Geometric constructions applied to a rational action of an algebraic group lead to a new algorithm for computing rational invariants. A finite generating set of invariants appears as the coefficients of a reduced Gröbner basis. The algorithm comes in two variants. In the first construction the ideal of the graph of the action is considered. In the second one the ideal of a cross-section is added to the ideal of the graph. Zero-dimensionality of the resulting ideal brings a computational advantage. In both cases, reduction with respect to the computed Gröbner basis allows us to express any rational invariant in terms of the generators.