How do you actually prioritize GEO tasks when everything feels urgent? Looking for frameworks that work

I’ve helped about 20 companies through exactly this situation. Here’s the framework I use:

The Eisenhower Matrix for GEO:

Quadrant 1 - Urgent AND Important (do first):

• Fix robots.txt blocking AI crawlers (GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot)
• Resolve any technical issues preventing content access
• Fix major inaccuracies in AI responses about your brand

Quadrant 2 - Important but NOT Urgent (schedule these):

• Content restructuring for AI extractability
• Building web mentions on authority sites
• Developing E-E-A-T signals
• Creating FAQ and comparison content

Quadrant 3 - Urgent but NOT Important (delegate/minimize):

• Minor metadata updates
• Small formatting fixes
• Platform-specific tweaks

Quadrant 4 - Neither (skip these):

• Optimizing low-traffic pages
• Chasing zero-volume keywords
• Over-engineering schema on every page

The mistake most teams make is jumping straight to content creation when they have technical barriers. If AI crawlers can’t access your site properly, nothing else matters.

Apply the Pareto Principle religiously.

The 80/20 of GEO:

• 20% of your keywords drive 80% of your traffic and conversions - optimize those pages for AI first
• 20% of your pages get 80% of AI crawler visits - study what makes them attractive
• 20% of platforms drive 80% of AI mentions - focus on those (for us it’s Reddit and industry publications)

We identified our top 15 pages by traffic and revenue impact. Restructured just those 15 for AI extractability - clear headings, answer-first paragraphs, comparison tables.

Result: 35% improvement in AI citation rate in 6 weeks. Way better ROI than trying to optimize 500 pages simultaneously.

Similar situation here. What worked for us was a phased approach:

Phase 1 (Week 1-2): Foundation

• Audit AI crawler access
• Check entity consistency across platforms
• Baseline AI visibility measurement with Am I Cited

Phase 2 (Week 3-6): Quick Wins

• Add FAQ schema to top 20 pages
• Restructure homepage and key product pages
• Fix any outdated information AI is citing about us

Phase 3 (Week 7-12): Authority Building

• Strategic web mention building
• Comparison content creation
• Original research publication

The key insight: We used Am I Cited to track which prompts triggered competitor mentions but not ours. That showed us exactly where to focus content efforts. Don’t guess - measure.

As someone who pushed back hard on “restructure everything,” here’s the content prioritization that actually works:

Priority 1: Decision-stage content Pages where people are ready to buy. “Best [category] software” pages, comparison pages, pricing pages. These drive 10-15x more revenue than awareness content even though they get less traffic.

Priority 2: Your unique expertise Content where you have genuine authority - original research, case studies, methodology explanations. AI values unique sources.

Priority 3: High-traffic informational content Restructure for AI extractability, but don’t obsess. Awareness content matters less for conversions.

Skip entirely:

• Old blog posts with minimal traffic
• Generic content you could find anywhere
• Pages targeting zero-volume keywords

Map your content to customer journey stages. Optimize decision-stage first, even if awareness content has more traffic.

Technical prioritization is straightforward:

Day 1 fixes:

1. robots.txt - ensure you’re not blocking AI crawlers
2. Site speed - FCP under 0.4 seconds = 3x more likely to be cited
3. Mobile rendering - AI crawlers often use mobile user agents

Week 1 fixes:

1. Schema markup on key pages (FAQ, HowTo, Organization)
2. Clean URL structure
3. Internal linking to key content

Month 1 fixes:

1. Content accessibility (no critical info behind tabs/accordions)
2. Image optimization with proper alt text
3. llms.txt implementation

Everything else can wait. These technical fundamentals unlock everything else. I’ve seen sites go from 0 AI mentions to 15+ just by fixing crawler access.

The data on mentions vs backlinks changed our entire prioritization:

Web mentions: 0.664 correlation with AI visibility Backlinks: 0.218 correlation with AI visibility

Mentions are 3x more impactful. Yet most teams still allocate 70% of resources to link building.

Our mention-building prioritization:

1. Wikipedia (if eligible) - highest authority for AI training data
2. Reddit (genuine participation) - heavily cited by AI systems
3. Industry publications - category authority
4. Review sites (G2, Capterra) - product-specific visibility
5. News outlets - recency signals

We flipped our resource allocation: 70% mentions, 30% links. AI visibility improved faster than traditional SEO rankings.

Your CEO wants results in 90 days? Here’s exactly what to prioritize:

Days 1-14: Baseline & Technical

• Set up Am I Cited or similar for baseline measurement
• Fix any AI crawler access issues
• Update entity info on Wikidata, Crunchbase, LinkedIn

Days 15-45: Content Quick Wins

• Restructure top 10 pages for AI extractability
• Add FAQ schema to pages that answer common questions
• Create one killer comparison piece

Days 46-75: Authority Building

• Publish original research or data
• Earn 5-10 quality mentions on authority sites
• Create “best of” and alternative content

Days 76-90: Measure & Report

• Document visibility improvements
• Calculate AI-attributed traffic/leads
• Build case for continued investment

This timeline is aggressive but realistic. We saw 40% visibility improvement in 90 days following this plan.

I was skeptical about all this prioritization talk until I saw the data.

What actually moved our visibility:

1. Fixed technical issues: +15% visibility in 2 weeks
2. Restructured top 5 pages: +12% visibility in 4 weeks
3. Published comparison content: +8% visibility in 6 weeks
4. Built mentions on Reddit/industry sites: +18% visibility over 8 weeks

What didn’t move visibility:

• Tweaking meta descriptions on low-traffic pages
• Obsessing over exact keyword placement
• Creating new content without restructuring
• Building backlinks without mentions

The biggest lesson: Measure before optimizing. Use actual visibility data to prioritize, not assumptions about what should work.

When you’re a team of one (or close to it), here’s the brutal prioritization:

Week 1:

• Check robots.txt (10 minutes)
• Set up basic visibility tracking (1 hour)
• Update company info on 3 key platforms (2 hours)

Week 2-4:

• Pick your 5 most important pages, restructure for AI (1 page per day)
• Add FAQ schema to those pages

Month 2:

• Create 1 comparison page (your product vs top 3 competitors)
• Participate genuinely in 2-3 relevant Reddit discussions per week

Month 3:

• Pitch 1 guest post or interview per week
• Update any outdated content AI is citing

That’s it. Ignore everything else until these are done. Trying to do more with limited resources just means nothing gets done well.

This thread is gold. Here’s my action plan based on everyone’s input:

My prioritization framework:

1. First: Technical foundation (Week 1)

   • Audit AI crawler access in server logs
   • Fix any robots.txt or 403 issues
   • Get baseline visibility data with Am I Cited

2. Second: Quick wins (Week 2-4)

   • Restructure top 10 revenue-driving pages
   • Add FAQ schema to key pages
   • Update entity info across platforms

3. Third: Content gaps (Month 2)

   • Create comparison content for decision-stage
   • Publish one piece of original research

4. Fourth: Mentions (Month 2-3)

   • Focus on Reddit and industry publications
   • Flip our backlink/mention ratio

Key insight I’m taking: Stop trying to boil the ocean. 80/20 everything. The Eisenhower Matrix is now my new religion.

Presenting this to leadership Monday. Thank you all.