When the Geo line was dropped in the United States, Chevy keep the Prizm. Thus, the Chevy Prizm was just an updated Geo Prizm. They were solid cars for their time.
Sprinter/Corolla/Prizm all have a connection. Found this statement - "The Geo/Chevrolet Prizm (Chevrolet Prizm starting 1998) was a compact car derived from the Japanese domestic market Toyota Sprinter, itself a version of the Toyota Corolla, and jointly developed by Toyota and General Motors."
Huge improvement over the Chevette, Vega, and Monza! It's no wonder Toyota & Honda found a market in the U.S.