GEO, short for generative engine optimization, is the work of getting your brand named and cited when people ask AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI answers for advice. For a gear brand, it means showing up when a skier asks which ski to buy, and having your specs and sizing quoted correctly.
SEO aims for a high position in a list of links. GEO aims for a place inside the answer itself, which usually names only three or four brands. The two overlap, since AI tools read the same web pages, but GEO puts more weight on clear, quotable facts and on mentions from sources AI trusts.
AI builds answers from pages it can read clearly and from sources it trusts, like review sites, retailers and forums. Big brands appear across all of those, so they show up by default. Independent brands often keep key information in images, scripts or PDFs that AI can’t parse, and have fewer outside mentions.
We track ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI answers. First Descent clients also get Claude and every market language they sell in.
AI tools that search the web live, like ChatGPT search, Perplexity and Google’s AI answers, can reflect changes within a few weeks. Answers that come from what a model learned in training change more slowly, over months. We expect first measurable movement within 90 days, which is why our guarantee is tied to day 90.
Our plans cost $500, $2,000 or $6,000 per month. Trail Map ($500) gives your team the plan and tracking. Off Piste ($2,000) is where we do the work for you, and it’s the right fit for most independent brands. Every plan has a 3 month minimum and no setup fee.
No, and nobody honest can. What we guarantee is this: if your share of AI answers on your tracked questions hasn’t improved by day 90, your fourth month is free and we keep working.
Access to your website admin, your analytics and your Google Merchant Center, plus your current lineup and specs. Most of the first month runs without needing your time beyond approving changes.
Yes. You get a personal one page audit showing how often ChatGPT recommends you, who it names instead, and three quick wins, with no cost and no obligation.
Yes. We work with snowboard, splitboard and skiboard makers, and with climbing and mountain bike brands. Skiing is where we started, and the same problem shows up anywhere gear comes in sizes and styles.
No, but it helps. We publish your gear finder’s logic as a ski guide page that AI can read, so your sizing advice gets quoted instead of a competitor’s. That’s why it’s included in the Off Piste and First Descent plans.
A gear finder costs $1,000 to build, plus $100 per month for hosting, updates and each season’s new lineup. It’s included free with the Off Piste and First Descent GEO plans.
Yes. It embeds with one line of code on Shopify, Squarespace, WordPress, Wix and custom sites, and matches your colors and fonts.
