In Lisbon, a large share of customers ask in English, and more and more of them ask ChatGPT before they open Google. What it answers depends on the whole brand: the Google profile, the website, social media and reviews, in both languages. That is what our GEO and SEO consulting works on.
GEO is optimising a brand for generative engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity; SEO is the part that optimises the website for Google. Our piece on what GEO is explains the difference without jargon.
This article is about being found in Lisbon. If you need someone to answer messages and bookings for you, look at our AI assistant.
Lisbon searches in two languages
The searches that already bring us visits show it: "GEO agency Lisbon", "ChatGPT agency Lisbon", "Gemini agency Lisbon", in English, next to their Portuguese versions. People looking for a GEO agency in Lisbon often ask in English, and that is how many customers look for your services too.
ChatGPT works the same way. A question asked in English tends to be answered from English sources. A brand that exists only in Portuguese stays out of that conversation; one that contradicts itself between the two languages muddles the answer.
One brand, two languages, four fronts
For ChatGPT to recommend you with confidence, in Portuguese and in English, the four fronts of the brand have to say the same thing:
- Google Business Profile. Description, services and replies in Portuguese and English, with the same address and the same hours.
- Website. Portuguese and English pages that say the same thing, linked to each other properly, with the neighbourhood next to the service: Chiado, Alfama, Belém, Parque das Nações, Cascais, Oeiras. This is where SEO works.
- Social media. The same facts on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, with posts a foreigner can follow too.
- Reviews and replies. Many arrive in English, on Google, Trustpilot or TripAdvisor. Replying in the language they were written in shows the customer, and the AI, that the brand serves both audiences.
Torre de Belém: the question asked by the Tagus
The Torre de Belém, a 16th century tower on the bank of the Tagus, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the most photographed places in Lisbon. People standing there ask ChatGPT, often in English, where to get a pastel de nata, have lunch or stay "near the Torre de Belém".
A brand in Belém that writes this on its site, in both languages, and repeats it on its Google profile, its social media and its replies to reviews gives ChatGPT the link it needs. One that does not stays out of the answer, even a hundred metres away.
Where we start
- Measure in both languages. We ask ChatGPT a Lisbon customer's questions in Portuguese and in English and count the mentions. Messgeo, our own GEO tool, repeats the measurement every month.
- Align the four fronts. Google profile, website, social media and reviews with the same information in both languages.
- Reply in the customer's language. Every review, in Portuguese or English, as it was written.
- Mentions across the city. Lisbon guides, sector directories, press.
- Repeat every month. Models update and answers shift.
In two lines
Lisbon searches in Portuguese and in English, in ChatGPT and on Google. The brand that wins says the same thing in both languages on every front: Google profile, website, social media and reviews. GEO looks after the whole, SEO after the website within it.
