| name | geo-guide |
| description | GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) principles and patterns for Sumo Logic documentation in the sumologic-documentation repo. Use when creating or updating docs to rewrite headings as questions, adding FAQ sections, applying BLUF writing style, or adding JSON-LD schema markup to Docusaurus frontmatter. Also trigger for requests like "make my app doc AI-friendly", "optimize for AI citation", "add FAQ schema", or any task involving GEO, structured metadata, or discoverability of Sumo Logic docs for LLMs. Do not use for general documentation updates, routine edits, standard page creation, or any PR that does not explicitly ask for GEO or AI optimization. |
GEO Reference — Sumo Logic Docs
What is GEO?
GEO optimizes documentation so AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini cite your content in their answers. Unlike SEO which targets search rankings, GEO targets AI citation frequency.
Frontmatter Template (GEO-optimized)
GEO changes heading style, page structure, frontmatter fields, and content layout in ways that diverge from the standard Sumo Logic style guide. Apply it only when explicitly requested. Apply GEO when the prompt contains phrases like:
- "optimize for AI citation"
- "GEO optimize this page"
- "make this doc AI-friendly"
- "make this citable by AI tools"
- "add FAQ schema"
- "add JSON-LD"
- "add structured metadata"
- "apply BLUF"
- "rewrite headings as questions"
Do not apply GEO for:
- Routine documentation updates, bug fixes, or content corrections
- Standard new page creation without an explicit AI-optimization request
- Pull requests that mention SEO but not GEO or AI citation
- Any task where the prompt does not specifically ask for GEO
Sumo Logic doc pages live under /docs/ and follow this frontmatter pattern:
---
id: my-page-name
title: How to [Task] with Sumo Logic
sidebar_label: Short Nav Label
description: One sentence answering the page question for AI crawlers and search engines.
keywords:
- Sumo Logic
- feature or product name
- capability term
---
When generating GEO-optimized frontmatter, add # [GEO: Principle N] inline comments next to each GEO-specific field so reviewers can immediately distinguish GEO additions from standard frontmatter fields. Remove these comments only if the project's YAML linter rejects them.
Rules:
title is phrased as a "How to" task statement (or a What/Why/Which question for concept pages) and matches the H1 (generated from frontmatter). Use "How to X", not "How do I X".description is one sentence describing what the feature does and what problem it solves.keywords include: the integrated product name, Sumo Logic, and 2–3 capability terms (for example: security, monitoring, logs).
The Five GEO Principles
Principle 1 — Answer first (BLUF)
Bottom Line Up Front. The first sentence of every page and every section must answer the question directly before any background, context, or caveats.
<!-- Before -->
"Scheduled searches are a powerful feature of Sumo Logic that allow you to run searches automatically on a recurring schedule..."
<!-- After -->
"Use Scheduled Searches to run a saved search automatically and alert your team when results meet a threshold you define."
Rules:
- Lead every intro and every H2/H3 section with the answer, not the motivation.
- Follow the answer with context, prerequisites, steps, and examples.
- Apply at every section level, not just the top of the page.
Principle 2 — One page, one question
Each page answers exactly one clearly scoped question. AI cannot follow cross-references between pages. A self-contained page is the only page that gets cited.
<!-- Before — monolithic page -->
"Alerts" — scheduled searches + webhook connections + email notifications all on one page
<!-- After — single-question pages -->
"How do I create a scheduled search in Sumo Logic?"
"How do I send Sumo Logic alerts to a webhook?"
"How do I configure email notifications for Sumo Logic alerts?"
Rules:
- If a page covers more than one question, split it.
- Every answer must be complete without requiring the reader to visit another page.
- Cross-link related pages for further reading, but never for required context.
Principle 3 — Question-style headings
Rewrite every H2 and H3 as the question a user would type into an AI tool, or as a "How to" task statement for procedural sections.
| Before | After |
|---|
## Prerequisites | ## What do you need before getting started? |
## Configuration | ## How to configure [feature] in Sumo Logic |
## Log Collection | ## How to collect [source] logs in Sumo Logic |
## Dashboards | ## What dashboards does [feature] include? |
## Limitations | ## What are the limitations of [feature]? |
Rules:
- Use "How to X" for procedural headings (not "How do I X"). Use What, Why, When, or Which for conceptual headings.
- Write headings in the second person or as a neutral task statement, never the first person ("How do I", "What do I need").
- Include "Sumo Logic" and the feature name where it reads naturally.
- Apply to H2 and H3 only. H1 is generated from
title: frontmatter.
Principle 4 — Add FAQ sections
Every major page ends with a structured FAQ block. These are the highest-value content blocks for AI citation because they match how users query AI tools.
## FAQ
### What is [feature name] in Sumo Logic?
[One-sentence BLUF answer.]
### How do you [primary task for this page]?
[Direct answer with inline code or steps if relevant.]
### What happens if [common error or edge case]?
[Direct answer.]
### What are the [feature] limits or quotas?
[Direct answer with specific values where known.]
Rules:
- Minimum 3 questions per FAQ but aim for 5 to 8.
- Cover distinct intents (scope, capabilities, limitations, editing, prerequisites), not variations of one question.
- Phrase questions and answers in the second person (you/your), never the first person (I/me/my). Use "How do you X?", "Can you X?", or "How to X", never "How do I X?".
- Each answer must be fully self-contained. No "see above" or "refer to X".
- Questions must match natural AI query language for the topic.
- Answers must be concise with 1 to 3 sentences.
Principle 5 — Structured metadata and schema markup
Add keywords to every major documentation page. This is the signal layer AI crawlers read before rendering the page. See the Frontmatter Template (GEO-optimized) above for the full pattern. Per-page JSON-LD schema injection requires a swizzled @theme/DocItem/Metadata component that does not yet exist in this repo — scope Principle 5 to keywords only until that infrastructure is built.
Gotchas
GEO restructures pages in ways that are intentional for AI citation but inconsistent with the standard Sumo Logic style guide. Applying it to the wrong pull requests creates review noise and style drift. Only apply GEO when the prompt explicitly asks for it — trigger phrases are listed above. If a prompt asks you to "update the authentication page" with no mention of GEO, AI citation, or structured metadata, make the content change only. Do not rewrite headings as questions, do not add an FAQ section.
title: and FAQ questions must not overlap. The title is the page-level question; FAQ entries are sub-questions. Repeating the title as a FAQ question adds no citation value.- Keep
description: between 140–160 characters. AI crawlers truncate longer values and may ignore the field entirely.
- Never write an H1 in the body. The
title: frontmatter generates the H1. A second H1 in the body breaks page structure and GEO.
- Do not apply GEO to
docs/reuse/ partials. These files are import-only snippets and are never crawled directly. Apply GEO only to the parent page that imports them.
Cross-References
Related tooling and guidance:
/geo-optimize. Interactive command for applying GEO improvements to a doc. Proposes changes and waits for approval before implementing./seo-audit. Audit command that checks SEO/AEO/GEO signals and can hand off to /geo-optimize when GEO improvements are needed.- Public style guide. Human-readable AEO and GEO guidance:
