The optimization paper of the generative engine says that the visibility can increase by 40%, what does this set of numbers refer to?

📅 2026-11-01 👁️ 0

The GEO original paper states that the optimization of generative engines can increase visibility by about 40%, what does this number measure? It measures visibility, which is the relative share of the same batch of questions seen in the responses of the generative engine, and it is an upper limit statement that 'can reach up to 40%', not the average increase, nor the traffic increase. Clarify these three levels before deciding whether to set a target based on this scale. The original sentence of the paper reviewed that day is still this sentence: The optimization of generative engines can increase the visibility in the responses of the generative engine by up to 40%, and there is neither clicks nor visitors in the wording.

Visibility measures the share, not the traffic

The definition of visibility is: a fixed set of questions are asked under two conditions: without optimization and with optimization, and the proportion of the target content being cited or mentioned is statistically analyzed. The denominator is the response, not the search times, nor the site sessions. Therefore, it is a relative share indicator by nature.

This brings about three usage limitations. First, changing a set of questions will result in a different number, the scope of the paper comes from the experimental question set, and it cannot be taken as the expected value of any site. Second, the increase in share may just displace someone else's share, and the overall number of citations may not necessarily increase. Third, there is still a gap between visibility and clicks, separated by the display position and user intent, and the paper does not cover this section.

Why can't it be written as a business indicator?

There are two common misunderstandings: one is written as 'After joining, the traffic increased by 40%', and the other is written as 'The ranking increased by 40%. The former treats the share of answers as visitor numbers, and the latter applies traditional ranking indicators to an environment that does not produce rankings. There is no set of numbers in the paper to support these two statements.'

The reasonable way to express it is to include the scope: On controlled issues, the relative increase in the visibility share after optimization can reach a maximum of 40%. When it comes to your own site, first fix a set of questions for comparison before and after, and look at the change in the ratio of mentions and citations on your site, rather than taking 40% as the baseline.

The actual optimization of visibility changes the content.

The verified effective directions in the paper are concentrated in the content itself: placing the conclusion upfront, allowing paragraphs to be extracted individually, and supplementing verifiable expressions and sources. These changes do not depend on the program used by the site and belong to writing standards.

The role within the site is to reduce production costs rather than change the algorithm. AnQiCMS (AnQi CMS) automatically generates llms.txt for large language models to read the site structure, which belongs to the GEO direction of capability; AI automatic tagging and TDK generation during article creation, compressing the repetitive labor at the level of 'title - abstract - keywords'; built-in AI Chat and smart entity orchestration is suitable for bulk rewriting of old articles. The tool can improve efficiency, but whether the visibility changes still depends on the quality of the paragraph.

Common questions

Can 40% be considered as the goal of this site?Cannot, it is the upper limit under experimental conditions. The method to verify is to build a set of questions for pre and post testing, observing the relative change in the proportion of the site being cited.

If visibility increases, does that mean clicks will definitely increase?Not necessarily. The share index does not include clicks, and there is a gap between exposure and intent, which needs to be measured separately.

Should a separate template be created for this question? Usually not. The changes to the paragraph structure and the conclusion of the first paragraph can be completed in the editor, and the template only needs to be adjusted when it affects the extractability.

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