Makarios Marketing launches GEO framework for local businesses

Makarios Marketing has launched a Generative Engine Optimization framework aimed at helping local service businesses appear by name in AI answers from tools like Google AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity. The Buffalo agency says the approach focuses on proving entity identity, corroborating it across the web and measuring which engines cite a business.

Why it matters: - Local service businesses are starting to compete for visibility inside AI answers, not just on Google search pages. - Makarios Marketing is pitching GEO as a way to help plumbers, HVAC companies, contractors and dentists get named directly by AI systems. - The agency says businesses that only optimize their website or only clean up directories can still miss where AI tools look for answers.

What happened: - Makarios Marketing launched a Generative Engine Optimization framework for home-service and local businesses. - The Buffalo, N.Y., agency was founded by Jason Davis. - The framework is designed to help businesses get cited by Google AI Overviews, Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity. - Davis said the goal is to prove the business entity on-site, corroborate it off-site and measure which engines cite the business.

The details: - Makarios says many teams wrongly treat GEO like a schema or markup checkbox. - The agency cited a Cheers home-services baseline covering 100 metros over 28 days ending Sept. 2, 2026. - In that baseline, Gemini cited contractor websites in about 81% of citations. - ChatGPT split citations closer to half websites and half directories and review platforms. - Perplexity also leaned website-heavy in the same baseline. - Makarios says the pattern shows why businesses need both site optimization and off-site trust signals. - The agency says schema can still help with clarity and rich results. - Makarios said an Ahrefs study of pages that added JSON-LD did not show a clear citation lift on AI Overviews, AI Mode or ChatGPT. - The agency said it will not sell schema as GEO. - Davis said businesses should run the same five prompts in Gemini and ChatGPT for their trade and city, log the sources and fix the gaps. - Davis also said Makarios maximizes copy, content and Google Business Profile work to improve SEO, Maps and AI visibility. - The GEO offering sits alongside Makarios’ local SEO, GBP, entity coverage and AI visibility services. - Makarios says the service is built for premium local businesses that want calls and booked jobs.

Between the lines: - The launch reflects a shift in local search marketing from ranking pages to influencing how AI systems choose sources. - Makarios is drawing a hard line between technical markup and broader entity trust signals. - The emphasis on citations suggests AI visibility may depend on consistency across a business’s own site, business profiles and third-party directories. - The agency is also trying to differentiate itself from firms that sell rankings without tying work to leads or revenue.

What's next: - Local owners can book a free SEO audit at Makarios Marketing to assess AI citation gaps. - Makarios will continue pairing GEO with SEO, Maps optimization and Google Business Profile work. - The agency says it will judge results by leads, calls and revenue on a month-to-month basis. - Makarios offers no long-term lock-in for its services.

The bottom line: - Makarios is betting that the next local search fight will be won by businesses that show up in AI answers, not just search rankings.