Get cited by Perplexity: a GEO playbook for Lovable founders

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of getting your site cited by AI engines — Perplexity, ChatGPT search, Claude, Google AI Overviews — rather than just ranked. It's a different game to traditional SEO because the goal isn't a click; it's an attribution.

For Lovable founders this matters because most of you are building B2B tools. Your buyers don't search Google any more — they ask ChatGPT "what's the best invoicing app for UK freelancers?" If your site isn't in the training data and the live citations, you don't exist.

After auditing 200+ AI citations, the pattern is consistent. Cited pages tend to be:

1. Direct-answer. The headline is a question. The first paragraph answers it in 1–2 sentences. Everything else is supporting evidence.

2. Structured. Bulleted lists, comparison tables, FAQ sections. AI engines parse these into citations cleanly.

3. Specific. Real numbers, real prices, real dates. "Costs £29/month" beats "affordable pricing" 100% of the time.

4. Schema-marked. FAQ schema, HowTo schema, Product schema. The structured data tells the engine what kind of answer this is.

Before anything else, server-render your HTML. Perplexity and ChatGPT fetch HTML — they don't run your React bundle. We covered this in ChatGPT can't see your website.

A 200-word /llms.txt with a clear description of what you do, who you're for, and links to your most important pages. This is the single highest-leverage GEO move you can make right now.

Not "Our Features". Not "About Us". One page per question your buyer asks ChatGPT. Examples for an invoicing app:

/best-invoicing-app-for-uk-freelancers
/how-to-charge-vat-on-invoices
/stripe-vs-gocardless-for-freelancers
/free-invoice-template-uk

Each page: headline = the question. First paragraph = the answer. Rest = evidence. ~800 words is plenty.

Every page should end with 5–10 FAQs wrapped in JSON-LD FAQPage schema. Perplexity in particular pulls citations directly from FAQ schema.

<script type="application/ld+json">
{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "Do I need to charge VAT as a UK freelancer?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover exceeds £90,000 in any 12-month period."
    }
  }]
}
</script>

AI engines cite sites that other sites discuss. The fastest paths for a new Lovable project:

· Get listed in 3–5 niche directories in your category.

· Submit to Product Hunt and write a launch post on Indie Hackers.

· Get one Reddit thread (r/SaaS, r/freelance, etc.) that mentions you with context.

You don't need DR-80 backlinks. You need the engines to see your name in three different conversations on the open web.

Once a week, query ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude with your top 5 buyer questions. Note when you're cited and when you're not. Tools like Profound and Otterly automate this if you don't want to do it manually.

The metric isn't "ranking position." It's "% of buyer questions where I'm one of the cited sources." Get that to 30% and you'll feel it in pipeline.