Published November 5th, 2025

Think pyramid, not checklist. AI is combing through every strand of information about your business. While it starts at the head of things you have control over, it swiftly makes its way down to each flyaway review, listing, and other piece of authority regarding your business brand. Here is where you should start to tell AI which path to follow:

At the base is Identity & Integrity (perfect NAP, duplicate suppression, canonical profiles, crawlable location pages, JSON-LD). 

Next comes Credible Citations (platform coverage and consistency). 

Above that sits Reputation Proof (review quality, recency, and response discipline). 

At the top: Authority & Assurance (licenses, certifications, awards, press, and expert mentions). 

Each tier compounds the one below; skipping layers collapses trust.

Prioritize in this order: (1) Fix identity and structure so models can resolve who you are. (2) Standardize citations so they can confirm you everywhere. (3) Accelerate reviews so they can believe you’re good now. (4) Publish credentials so they can justify recommending you. This hierarchy turns GEO from folklore into a roadmap. Allocate effort by tier, measure lift by market, and scale what moves the needle.