Leadership is asking for GEO goals for our annual planning. I have no idea what realistic targets look like.
My challenge:
What I need:
We can’t manage what we don’t measure. But I don’t know what good looks like for GEO.
Here’s the metrics framework I use with clients:
Layer 1: Visibility Metrics
| Metric | Definition | Target Range |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility Rate | % of prompts where you appear | 20-50% (varies by competition) |
| Average Position | Mean position when mentioned | 1-3 for brand, 1-5 for category |
| Platform Coverage | Visibility across ChatGPT/Perplexity/Claude/etc. | 80%+ across major platforms |
Layer 2: Quality Metrics
| Metric | Definition | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Citation Rate | How often you’re cited as source | 15-30% of mentions |
| Sentiment | Positive/neutral/negative breakdown | 80%+ positive or neutral |
| Context Quality | Recommendation vs. alternative vs. warning | 70%+ positive context |
Layer 3: Business Metrics
| Metric | Definition | Typical Benchmark |
|---|---|---|
| AI-Attributed Traffic | Visits from AI referrals | 2-8% of organic traffic |
| AI Conversion Rate | Conversions from AI traffic | 1.5-2x organic average |
| Brand Search Lift | Branded searches after AI visibility | Correlated increase |
Start by measuring Layer 1. Add Layer 2 as you mature. Layer 3 proves ROI.
This framework saved my planning process. Here’s how we applied it:
Our baseline (starting point):
Our Q1 goals:
Our Q2-Q4 goals:
These felt aggressive but achievable based on our optimization capacity.
After Q1: Hit 23% visibility, 3.4 position. On track.
Your goals should be relative to competitors, not absolute.
How to benchmark:
Our benchmark analysis:
| Brand | Visibility Rate | Avg Position | Share of Voice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Competitor A | 62% | 1.4 | 35% |
| Competitor B | 48% | 2.1 | 25% |
| Us | 28% | 3.2 | 15% |
| Competitor C | 22% | 3.8 | 12% |
Our goals based on this:
Why relative matters: Absolute targets without context are meaningless. Knowing competitors have 48-62% visibility tells us 28% is underperforming but achievable improvement exists.
What leadership actually cares about:
Executive Dashboard (Monthly):
Visibility Score - Single number trending over time
Competitive Position - Where we stand vs. competitors
Business Impact - What it means for revenue
What NOT to present:
The narrative leadership wants: “Our AI visibility is improving, we’re catching competitors, and it’s driving measurable business results.”
Keep it simple, connect to revenue, show trend.
Industry-specific benchmarks I’ve seen:
B2B SaaS:
E-commerce:
Professional Services:
Healthcare/Financial (YMYL):
General patterns:
Use these as rough guides, then build your own competitive benchmarks.
You can’t set goals without baseline data. Here’s how to establish it:
Week 1: Prompt Library Creation Build list of 100+ relevant prompts:
Week 2: Platform Testing Test each prompt across:
Document: mentioned/not, position, sentiment, source cited
Week 3: Analysis Calculate:
Week 4: Goal Setting Based on baseline + competitive analysis:
Our process: 3 months to establish solid baseline and competitive benchmarks. Then quarterly goal-setting based on actual data.
Don’t guess - measure first.
What improvement rates are actually achievable:
From Zero/Low Visibility (under 15%):
From Moderate Visibility (15-35%):
From Good Visibility (35-50%):
From High Visibility (50%+):
Key insight: Early gains are faster. Improvement slows as you approach leader positions. Plan for diminishing returns.
Template for quarterly GEO goals:
Q1 Goal Template:
Primary Metrics:
Key Results:
Leading Indicators (Monthly):
Example filled in:
Q1 Goal:
Key Results:
Finance perspective on GEO goals:
What we need to see:
Investment - What does GEO cost?
Outputs - What are we producing?
Outcomes - What business impact?
ROI - Does it make sense?
The narrative that works: “We invested $X in GEO, which improved visibility from A to B, driving Y additional traffic that converted at Z rate, generating $X revenue. ROI is X%.”
Always connect visibility metrics to business outcomes for leadership.
This is exactly what I needed. Here’s my goal framework:
Step 1: Establish Baseline (Next 2 Weeks)
Step 2: Set Quarterly Goals
| Metric | Q1 Target | Q2 Target | Q3 Target | Q4 Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visibility Rate | +8% | +6% | +5% | +4% |
| Avg Position | -0.5 | -0.4 | -0.3 | -0.3 |
| Share of Voice | +4% | +3% | +3% | +2% |
| AI Traffic | +1% | +0.8% | +0.6% | +0.5% |
Step 3: Leading Indicators (Monthly)
Step 4: Executive Reporting
Key insight: Set goals relative to baseline AND competitors. Connect all metrics to business outcomes. Plan for diminishing returns as we improve.
Thank you all - this gives me a real framework to present.
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