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GEO in SEO: How to Get Found in The Age of Generative AI

Picture of Chris Kirksey
Chris Kirksey

CEO, Direction.com

GEO vs SEO vs SGE

  • SEO helps people find your website.
  • SGE gives people direct answers using AI.
  • GEO makes sure AI includes your information accurately in those answers.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is creating quite a buzz. Businesses and marketing teams are racing to understand what this brave new world of AI-driven search holds for the future of reaching audiences online. But if we’re being real, a lot of what’s out there about GEO right now feels like a rehash of what we already know about SEO.

This begs the question – is Generative Engine Optimization truly something new? Or is it just good ol’ Search Engine Optimization (SEO) dressed up in a fancy AI costume? The truth might be a bit of both.

Understanding the AI Shift in Search

Before we get into the nuances of GEO, it helps to first understand how search is evolving. For decades, we’ve relied on search engines like Google to serve up links to websites that (hopefully) contained the information we sought. But generative AI changes that system.

Instead of a neatly organized list of links with meta descriptions below, users are met with conversational responses often pulled from various sources.

It’s a whole different ball game because now your website isn’t the end destination. It’s one voice among many vying for attention within the AI’s response.

So What Really is GEO, Then?

Generative Engine Optimization essentially boils down to making sure your content is the one that gets heard above the noise. You’re optimizing for AI search engines that can digest information far differently (and more voraciously) than any human ever could. Instead of solely focusing on keywords and backlinks, you’re thinking about how AI understands language, context, and even sentiment.

Princeton University, in partnership with Georgia Tech, the Allen Institute for AI, and IIT Delhi, conducted a study on generative engine optimization . Researchers made an impactful conclusion: “Our analysis suggests that website owners should strive towards making domain-specific targeted adjustments to their websites for higher visibility.” Their findings highlighted the significant impact well-implemented Generative Engine Optimization can have.

How Does GEO Differ From SEO and SGE?

There’s a lot of talk about the difference between search engine optimization and GEO, but some SEO experts have argued that the differences aren’t that significant. Much of what constitutes GEO, such as providing citations and high-quality content, already falls under SEO best practices. While that’s true, Generative Engine Optimization requires marketers to think a little differently about SEO.

Take, for instance, traditional on-page SEO, where you might spend hours agonizing over the perfect URL structure or tweaking your heading tags for a single blog post. With Generative Engine Optimization, you’re looking beyond a single page to create a web of interlinked and cross-promoted content that caters to AI and humans. Think of it this way: would you link to your own website if it only had a single page of content?

Here’s how Generative Engine Optimization and traditional SEO measure up across various factors:

Aspect SEO (Search Engine Optimization) SGE (Search Generative Experience) GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)
Definition Practice of optimizing website content to improve its ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). An experimental feature by Google integrating generative AI into search results, providing AI-generated summaries and answers directly within the search interface. The process of optimizing content to be effectively utilized and represented by generative AI models, particularly those used in search engines, to ensure accurate and favorable portrayal in AI-generated responses.
Objective Increase organic traffic by enhancing visibility in traditional search results. Enhance user experience by delivering AI-generated summaries and answers, reducing the need for users to navigate away from the search page. Improve the likelihood that content is selected, accurately interpreted, and favorably presented by AI models in generative search experiences, increasing visibility and traffic despite changes in how users access information.
Technology Used Techniques like keyword optimization, backlink building, technical SEO, and high-quality content creation. Utilizes generative AI models (e.g., large language models) integrated into search engines to generate concise summaries and direct answers. Involves optimizing content for AI consumption through structured data, semantic markup, natural language patterns that AI models understand, and fine-tuning prompts to guide outputs; may also include understanding AI model training data and adjusting content accordingly.
Primary Focus Aligning website content with search engine algorithms to rank higher for relevant user queries. Providing immediate, AI-generated information to users within the search interface, enhancing immediacy and convenience. Ensuring that content is crafted and presented in a way that gen AI models can accurately interpret and utilize, influencing how AI models present information to users in their outputs.
Impact on Users Users find relevant websites through improved rankings in SERPs, leading to increased website visits. Users receive quick, concise answers directly on the search page, potentially reducing the need to visit external websites. Users receive AI-generated content that reflects optimized source material, which can influence their perceptions and decision-making based on the AI’s portrayal of information; aims to maintain user engagement with content as AI intermediates the information delivery.
Key Metrics Organic traffic, click-through rates (CTR), bounce rates, conversion rates, and keyword rankings. User engagement with AI summaries, accuracy and relevance of generated content, and overall user satisfaction with search experience. Visibility in AI-generated responses, accuracy of content representation by AI models, continued user engagement and traffic despite changes in search behavior, and influence on AI outputs relevant to the brand or content.
Challenges Search engine algorithm updates, high competition for keywords, building quality backlinks, and adapting to evolving SEO best practices. Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated content, addressing potential biases in AI models, and preventing the spread of misinformation. Limited control over how AI models interpret and present content, the potential for misrepresentation or omission in AI outputs, rapidly evolving AI technologies requiring continual adaptation, and lack of established optimization practices for generative models.
Current Adoption Widely adopted by businesses and marketers globally as the most fundamental aspect of digital marketing strategies. Currently in experimental stages, limited to specific users or regions during testing phases by companies like Google. Emerging practice gaining attention among marketers and content creators aiming to adapt to AI-driven search experiences; being discussed in industry thought leadership but not yet standardized.
Optimization Techniques On-page SEO, conversion rate optimization, link building, technical SEO, and local SEO. Not directly optimizable by webmasters; relies on AI model training and data, though content quality and structure may indirectly affect AI summaries. Creating AI-friendly content by using clear language, structured data, schema markup, and ensuring factual accuracy; prompt optimization and monitoring to adjust content strategies; focusing on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) principles to improve AI model’s confidence in the content.
Relation to Content Creation Emphasizes creating high-quality, relevant content that satisfies user intent and adheres to search engine guidelines. AI generates summaries based on existing web content; original content creators may see reduced direct traffic as users get answers without visiting their sites. Encourages producing high-quality content that structured and formatted in ways that are more readily processed by LLMS; may involve adjusting writing style and content presentation to align with how AI models parse and generate content; aims to ensure content is accurately and favorably included in AI-generated responses.
Monetization and Business Impact Drives organic traffic leading to conversions and revenue; essential for increasing online visibility and customer acquisition. May reduce click-through rates to websites, potentially impacting ad revenue and user engagement metrics for content creators and site owners. Seeks to mitigate potential losses in traffic and engagement due to AI-generated answers by ensuring content is still featured in AI outputs; may open new avenues for visibility within AI platforms, but challenges traditional monetization models; requires adaptation to maintain business impact in an AI-driven search landscape.
Ethical Considerations Avoiding black-hat SEO techniques, ensuring content is not misleading or duplicate, and respecting user privacy and search engine guidelines. Addressing AI biases, ensuring diversity and fairness in generated content, preventing misinformation, and maintaining transparency about AI-generated content. Ensuring that content is represented accurately and ethically by AI models; concerns about intellectual property rights as AI models use and generate content; avoiding manipulation or gaming of AI systems in ways that could lead to misinformation; promoting transparency in how content is used by AI.
Example Tools and Platforms Google Search Console, Ahrefs, SEMrush, Moz, Yoast SEO, and other SEO analytics and optimization tools. Integrated within Google Search (experimental feature); utilizes advanced AI models like Google’s PaLM or OpenAI’s GPT series for generating responses. Emerging tools may include AI content analysis platforms, structured data testing tools, and collaboration with AI-focused SEO specialists; monitoring AI-generated outputs to inform content adjustments; potential use of platforms that provide insights into how AI models interpret and generate content based on source material.

To put it simply: Generative Engine Optimization challenges us to step outside of traditional SEO’s limited framework and embrace the vast and multifaceted nature of AI-powered searches.

Practical Tips for Mastering GEO

Let’s discuss some actionable strategies you can use to get ahead of the Generative Engine Optimization game, and get found in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and more.

Think Beyond Keywords

Keywords are still relevant in the world of AI-driven platforms. But now it’s less about stuffing them into your content and more about really understanding user intent and using language naturally. Think:

  • conversational keywords
  • long-tail keywords
  • semantically related keywords

In the research performed by those students out of Princeton, Georgia Tech, the Allen Institute for AI, and IIT Delhi, they learned some pretty compelling stuff.

Employing GEO strategies can lead to an average 30% improvement in impressions. More specifically, they learned, “Specifically, our top-performing methods, Cite Sources, Quotation Addition, and Statistics Addition, achieved a relative improvement of 30-40%…These methods require minimal changes but significantly improve visibility in GE responses, enhancing both credibility and richness of content.

Those are some pretty impressive visibility increases, to say the least.

Become an Authoritative Voice by Citing Credible Sources

Think about it, when you’re looking for reliable information online, you turn to authoritative sources. The same rings true for AI technologies. One effective way to establish your brand as an industry leader is to incorporate more data and expert analysis into your content. Content creators understand this better than anyone.

The GEO research paper noted that the Cite Sources method led to a substantial 115.1% increase in visibility for websites ranked fifth in SERP, while on average, the visibility of the top-ranked website decreased by 30.3%.

How to cite credible sources

Enhancing credibility through reliable source citation is crucial in GEO. For me specifically, when discussing SEO practices and trends, I’m now, much more often linking to authoritative SEO publications, respected industry blogs, and official documentation from search engines, not concerning myself with making a link no-follow.

For example, when discussing algorithm updates, I’ll cite official announcements from Google’s Search Central Blog or insights from reputable SEO news sites like Search Engine Journal or Search Engine Land.

For technical SEO practices, I reference guidelines directly from Google’s Search Console Help or Bing’s Webmaster Guidelines.

I’ll use inline citations typically, but footnotes work as well to integrate these sources into content.

Additionally, you can create a dedicated “References” or “Sources” section at the end of your article. This can boost your content’s authority while giving AI models verifiable data points to reference when generating responses.

Remember to use the most recent studies and reports available, as SEO best practices and search engine algorithms evolve rapidly. Including data from respected SEO tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Google’s own tools always adds valuable, data-driven insights to the content we create here at Direction.com.

Incorporate Statistics

When it comes to SEO, GEO, and SGE, data is your best friend. In my nearly two decades of optimizing websites, I’ve learned that nothing speaks louder than cold, hard numbers.

But it’s not just about throwing random stats into your content. It’s about using the right data to tell a compelling story.

Quantitative data adds weight to your arguments and makes your content more likely to be referenced by AI models. When incorporating statistics, ensure they are recent, relevant, and from reliable sources.

Also, present statistics in various formats – percentages, absolute numbers, ratios, or trends over time. Use visual aids like charts or infographics to make complex data more digestible. Remember to contextualize your statistics, explaining their significance to your argument or topic.

How to incorporate statistics

Here’s an example: Instead of saying “backlinks are important,” I would write:

A recent study by Brian Dean of 1 million Google search results found that the number of domains linking to a page correlated with rankings more than any other factor.”

See the difference? The second statement packs a punch because it’s backed by specific, meaningful data and cited with a link.

I use industry studies from reputable sources like Moz, Ahrefs, SEMrush, and more. There are lots of big companies out there constantly crunching big amount of data, and their data can be pure gold for your content.

Add Relevant Expert Quotes

Expert quotes add depth, authority, and a human touch to your content. When selecting quotations, choose ones that offer unique insights, reinforce your key points, or provide a contrasting perspective.

How to add relevant expert quotes

For example, in an article about artificial intelligence, I would include a quote from AI researcher Yoshua Bengio:

Properly attribute all quotes, including the speaker’s name, credentials, and the source of the quote. Consider using pull quotes for particularly impactful statements, making them stand out visually in your content.

“Generative AI has the potential to revolutionize nearly every industry, including healthcare, finance, and education”

Properly attribute all quotes, including the speaker’s name, credentials, and the source of the quote or a link to the person you’re quoting. Consider using pull quotes for particularly impactful statements, making them stand out visually in your content, as you see in the example above.

Optimize Content for Ease of Readability

Readability isn’t just about making your content easy on the eyes – it’s a crucial factor in your SEO success.

First off, I always run my content through tools like Grammarly or Conductor SEO’s readability checker.

conductor logo normal 35a408f6a09c7ca3
conductor seo readability score

These tools give you tangible metrics to work with. For instance, I aim for a Flesch Reading Ease score of 60-70 for most SEO content. Why? Because I’ve found that this sweet spot balances accessibility with the technical nature of SEO topics.

Optimize content structure

Now, let’s talk structure. Gone are the days of dense paragraphs explaining complex SEO concepts. Instead of writing a wall of text about, say, SEO, I break it down into digestible chunks. For example with a numbered list:

4 Key aspects of SEO include:

  1. Site experience optimization
  2. Backlinks
  3. Content
  4. Structured data markup

An example with a bullet point list would be:

Effective keyword research includes:

  • Brainstorming seed keywords
  • Reverse-engineering top-ranking websites
  • Using keyword research tools (e.g., Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs)
  • Analyzing search intent
  • Prioritizing keywords based on relevance and volume

See how much easier that is to scan? I’ve seen bounce rates drop by up to 25% on blog posts just by restructuring content this way.

This makes your content more scannable while also increasing your chances of winning those coveted featured snippet positions.

Lastly, don’t underestimate the power of white space. I always ensure there’s plenty of breathing room between paragraphs and sections. It might seem trivial, but I’ve seen improvements in time-on-page metrics just by adding more white space by increasing line height, and increasing font size.

Go Beyond Traditional Content Formats

We’re all about high-quality written content. However, embracing multimedia content is now more crucial than ever in this ever-changing digital marketing landscape. Videos, podcasts, interactive tools – these all contribute to a richer tapestry of information that AI can easily pull from.

Embrace Structured Data

Remember all those hours spent perfecting your URL structure? That was just the beginning. Structured data is like a roadmap for AI to help understand your content. Utilize schema markup, optimize your site architecture, and use internal links to connect your web of content.

Is GEO Really the Future of Search?

A recent study from McKinsey shows that a whopping 65% of organizations already use generative AI regularly – that’s nearly double the number just ten months ago. Plus, Gartner forecasts that traditional search engine traffic will drop by 25% by 2026, and by over 50% as AI takes over.

All signs point towards a future where AI dramatically reshapes how people search for and discover information. As more users turn to AI-enhanced search tools such as ChatGPT, which boasts 180.5 million monthly active users, and Perplexity, which has grown to 10 million monthly active users with an 858% increase in the last year alone, embracing these shifts will be key to standing out in crowded digital landscapes.

Is GEO replacing SEO?

Nope! Rather than viewing these two as opposing strategies, look at how the best aspects of both approaches can elevate your content and reach wider audiences across all platforms, traditional and AI alike. 

The key difference is you want to ensure that your content effectively targets both humans and AI with valuable, compelling, and authoritative content they won’t want to ignore.

Conclusion

Generative Engine Optimization might seem like this mysterious new frontier. But in many ways, it represents a return to SEO’s core principles: valuable, relevant content, user experience, and links reign supreme

The game’s rules might change a bit here and there, however, by focusing on our audience and their needs, we will adapt and thrive in this new era of search. This is our company’s mission, creating an organization where our team and customers thrive. And we’re studying up on the latest in GEO to ensure just that.

Want to work with a GEO SEO Agency? You’ve found it here today, let’s talk.

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