How long before GEO results?

Three different horizons. Retrieval-based answers (Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, Gemini AI Overviews, Copilot): 6-12 weeks for first measurable citations after a clean GEO deployment. Knowledge-graph propagation (Wikipedia, Wikidata) takes 3-6 months. Training-data inclusion: only on the next major model retraining, i.e. 6-12+ months. The useful first-mover window is 18-36 months.

How long before GEO results, method-wise?

Retrieval surfaces (6-12 weeks). Perplexity, ChatGPT Search, Gemini AI Overviews and Copilot crawl the web in near-real-time and cite freshly indexed pages. According to OpenAI documentation, robots.txt changes are typically processed within 24 hours by the OpenAI bot fleet. Once your robots.txt allows OAI-SearchBot and PerplexityBot, the indexing cycle takes a few weeks for the engine to discover, ingest and start surfacing pages in answers. "We typically see the first measurable citations six to twelve weeks after a clean GEO deployment," observes Lorenzo Eeman, founder of PROEMA.

Knowledge graph propagation (3-6 months). Wikipedia and Wikidata entries are how ChatGPT (without browsing) and Gemini resolve entity facts. Creating a Wikidata entry for a founder, adding sameAs links, and getting cited in Wikipedia takes 6-12 weeks for the entry itself plus another 2-3 months for it to be picked up by LLM knowledge graphs at next sync.

Training data inclusion (6-12+ months). Large LLMs are retrained or fine-tuned on long cycles. A page published today won't appear in a base-model snapshot until the next major retraining, typically 6-12 months for ChatGPT, longer for Gemini. So if your strategy depends on ChatGPT citing you "from memory" (i.e. without browsing), the timeline is long. PROEMA prioritises the retrieval surfaces first because they show effects faster and can be measured continuously.

The first-mover window

The useful first-mover window in GEO is 18-36 months, defensible afterwards for 3-5 years (PROEMA internal rule). After that window, competitors who have also organised their GEO start producing comparable citation rates and the discipline becomes table-stakes, much like SEO became between 2005 and 2010. The 18-36 month figure is conservative: arguments based on observed adoption rates in B2B verticals (premium wine, speciality coffee, niche perfume) suggest the window may extend to 24-48 months in low-density categories. Sources: OpenAI bot documentation (developers.openai.com/api/docs/bots), PROEMA internal benchmarks across the GEO Rocket portfolio (expertcafe.be live since April 2026, zeroproof.one and expertvin.be live earlier).