For decades, winning a spot in the “10 blue links” at the top of Google could make or break a business. Not anymore. Today, consumers are increasingly turning to chatbots and Google’s own AI Overviews for information, rather than relying on traditional search. That’s caused profound changes to the very fabric of the internet. Publishers that relied on search traffic have been gutted, and big chunks of the SEO industry have been wiped out.………Continue reading…..
By: Thomas Smith
Source: Fast Company
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Critics:
GEO does not replace SEO, but it is changing how SEO delivers results. Traditional search rankings still matter, yet more searches are ending in AI-driven answers that do not send clicks or traffic to websites. High rankings used to mean visibility.SEO targets traditional search engines by optimizing for ranking signals, including keywords, backlinks, and site performance.
GEO, by contrast, targets AI platforms, optimizing for content structure, factual clarity, and citation potential.The fundamentals of SEO quality content, authority, and technical soundness remain just as critical. But now they should be paired with strategies for generative search. It also requires a big mindset shift. AI isn’t making SEO obsolete it’s making it smarter.
Businesses that integrate AI into their SEO strategy can automate tedious processes, extract deeper insights, and refine content strategies with precision.How GEO Differs from Traditional SEO (And How They Still Work Together) It’s important to understand that SEO isn’t going away, and if you’re a retailer, your SEO efforts still matter more than ever.
However, the way people search is evolving, and that’s where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) comes in. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is a digital marketing strategy focused on making content visible and cited within AI-generated search responses, such as those from Google’s AI overviews and conversational platforms like ChatGPT.
While SEO focuses on optimizing web pages and content for organic search visibility, GEO shifts the emphasis toward optimizing entities like brands, products, services, or even people, to appear prominently in generative AI results.Unlike traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which aims to rank a website on a list of results, GEO seeks to have your content become a source or reference point that the AI model uses to generate its answers.
This is achieved by creating high-quality, factual, and authoritative content that aligns with user intent and demonstrates expertise, ensuring it’s recognized and featured by generative AI systems. Traditional SEO focuses on ranking on a list of links, while GEO focuses on being the source of information within an AI-generated answer.
Traditional SEO targets search engines like Google, whereas GEO targets AI-powered platforms and conversational models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. GEO prioritizes factors like succinctness, relevance, factual accuracy, and authority to become cited. AI is changing how people search for information, moving from links to synthesized, comprehensive answers.
To be seen by users, brands must ensure their content appears in these new AI-generated responses. As generative search becomes a key part of the buyer’s journey, being referenced by AI can significantly impact consumer decision-making and brand perception. Produce content that is well-researched, accurate, and provides comprehensive answers to user queries.
Understand user intent and behavior to create content that directly addresses what users are looking for. Build authority and trust in your content to signal to AI models that your information is a reliable source. Leverage various digital assets and content types to influence brand perception and AI understanding.
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