Search is evolving – fast. AI tools now deliver direct answers, while traditional search engines still list links.
To stay visible, marketers need both search engine optimization (SEO) and generative engine optimization (GEO).
This article explains each approach, highlights their differences, and shows how they work together to maximize your reach.
What is SEO?
SEO enhances a website’s ranking on search engine results pages by optimizing content to align with search engine algorithms.
It hinges on using relevant keywords naturally, earning backlinks from trusted sites, and ensuring technical health, such as fast load times and mobile friendliness.
Historically, success has been measured by by metrics like click-through rates, keyword rankings, and time spent on page, all of which indicate how well your site satisfies user intent.
What is GEO?
GEO focuses on preparing content for AI-driven platforms that synthesise answers rather than list links.
It aims to make the material easy for AI to parse and cite by using structured headings, clear statements of fact, and authoritative references.
GEO success is measured by how frequently your content is cited in AI-generated responses, reflecting your visibility in conversational search.
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.
SEO success is evident in higher traffic and engagement, and GEO success manifests as AI citations and inclusion in generative answers, where users read your content directly within a conversational interface.
While they target different platforms, SEO and GEO share foundational principles that guide high-quality content creation.
Dig deeper: How to implement generative engine optimization (GEO) strategies
What SEO and GEO have in common
SEO and GEO share a common goal of delivering content that truly meets user needs.
Both approaches start with understanding the questions your audience is asking and crafting answers that satisfy those queries.
Shared goal: Satisfy user intent
By focusing on user intent, you ensure that whether someone lands on your page from a search result or encounters your content in an AI-generated response, they find the information they came for.
Content quality is non-negotiable
Both search algorithms and AI models favor accurate, well-researched, and up-to-date material.
Investing time in fact-checking, citing reputable sources, and maintaining clarity boosts your rankings on traditional search engines and increases the chances that AI systems will cite your work.
Content quality builds credibility with human readers and with the AI algorithms that parse your pages.
Structure supports visibility
Clear headings, subheadings, and logical flow help search crawlers evaluate relevance and context while guiding AI engines to extract key facts accurately.
Well-organized content is easier for people to scan and for machines to parse.
Both SEO and GEO best practices emphasise concise paragraphs, occasional bullet points for lists, and summary boxes where appropriate.
Dig deeper: What is content readability and how to make your content easier to read
Ongoing optimization matters
Regular monitoring and refinement underpin both approaches. Search algorithms evolve and AI models continually retrain on fresh data.
Reviewing performance metrics – like click-through rates, search rankings, or AI citation frequency – helps identify when to:
- Update content.
- Add new insights.
- Restructure sections.
This ongoing cycle of analysis and refinement keeps your content competitive across both traditional search engines and AI-driven platforms.
User experience is the ultimate test
User experience underpins all of this work.
Whether someone clicks a link to your site or reads an AI-generated summary that includes your content, the ultimate measure of success is how effectively you deliver value.
By prioritizing clear communication, accuracy, and ease of use you satisfy audiences and signal trustworthiness to both search engines and generative platforms.
Rather than choosing one over the other, the most effective strategy blends both approaches.
Integrating SEO and GEO
To combine SEO and GEO, start by reviewing your best-performing content and enhancing it with:
- Clear subheadings.
- Concise data points.
- Expert quotes.
This satisfies AI extraction needs without harming your SEO foundation.
Broaden your research to include full questions and conversational phrases that both people and AI might use.
Finally, apply structured data markup to provide context that benefits all discovery methods.
Dig deeper: How to integrate GEO with SEO
Measuring success together
Track SEO performance through your analytics, monitoring rankings, traffic, and engagement.
For GEO, track the frequency of AI mentions and the share of voice in generated responses through your measurement dashboards.
By comparing trends such as changes in click-through rates alongside shifts in AI citation volume, you can see how adjustments affect both traditional and AI-driven visibility.
Practical takeaways
Unlike traditional search results, GEO outcomes are generated dynamically and can vary based on user context, prompting, and platform behavior.
Aim to create the right ecosystem and variables to increase your chances of being surfaced more frequently and accurately.
Start with clear headings
Use extractable headings that guide both readers and AI through your main points.
Ensure each section has a descriptive title that accurately reflects its content.
This simple step helps AI models pinpoint relevant facts and makes it easier for human visitors to scan your page.
Incorporate compelling data points
Include at least one data point or statistic in each key section to boost credibility and give AI answers concrete figures to cite.
Whether it is a percentage, a case study result, or a short survey finding, these numbers demonstrate authority and enrich your narrative.
Weave these figures into your text so they feel natural rather than tacked on.
Use authoritative references
Add references such as quotes from industry experts or links to reputable studies to reinforce trust.
Concise paragraphs that introduce the insight, give context, and explain why it matters will serve both readers and AI well.
Apply GEO-focused tweaks
Convert dense paragraphs into numbered steps or short sentences that focus on distinct facts.
Add a brief “Key takeaways” box at the end of each significant section to reinforce your main message and create a natural extraction point.
Conduct regular content audits
Every quarter, review your top-performing pages to:
- Refresh figures.
- Update expert quotes.
- Refine headings.
As search algorithms evolve and AI models learn from fresh data, these audits ensure your content remains accurate, relevant, and structured for maximum visibility.
SEO vs. GEO
SEO and GEO serve the same purpose of making your content more visible, but operate in different arenas.
SEO drives clicks from traditional search results while GEO secures mentions inside AI-generated answers.
By blending both strategies and optimizing for ranking signals and AI-readiness, you ensure that users find you whether they click on links or read instant responses.
Start with your best pages, add structure and citations, and track both metrics to stay ahead in the rapidly evolving search landscape.