SEO vs GEO: Why you need both for AI Visibility
Years ago, I taught SEO to journalists and newsrooms to help them rank in Google (and beat out our competition) and I did the same for a lot of companies. In fact, for two decades, SEO was the undisputed king of digital visibility. If you could rank on the first page of Google, you got traffic.
But today, something has shifted. Users are increasingly getting their answers directly from AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, Claude without ever clicking a link. This new reality has given rise to a discipline called Generative Engine Optimization (GEO.)
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of making your website rank higher in traditional search engine results pages (SERPs), primarily Google. It's been around since the late 1990s, and while the tactics have evolved dramatically, the core idea is to give search engines what they want so they show your content to people who are looking for it.
SEO works by optimizing a combination of on-page signals (keywords, content quality, structure), technical signals (site speed, crawlability, schema markup), and off-page signals (backlinks, authority, brand mentions).
What is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) on the other hand, is the emerging practice of optimizing your content so that AI-powered tools, such as large language models (LLMs), AI search engines, and chatbots, are more likely to reference, cite, and surface your brand, products, or expertise in their generated responses.
When someone asks ChatGPT "what's the best CRM for small businesses?" or asks Perplexity "which accounting software should I use?", GEO determines whether your brand appears in that answer. Unlike SEO, there are no rankings, no page positions, and no keyword reports. It's about being part of the AI's knowledge and trusted source pool.
Why you still absolutely need SEO
One question I’m often asked is whether or not you still need SEO if you are going to start optimizing your content for GEO. The answer is yes.
This is because as of today, Google still dominates search volume. Despite the rise of AI tools, Google processes over 8.5 billion searches per day. The vast majority of internet users still turn to Google first for navigational, transactional, and local searches. "Restaurants near me," "buy Nike Air Max size 10," "how to reset my router", etc.
You also need SEO because GEO is built on the foundation of good search engine optimization. AI models often learn from, cite, and reference content that already ranks well. So a site with strong domain authority, well-structured pages, and high-quality content is also more likely to be indexed by AI systems. In many ways, SEO is the prerequisite to good GEO.
Why AI Visibility matters
The window to establish authority in the AI era is open right now, but it won't stay open forever. Currently, AI search adoption is accelerating. Perplexity reached 100 million monthly users in under two years. Google's AI Overviews now appear on the majority of informational queries. ChatGPT has over 200 million weekly active users. The shift to AI-assisted search is already underway.
Starting your GEO strategy now gives you an advantage over those who are still waiting or don’t understand how LLMs work. We know that AI models tend to surface a small number of authoritative sources repeatedly. If your brand becomes established as a trusted entity in AI responses early, you'll be very hard to displace.
How to start with GEO: a practical checklist to being more visible in AI
Write authoritatively, not just keywords. AI models cite content that is factual, well-sourced, and clearly expert. Move away from keyword-stuffed content toward genuine thought leadership.
Build your brand as an entity. Ensure your company, founders, and key personnel have consistent, accurate profiles across the web in places like LinkedIn, Crunchbase, Wikipedia if eligible, industry databases, etc.
Get cited by authoritative sources. Press releases, guest articles, analyst mentions, and industry publications are now GEO signals. Being referenced by trusted domains increases your chance of AI citation.
Use structured, scannable content formats. Lists, definitions, comparison tables, and FAQ sections are formats that LLMs extract easily. Structure your best content with these in mind.
Implement schema markup. FAQ schema, HowTo schema, and Organization schema help both traditional search engines and AI systems understand and trust your content.
Monitor AI mentions. Start tracking whether your brand appears in responses from ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Monitoring tools like Brandwatch, Meltwater and Carma have dedicated GEO trackers are emerging for this.
Keep doing SEO. Domain authority, quality backlinks, and strong technical SEO remain foundational to both traditional rankings and AI trust signals.
The bottom line
The brands that win won't be the ones that chose SEO or GEO. They'll be the ones that have mastered both and are building deep content authority that earns trust from both algorithms and AI models alike.