What realistic milestones should I set for a GEO program? Leadership wants a timeline

I’ve run GEO programs for 2+ years. Here’s the realistic timeline.

Phase 1: Foundation (Months 1-3)

Phase 2: Traction (Months 4-6)

Phase 3: Growth (Months 7-12)

Reality check:

• “30-day results” = setting up, not delivering
• Month 3-6 is when real visibility happens
• Month 12+ for business impact clarity

Your $10K/month + 1 person is reasonable for this timeline.

Detailed month-by-month for your situation:

Month 1: Setup

• Set up Am I Cited monitoring
• Baseline citation audit (current state)
• Competitive analysis
• Priority topic selection
• Content calendar

Month 2: First content

• 4-6 optimized pieces published
• First topic cluster started
• Technical optimization
• Author page setup

Month 3: Early signals

• First AI citations appearing
• Adjust strategy based on data
• Complete first topic cluster
• 10-12 total pieces

Month 4: Consistency

• Regular publication cadence
• 15-20% citation rate
• Second topic cluster
• Identify quick wins

Month 5-6: Optimization

• Content performing, iterate
• 20-25% citation rate
• Clear topic leaders
• First competitor overtakes

Red flags at each stage:

KPI targets by phase:

Phase 1 (Months 1-3) - Leading indicators:

Phase 2 (Months 4-6) - Visibility indicators:

Phase 3 (Months 7-12) - Business indicators:

Set ranges, not absolutes.

“15-25%” gives you flexibility while showing progress.

Budget to milestone correlation:

What $10K/month typically delivers:

Timeline at this budget:

Your situation:

$10K with 1 FTE is solid. Expect:

• Month 6: Measurable visibility (15-20%)
• Month 9: Strong visibility (25-30%)
• Month 12: Leadership position in 1-2 topics

The accelerators:

• Original research (+2 months saved)
• Expert authors (+1 month saved)
• Competitor gaps exploited (+1 month saved)

How to structure quarterly reviews:

Q1 Review (Month 3):

Questions to answer:

• Is foundation in place?
• Are we seeing any citations?
• What’s working/not working?

Decision point: Continue as planned or adjust strategy?

Q2 Review (Month 6):

Questions to answer:

• Are we hitting visibility targets?
• How do we compare to competitors?
• What content is performing?

Decision point: Scale investment or optimize current approach?

Q3 Review (Month 9):

Questions to answer:

• Are we achieving competitive parity?
• What’s the brand search impact?
• Where can we lead?

Decision point: Expand topics or deepen current ones?

Q4 Review (Month 12):

Questions to answer:

• What’s the ROI signal?
• Where are we leading?
• Year 2 plan?

Decision point: Maintain, grow, or reduce investment?

This is exactly what I needed. Here’s my milestone framework:

The 12-Month GEO Roadmap:

Quarter 1: Foundation

• Month 1: Baseline, strategy, setup
• Month 2: First content, technical fixes
• Month 3: Early citations, first cluster

KPIs: 10+ pieces published, monitoring live, any citations

Quarter 2: Traction

• Month 4: Consistent publishing
• Month 5: 15-20% citation rate
• Month 6: 2-3 topic clusters, measurable visibility

KPIs: 20-25% citation rate, 25+ queries covered

Quarter 3: Growth

• Month 7-8: Competitive targeting
• Month 9: Parity achieved

KPIs: 25-35% citation rate, competitive SOV improving

Quarter 4: Leadership

• Month 10-11: Topic leadership
• Month 12: Year 1 assessment

KPIs: 35%+ citation rate, 1-2 topics led, ROI signals

How I’m presenting to leadership:

“GEO is a 12-month program to build sustainable AI visibility. We’ll see initial results by month 3, meaningful visibility by month 6, and competitive leadership by month 12. Year 2 is when we expect clear ROI.”

Quarterly decision points built in.

Thanks everyone - this is exactly the framework I needed!