If you’ve finally managed to learn the main acronyms in Digital Marketing, from SEO to PPC, we’ve got some bad news: a new abbreviation has arrived. GEO, which stands for Generative Engine Optimization, focuses on optimizing your content to rank higher in AI-driven searches. Although the term is still relatively new, industry experts are already predicting it could become the new SEO. (They’ve said that about a lot of things, though.) Exaggerated or not, should you be focusing on GEO, too?
What is GEO?
Suppose you’re cooking a chicken dinner and need to figure out how long to boil the poultry. You ask Google, and one of its AI Overview answers shows up as the top result. This is Generative Engine Optimization. With GEO, marketers need to “structure their content in a way that generative models can understand and prioritize” to rank high in Google’s Search Engine Experience (or AI section).
How is it Different from SEO?
SEO: Keywords are a big deal.
GEO: Keywords don’t matter. Instead, AI is designed to understand search queries on a “deeper level.” It’s able to analyze, contextualize, and understand the “meaning behind a query.” (AI told me that.)
SEO: We love backlinks.
GEO: Citations are key. According to a study conducted by Princeton University and IIT Delhi, the two universities found that AI uses quotations from definitive sources, citations, and statistics to measure trust and credibility. When websites utilized these tools, they experienced a 40% increase in visibility.
SEO: We use keywords, organic search metrics, and rankings to see how well your site is performing.
GEO: We use referral traffic from AI searches, citations to determine how well your visibility is on AI-driven searches.
How It’s Still Similar to SEO?
SEO: We focus on getting seen.
GEO: We also focus on getting seen.
SEO: We like high-quality content.
GEO: We also like high-quality content.
SEO: At the end of the day, it’s all about improving the user experience.
GEO: ” .”
Should You Be Focusing on GEO?
Let’s face it: AI isn’t going away anytime soon. Almost 40% of Americans use it daily, and that number will likely reach double by the end of the year. Regardless of how you feel about the technology, it’s probably best to start focusing on GEO with SEO. By using both optimizations, you’ll be improving your visibility across Google, whether through organic searches or through AI. Best of all, even though there are certain tips and tricks to increase search traffic, nobody really knows how to rank well yet with GEO. Get ahead before everybody starts figuring it out.
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