GEO and SEO: What does it all mean?

Last updated on February 11th, 2025 at 01:42 pm

The world of digital PR and marketing has always been ever-changing. The latest approach to search and chatbots is one of the biggest changes we’ve seen in a long time, and it’s needed to ensure businesses appear in the new world of tech.

Tools and technologies have changed and advanced the way we search, consume content and do business online. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) came hand in hand with ways to optimise websites and ensure businesses appeared in the right way at the right time for people looking for answers. Now, that’s not enough.

It’s been a long journey. Both SEO and digital marketing strategies are now inextricably linked.

But now there’s a new kid on the block, and it might just change everything.

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).

What is Generative Engine Optimisation?

Generative engine optimisation (GEO) refers to the process of optimising content to perform well within AI-powered search engines.

It sounds simple enough. Unlike traditional search engines and SEO, which is all about keywords and backlinks, GEO provides comprehensive, contextually relevant information that an AI can easily understand, digest and serve back to its users.

As AI-powered search becomes more and more prevalent, businesses need to adapt their strategies to stay ahead of the game.

Let’s get into what GEO means for your brand online and how you can use it to amplify your digital PR.

Traditional Search Engines vs AI-Driven Search Engines

While search engine optimisation strategies have helped brands and businesses appear higher up the SERPs, GEO looks set to transform how businesses and brands appear within the ever-growing sea of AI search.

Both serve the same purpose of creating greater online visibility and brand presence, GEO strategies and traditional SEO do have differences and similarities in equal measure. So, it’s important to understand the various functions and distinctions between the two.

The Similarities Between GEO and SEO

Ultimately, both are about increasing content visibility and to achieve this, high-quality content is absolutely essential.

Keyword strategy is also essential, as relevant content needs to be supported by the right terms and keywords in order for it to be discoverable. They need to answer the searcher’s pain-points, and ones that one are rewarded with higher rankings.

Website technical optimisation and presentation are also important. Fast load speed, accessibility and mobile compatibility help your website’s visibility in SEO and GEO terms. Backlinks and trust signals are also of value in SEO strategies and GEO strategies, as they equate to greater authority building, when positive!

Then there’s the big one, EEAT.

EEAT is just as prevalent in GEO as it is in SEO. Relevant content, that is quality, trustworthy and comes from a source of equal trust, experience and expertise is hugely important.

So, what are the differences?

The Differences Between GEO and SEO

A big difference lies in user intent.

Where SEO strategies rely on optimising content for multiple search intents within search engines including Google and Bing, GEO is far more focused on queries that are required within AI responses.

In this same vein, GEO is very much about content being included within AI answers. Structured data and natural language processing-friendly formats are used in GEO approaches as these are needed for AI to interpret and use.

SEOs work in response to the continual changes in search engine algorithms. GEOs need to continuously adjust to the changing AI technologies’ capabilities, preferences, and approaches.

Traditional search engines respond to user queries with a list of links, which SEO optimises for. In order to help AI systems prioritise and synthesise information, GEO optimises content. Links are often provided within chatbot responses, though some platforms require a paid level of subscription to have links included.

Understanding the difference between search engines’ algorithms and chatbot algorithms means you can optimise content to appear in relevant results. Use combined insights from data analysis, and SEO and GEO research to improve and hone your optimisation tactics.

Understanding these differences is key to adapting to the changing search landscape. By using both SEO and GEO strategies and tactics, you can ensure content is visible and relevant across a multitude of platforms.

Discussing GEO and SEO-Referenced Sources

Not all LLMs are equal. Some, as we mentioned earlier, reference source material in the responses generated. This cites and sources information and gives relevant credit where due.

The main chatbots such as Perplexity, Bing, Gemini, Claude, and Google’s new AI Overview in search responses offer various links and citations. ChatGPT has a mixture of responding with citations and sometimes without. When it doesn’t provide citations, prompt the chatbot to provide them. With all chatbots, check the citations to ensure they are valid and match your requirements.

Bing, Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity are now crossing the lines between being an LLM and a search engine. Whereas they were originally trained on data up to a certain year, they now have access to the wider web and can find sources here for you. ChatGPT launched their search in October 2024 and it is being rolled out worldwide; you may see it soon.

The chatbot responses are more direct and offer a summary of information found rather than a list of links. Google search still offers this list with some queries, though AI Overview is slowly taking over more and more search results.

The Problem of ‘Favouritism’

Each major search engine favours its own AI content but to what extent and how?

Google has integrated its AI model, Gemini, into search results through a feature called Search Generative Experience (SGE). This allows Google to show AI-generated summaries in the AI Overview at the top of the SERP. It prioritises its own content in results.

Microsoft’s Bing search engine has added ChatGPT-powered AI to its results and is featuring AI-generated responses prominently. This means Bing’s AI-generated content is being prioritised in search results.

How to Implement GEO in Your Digital PR

Create Content with AI in mind

Create FAQ sections that cover common questions about your brand.

Approach aspects of your content in a way that answers questions neatly and concisely, allowing for easier extraction and presentation of information. FAQ sections are a particularly valuable source of this kind of information.

Authority

Just like you would with trying to boost your search engine results pages, focus on getting mentions and backlinks for authoritative sources to boost your trust signals and your credibility. Be sure to show off awards, certifications, partnerships, and anything that flexes your expertise and experience.

Data Structuring

Organise your site in an effective and efficient manner. Ensure you’re striking the balance between content optimisation strategies and user experience. You can add schema markups to your site (or sites) which structure pages and data in such a way as to provide search engines with information about your page’s content, context and authority.

Any content that does exist within your site, be it press releases, videos, white papers, or any kind of insights, ensure that they are well structured and easy to find.

Multi-Platform Presence

The more relevant content you publish across multiple platforms increases your visibility to both traditional search engines and AI-driven search engines.

Having these multiple touchpoints builds your digital footprint in many ways. Firstly it puts your content out into the world in more than one place. But it also creates more opportunities for discussions, participation and engagement.

It’s this engagement that’s important to your overall standings in both AI-driven search engines and traditional search engines. The more these engines see people reacting with and engaging with your content, the more likely it is to start pushing more of what you’re saying further up the response field.

EEAT in GEO and SEO

EEAT is one of the most important content techniques you can adopt. As traditional SEO techniques go, it should be at the heart of every piece of high-quality content you make for both SEO and GEO. Both value good quality content.

For search engines and the more nascent AI-driven search engines, presenting yourself and your content within the parameters of EEAT is absolutely paramount. Search engine algorithms might be attuned to keywords and natural language processing may look for the slickest most concise information, but the foundations these are built upon are the experience, expertise, authority and trustworthiness of the source.

Never take your eye off EEAT.

What does the future look like?

As AI shapes how we discover and consume information, the entire SEO game will no doubt pivot around this as more AI tech is integrated with them.

Just as the first search engines changed how we consume information, GEO will have its effect. Exactly what that effect will be, time will tell. The last 24 months of development have been up and down, to say the least.

Some AI-driven search engines and LLMs are also facing their own issues. Combinations of legal and ethical challenges and the fact that we don’t yet have a fully settled global AI landscape makes it difficult to predict how generative AI models might play out. How these tools operate within existing copyright laws is one of the main scrutinies. A change in copyright law could vastly change the landscape, but those kinds of changes take a lot of time to ratify.

In Summary

Nothing lasts forever. You just need to look at how platforms like YouTube and TikTok are eating away at Google’s once complete and utter market dominance. It is a fact that Gen Z doesn’t use Google but chooses other platforms to find the results they want.

It’s also a fact that people are using AI-driven search engines, like Perplexity, Gemini and Bing for a multitude of purposes. Be it advice on how to fix a leaky tap, an itinerary for a weekend in Athens, or even advice on content marketing and digital marketing strategies.

For businesses right now, this isn’t about jumping aboard the latest fad. It’s about reacting to a trend, while also future-proofing your digital marketing efforts. By incorporating GEO into your strategy, you’re not just optimising for search engines; you’re optimising for the future of information retrieval.

Like with anything, there are challenges and there are risks. To navigate those risks, it helps to have someone in your corner.

Remember, the goal of digital PR remains the same: to build and maintain a positive public image. GEO is a new powerful tool to achieve that same objective.

As we navigate this new landscape, the digital PR professionals who adapt the quickest will be best placed to shape their clients’ narratives in the age of AI.

So if you’d like to discuss your SEO and GEO strategies, then get in touch.