Not every question to an AI system has the same purpose. Understanding the type of intent behind a prompt is the foundation of targeted GEO content.
The four intent types
Informational
The user wants to understand how something works, what something means, how something is structured. Examples: “How does a mortgage work?”, “What is the difference between a SaaS and on-premise CRM?”, “How often should a fire extinguisher be inspected?”
Content strategy: in-depth, explanatory content with clear definitions and examples.
Navigational
The user is looking for a specific organisation, person, product or page. Examples: “KBC Leuven opening hours”, “Fyrco customer service contact”, “Notion workspace login”.
Content strategy: consistent and complete company information, Google Business Profile, schema.org Organization, LocalBusiness.
Transactional
The user wants to take action: buy, compare, book, apply. Examples: “Calculate cheapest mortgage”, “Buy fire extinguisher for restaurant”, “Start trial of a project management tool”.
Content strategy: concrete product pages with clear conditions, prices and application paths. Transparent calls-to-action.
Comparative
The user wants to weigh options side by side. Examples: “KBC vs Belfius home loan”, “Fyrco or Ansul for fire extinguisher maintenance”, “Asana vs Monday for project management in a small team”.
Content strategy: comparison tables, pros and cons, sector comparisons — preferably in neutral tones and with external references.
Prompt mapping in practice
An effective GEO content strategy starts by systematically mapping which questions your audience asks, by intent type. That list determines which content you build, in which order, and with which emphases.
Concretely, that means: build a matrix with the four intent types as columns and your product categories as rows. Fill in for each cell which questions typically arise there. The empty cells that remain are often content gaps where competitors are present and you are not.
Related in the hub
→ Want to know how to make your content machine-readable for AI? Read 3.3 — Schema.org.