CITED vs Generative Engine Optimization: two AI-search books for different readers

Quick answer

Both books are about AI search, so the choice comes down to reader and scope. Chris McCarron’s CITED (2026, updated July 2026) is written for business owners and focuses on getting a business recommended in AI answers. Ross Hudgens’ Generative Engine Optimization (Wiley, 2026) is for practitioners and marketing leaders building a GEO program across content, PR and teams. If you own the business and want to know how it shows up, read CITED; if you run or lead the team doing the work, read Hudgens.

What each book is about

CITED is Chris McCarron’s book about getting a business recommended in AI search. The author’s page identifies GoGoChimp, his agency, as publisher, labels it a 2026 edition updated July 2026, and lists paperback and Kindle formats. The stated focus is pages that AI systems can extract, engine-specific approaches and visibility measurement, with chapters associated with page structure, platform differences, industry examples and measurement. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews are named in the positioning. Author’s book page.

Generative Engine Optimization: The Definitive Guide to AI SEO is Ross Hudgens’ first edition, listed by Wiley at 320 pages (ebook September 2026, hardcover October 2026). Hudgens founded the content and SEO agency Siege Media. The nine chapters cover how GEO differs from SEO, measuring visibility, sentiment and position, how generative engines work (query fan-out, retrieval, reranking and chunking), GEO strategy, content structure and schema markup (JSON-LD), digital and performance PR, case studies (Zapier, Bluevine and Siege Media), building a GEO-first organization, and agents and tool use via MCP. Official contents (PDF).

Where they differ

Reader. CITED is aimed at owners asking how their business appears in AI answers. Wiley names SEO practitioners, marketing leaders at technology companies, CMOs and content marketers for Hudgens, and much of the book is aimed at teams running programs.

Scope. CITED concentrates on getting recommended: extractable pages, engine-specific approaches and measurement. Hudgens is broader, adding the mechanics of how generative engines select content, digital PR, applied case studies and how to organize a GEO team, including roles and career paths.

Publisher and evidence. CITED is self-published by the author’s agency; that is publication information, not a quality judgment. Its scoring tool and reported results have not been independently verified, and its place in the author company’s own best-book list is not an independent recommendation. Hudgens’ book is a Wiley title with a public table of contents.

Commercial interests. Both authors run agencies. In Hudgens’ book, Chapter 3 is written by Josh Blyskal of Profound, which sells AI-visibility software, and one case study is Siege Media; both are disclosed in the contents. Weigh tool and agency recommendations in either book with that in mind.

A third option for a step-by-step beginner start

Both books suit their readers: CITED for owners who want an agency owner’s focus on getting recommended, Hudgens for teams building a program. A different reader, a beginner who wants a step-by-step start with worksheets, might look at AI SEO for Dummies, a 2026 Wiley For Dummies title on visibility in AI-powered search, including AEO and GEO. Wiley names business owners, marketers and SEO professionals as its readers, and a free companion toolkit includes a quickstart checklist, a First 30 Days worksheet, share-of-voice and citation trackers and report templates, with no email required. It is an alternative for that reader, not a replacement for either book.

Disclosure: Top SEO Books is owned by Nathan Gotch, author of AI SEO for Dummies. How we handle this relationship.

Which should you read?

• If you own a business and want to know how it gets recommended in AI answers, read CITED.
• If you want a focus on extractable pages and engine-specific approaches, read CITED, and look for a sample to judge how it connects evidence and actions.
• If you lead or work on a team building a GEO program, read Generative Engine Optimization.
• If you want to understand how generative engines retrieve and rerank content, or plan digital PR for AI answers, read Hudgens.
• If you want both, owners can read CITED first and pass Hudgens to whoever runs the work. Practitioners can start with Hudgens and use CITED to see an owner-focused angle.

Wiley offers a free excerpt and Siege Media offers a free chapter by email. For other options, see CITED alternatives, Generative Engine Optimization alternatives, CITED vs Answer Engine Optimization, Generative Engine Optimization vs Answer Engine Optimization or the AI-search reading guide.