Search is changing. The industry as we know it will radically alter in almost all aspects as we enter the “generative economy.”
By 2034, the generative AI market is expected to be worth roughly $1 trillion.
This article outlines how SEO professionals can own the generative economy and why they must embrace the change that is coming.
No, it’s not ‘just’ SEO
While there are many cross-over skills, GEO isn’t just SEO.
SEO works on the premise that ranking on page one for keyword variations that are typed into search engines by potential customers.
It matters because, for the last decade, the best place to hide a body has been on Google’s Page 2.
Humans don’t scroll past Page 1, because it is highly inefficient to do so.
LLMs and AI-powered search platforms don’t have this problem.
They can visit hundreds of websites in seconds for a variety of search terms and use their internal data.
Ranking does not matter in this world.
You can be on Page 5 of a web search and still get found and chosen by the LLMs.
Search engines organize the world’s information, and they do this exceptionally well.
Humans, however, are terrible at searching.
And this is among the largest differences between SEO and GEO.
Humans are being replaced in this process.
In SEO, businesses have been taught to target keywords that drive the largest potential commercial match.
But that doesn’t equal the best customers.
This is because keywords have represented the only way for humans to find what they want online, which means broad keywords drive the largest commercial terms.
And the long tail tended only to be a few words long for much the same reason.
Businesses only went after lucrative terms to win the most commercial traffic.
Or if deemed “too difficult,” SEO was turned into a blog channel, targeting non-commercial terms.
AI-powered search changes this.
It is easier than ever for consumers to find the products or services that best match their needs.
Ranking on Page 1 is no longer the goal. So what is?
How to win the generative game
AI search is vastly better than human search, so it will likely become the dominant form of search online.
Organic search will not disappear completely. It does a perfect job of surfacing businesses through direct or navigational search.
However, for situations where a chosen product or business is not known, AI-powered search will be able to find the best match – and fast.
It’s easy to see why this is so valuable for businesses.
- A business can find the consumers it seeks to serve more easily.
- A business will convert customers faster.
- A business will be able to identify and indeed expand into new markets where customers are currently being either ignored or poorly serviced by existing providers.
Often, these customers have been ignored because a brand’s profit margins are insufficient in these sectors.
AI-powered search changes this.
It will allow more businesses to activate organic search as a driver of revenue.
This is because GEO has a different value proposition.
Dig deeper: The new SEO imperative: Building your brand
The value proposition of GEO compared to SEO
GEO revolves directly around three core positions.
- The customers a brand is trying to target.
- The products and services you sell.
- The differentiation of the value the business offers compared to others.
SEO revolves around keywords.
We have openly observed the “SEOing” of webpages to find ways to force keywords into things.
More lately, this is seen with the resurgence of exact match domains ranking.
On top of that, SEO’s value proposition has largely been: “Buy now, rank six months later.”
GEO is different. It is optimizing a business around its strategic brand positioning.
Suppose a business wants to set up as a broker of car insurance for female first-time drivers.
GEO and AI-powered search will allow the business to find more of the customers it seeks to serve.
Something that can be evidenced today with a quick search comparing Google and ChatGPT.
The ChatGPT search gives me exactly what I asked for, whereas a similar keyword-focused search mainly returns the large insurance comparison sites.
AI-powered search can help humans find businesses that closely match their needs – opening up untapped business and consumer opportunities.
Dig deeper: How AI is reshaping SEO: Challenges, opportunities, and brand strategies for 2025
How GEO works – and why SEOs are best placed to help
Generative engine optimization is all about understanding the information AI search platforms need and supplying this information.
And what they need is “mutual information.”
Machines hate ambiguity.
GEO is about supplying enough information about a brand’s positioning so that, when someone uses an LLM to find a solution to a problem the business solves, the likelihood of that LLM referencing the business increases.
Say you need an employment solicitor offering free online consultations.
Traditional SEO targets a keyword like “free online advice for employee rights.”
An LLM instead:
- Breaks down your request.
- Searches across multiple queries.
- Weighs everything from case studies to testimonials before recommending a firm.
At a technical level, you can see how this works.
You need:
- On-page optimization to ensure a brand’s positioning is clearly stated.
- Off-page mentions of a brand related to that positioning.
However, most businesses are considerably underoptimized for LLMs.
In our example, you might offer a free consultation on employment law.
Other elements, such as not explicitly stating that you service the whole of the UK or that you specialize in sexual discrimination and have case studies on your site detailing your wins, might exclude you from being returned in a generative result that matters.
GEO doesn’t just need on-page optimization.
You need those off-page signals as well.
- Brand mentions related to your positioning.
- Success stories.
- Listicle placements.
- Directory placements.
- Podcast interviews.
- News stories.
The list goes on.
You must supply the “machines” with enough information to increase the likelihood that they are “certain” you are a good solution for their user’s query.
You must satisfy the machines. AI is the gatekeeper now.
If this sounds just like good SEO, yes, you’re right, it does.
The difference here is that you’re not chasing keywords.
You’re optimizing for online presence in terms of the business’s positioning.
This means that the business needs to have a position in the first place.
Many businesses have been built around organic or paid search keywords.
SEO and or paid search has allowed them to win big.
AI-powered search changes the game considerably, and as it grows in usage, brands that previously did well in organic and paid search will naturally see a reduction in leads and sales.
And SEOs are the single most experienced people to help brands traverse this new search world.
Dig deeper: LLM perception match: The hurdle before fanout and why it matters
The battle between SEO and GEO is just beginning
The customers are still out there.
That’s key when we talk about SEO and GEO.
And right now, the vast majority of your customers are using traditional search engines.
SEO is still very much needed.
Eventually, Google will need to make AI mode its default mode to prevent the loss of users.
Until this happens, things are going to be messy.
Websites will lose traffic, rankings, and sales.
This will be due to Google’s constant updates and users’ movement between search modes and tools.
It’s not that the customers aren’t there.
It’s just that those who have mainly enjoyed stable revenue generation from both organic and paid search will see a change happening.
At the same time, you might “accidentally win.”
Your business might gain more leads and sales due to the splintering of search.
We are in a period of transition.
So, what should you do?
Dig deeper: SEO beyond the website: Winning visibility in the AI era
It’s SEO and GEO: The importance of bothism (for now)
Whether SEO keeps the name or evolves into GEO, the reality is that search rankings will lose much of their value.
That’s the real meaning behind “SEO is dead” when people talk about the rise of GEO.
We are in a turbulent transition period.
But this doesn’t mean you throw SEO in the bin.
We already know that SEO carries value into generative engines.
And you’ll likely see your websites gaining more traffic from LLMs.
So, right now isn’t the time to abandon SEO either.
Smart brands should be adopting a “bothism” approach.
Looking at leveraging LLMs and building their brands digitally – and preparing for the eventual switch to default AI mode.
This won’t be gradual. It’s not a “sometime in the next five years” shift.
It’s happening soon.
But how can you get your business ready for this?
The ROI of the generative economy
I started this article with a simple premise – that SEOs can own the generative economy.
And they can.
However, we need to tackle the pain in the backside of all marketers: ROI.
Paid search has thrived because it gave business owners certainty around marketing spend.
ROAS was easy to calculate, and as a result, creativity and brand marketing were ignored.
GEO makes tracking attribution from SEO seem like a day in the park.
And as a result, we are seeing the rise of platforms dedicated to showing the visibility of brand mentions in LLMs.
These tools show potential presence in LLM-based results by using a range of “pseudo” prompts fired into the platforms via APIs.
It’s not a real result, because a user didn’t do the prompt.
SEO has always been a hard sell.
Budgets are low because it takes time to see results, and often those results have been harder to attribute to revenue.
GEO is different.
You are paying for deliverables rather than results.
Yes, those deliverables should lead to business results.
And those deliverables will create value.
- Your on-site optimization is a deliverable.
- Any content that you create is a deliverable.
- Being mentioned in a listicle is a deliverable.
- That directory listing you added is a deliverable.
In this sense, GEO becomes more palatable as a service, because you are doing “sensible and visible” brand marketing from Day 1.
GEO is more closely linked to copywriting, brand marketing, advertising, and PR than SEO ever was.
For SEOs, this is a good thing. You are tethered to activity and not rankings.
At its heart, GEO is about strengthening a brand’s digital presence around its brand positioning.
And this is why businesses should be investing in their online presence.
Now is a perfect time to look at your organic traffic and prepare.
Plan for all scenarios.
- Prepare for AI Mode being switched on next week, and assess the potential business impact.
- Anticipate a loss of leads and revenue, and map out how you will recover that lost revenue (which might mean activating other channels).
- Review your online brand marketing, and identify where your brand is – or isn’t – listed.
- Evaluate the publicity your business has earned over the last few years, and determine if it’s enough.
- Check your brand search – does it exist?
- Audit all other marketing channels – are you leveraging social, email, and more?
Which leads me to the final point.
SEOs can own the generative economy – but it doesn’t mean they will.
Dig deeper: In GEO, brand mentions do what links alone can’t
The competition was paid search – now it’s PR and copywriters
SEOs are indeed well placed to supply services to win the generative economy. But they aren’t the only ones.
As Page 1 rankings lose their value, so will the skill sets of thousands of SEOs.
Despite the weird desperation of SEO consultants to overcomplicate search. It now needs to become more polished and brand-focused than ever.
Brand marketing, PR, and copywriting are among the most critical skills for SEOs to understand moving forward.
Good GEO will be about managing, building, and increasing the value of a business’s online reputation and presence.
But equally, that also means that SEOs can start to enter markets they haven’t worked in before.
Adding PR and copywriting to an SEO agency’s range of services is a natural step that many are doing.
And this is where we’re all heading.
But for SEOs – no matter how much they might hate change – the future is brighter and more exciting than ever.
Embrace it.
Dig deeper: Why AI will break the traditional SEO agency model