share foundations like clean technical structure and authority, which is why we run them together.
- Do I still need SEO if people use AI?
- Yes. Most people still use Google for local searches, and Google's own results increasingly blend classic links with AI Overviews. Strong SEO also feeds GEO: the authoritative content and citations that rank you on Google are the same signals AI models learn from. Doing both is how you stay visible no matter how a customer searches.
- Which AI engines does GEO target?
- We focus on the answer engines your customers actually use to find local businesses — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, and Claude. The work isn't about gaming any single tool; it's about making your business clear and trustworthy enough that any well-built model describes and recommends you accurately.
- Why do reviews and third-party mentions matter to AI engines?
- AI models build their answers from what independent, trustworthy sources say about you — not from your own marketing. Genuine reviews and mentions in directories, publications, and local sources are corroboration: they tell a model you're a real, active, trusted business worth recommending. Thin or inconsistent signals lead the model to name a competitor it trusts more.
Working with Salt32
- Who does Salt32 work with?
- We specialize in local service businesses across the United States — dentists, lawyers, contractors, clinics, med spas, and home-service companies. If your customers find you through search or by asking for a local recommendation, we can help you become the answer.
- Are the founders the ones doing the work?
- Yes. Salt32 is founder-led by design: you work directly with the two of us on every account, every month. Your work is never handed to a junior or an offshore contractor. It's the reason we stay boutique — we only take on the number of clients we can serve ourselves.
- What does a Visibility Audit include?
- The Visibility Audit reviews your Google and map-pack rankings, your Google Business Profile, reviews, competitors, technical foundation, citation consistency, and whether AI engines mention you for your category. You receive a plain-English report and a prioritized roadmap of what to fix first — yours to keep whether or not we work together afterward.
- How do the three services fit together?
- The Visibility Audit is the starting point — a one-time read of where you stand. Monthly Visibility is the ongoing retainer that executes and maintains the work. The GEO Readiness Sprint is a focused option for businesses that mainly want to understand and improve their presence in AI answers. Many owners start with the audit and decide from there.
Results & reporting
- Can you guarantee I'll rank #1 or that AI will recommend me?
- No. No honest agency can guarantee a specific ranking or an AI recommendation — search engines and AI models decide those, and both change constantly. What we can do is improve the real signals that make you easier to find, understand, trust, and cite, which raises your probability of being chosen. If anyone promises you a guaranteed result, treat it as a warning sign.
- How do you measure results?
- On the SEO side we track keyword rankings, organic traffic, and the calls and bookings that come from search. On the GEO side we monitor how often AI assistants mention and cite you for the questions your customers ask, and how that share of voice grows. You get a plain-English monthly report on exactly what moved.
- How soon will I see results?
- SEO and GEO compound over time rather than switching on overnight, and the honest answer is that it depends on your starting point and your market. We won't put a false date on it. What we will do is report progress every month so you can see momentum building and understand exactly what's driving it.
- What happens in the first month?
- We start by establishing where you stand — rankings, technical health, reviews, and how AI engines currently describe your category — then agree on the priorities that will move the needle first. From there we begin executing and set up the reporting you'll see each month, so nothing about the work stays a mystery.
See where you stand — in search and in AI.
Book a visibility audit and we'll show you how you rank on Google and how AI engines describe your business today, plus the clearest wins to become the answer in both.