ggeoaeo
HOW WE SCORE

The same test, run the same way, for every tool.

Every GEO Score comes from the same place: real prompts, run on real brand accounts, scored the same way for every tool. Here's exactly how — including where we're still calibrating.

Marcus TaylorBy Marcus TaylorUPDATED JUN 2026

Let me state my position first, because it's the whole point of a page like this. I ran every tool in the Index myself, on live brand accounts, and I have no commercial relationship that decides the order. Some vendors pay for featured placement — I'll come to that — but it doesn't move their number. If it did, this would be an ad, not an index.

The test

The benchmark is deliberately boring, because boring is repeatable. Each tool gets the same job: a set of 25 real buying prompts drawn from our own search data, tracked across the engines it claims to cover, over 30 days. I action a reasonable share of each tool's recommendations and watch what actually changes.

That last part matters. Plenty of tools generate a confident-looking list of things to do. Far fewer move the needle once you do them — and you only find that out by doing them.

The four things we score

Strip away each platform's invented vocabulary and they're all doing the same two jobs: telling you whether you show up, and helping you show up more. We score that across four factors, each 0–100. The headline GEO Score is a weighted blend — and on the rankingyou set the weights yourself, because “best” depends entirely on what you're optimising for.

01
Engine coverage
How many of the answer engines a tool genuinely monitors and optimises for — and how deeply, not just whether the box is ticked.
02
Hands-on usability
How easy it is to get real value, scored from running the platform on a live brand account rather than reading the marketing site.
03
Value & support
Pricing transparency, onboarding speed, re-test cadence, and whether there's a human to talk to when it matters.
04
Full transparency
Paid placements are labelled, the data behind a score is checkable, and the number is never for sale.

Where we're still calibrating

Honesty clause. The scores you see today are preview numbers from this methodology while the full benchmark settles — the engines move fast, and a score that pretends to three decimal places of certainty in a market this young would be a lie. As the test data firms up, the numbers will too, and we'll publish the per-tool logs behind them.

How we make money — and how we don't

geoaeo is reader-supported. Two ways: some links are affiliate links, and select vendors pay for featured placement. Anything paid is labelled PARTNER, every time. Neither one changes a score, a rank, or what the data says — those are decided by the test and nothing else.

If that line ever blurs, the whole thing is worthless, so we keep it bright. A vendor can buy a badge. They cannot buy a better number.

Found something wrong?

Pricing and coverage shift constantly, and we won't always catch a change on day one. If a number looks off, tell us and we'll re-check against the vendor's live site. The Index is only useful if it's current.