The invention relates to a method for coating surfaces, to a corresponding coating, and to the use of the objects coated in accordance with said method. The invention relates to a method for coating metal surfaces of substrates, comprising or consisting of the following steps: I. providing a substrate having a cleaned metal surface, II. contacting and coating metal surfaces with an aqueous composition in the form of a dispersion and/or suspension, IX. optionally rinsing the organic coating, and X. drying and/or baking the organic coating or XI. optionally drying the organic coating and coating with a coating composition of the same type or a further coating composition before a drying process and/or baking process, wherein in step II the coating is performed with an aqueous composition in the form of a dispersion and/or suspension containing 2.5 to 45 wt % of at least one non-ionic stabilized binder and 0.1 to 2.0 wt % of a gelling agent, wherein the aqueous composition has a pH value in the range of 0.5 to 7 and forms, with the cations eluted from the metal surface in the pretreatment step and/or during the contacting in step II, a coating based on an ionogenic gel.