SEO vs GEO: Key Differences & How to Optimise for Both
The search landscape has changed - and fast! Generative AI has reshaped how people search for information or ask questions and how answers are delivered.
As a result, SEO strategies must adapt as new acronyms surface within the industry - with one of these being GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). Whilst SEO focuses on improving visibility in classic search results, GEO focuses on making your content discoverable and citable inside AI-powered answer engines.
Within this guide, we explore the practical differences and similarities between SEO and GEO, along with an optimisation checklist and how to measure success.
This Guide covers:
- GEO vs SEO: Key Differences & Similarities
- Is SEO Dead? Will GEO Replace SEO?
- SEO & GEO: Working in Harmony & Optimisation Strategies
- Measuring Success: KPIs for SEO & GEO
- Summary & Key Takeaways
GEO vs SEO: Key Differences & Similarities
The first step to understanding the key differences and similarities between GEO and SEO is to ensure you’re fully aware of the definitions:
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of optimising your website and content, so it ranks well in traditional search engines. This broadly means targeting keywords, optimising on page elements (copy, headings, meta data etc), building high quality backlinks and ensuring a fast and technically strong website.
What is GEO?
Generative Engine Optimisation is a relatively new term that is focused on making content discoverable and usable by AI search engines (such as Perplexity, ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews etc) that generate answers, summaries or conversational responses. GEO puts emphasis on concise, clear and structured content so that generative engines can easily extract, understand and cite this content within their results.
A lot of what an SEO strategy has always been about will remain relatively similar, but generative engines bring about a range of different elements to consider moving forwards.
Below, we look at the key similarities between SEO and GEO, along with the differences that need to be accounted for within your overall SEO strategy.
What are the similarities?
SEO and GEO share a common goal of providing high quality content that meets a user’s needs. The starting point for both is to understand how your audience is searching online and the questions they’re asking, to ensure content is being crafted to satisfy those queries.
Below are the key similarities between SEO and GEO:
Shared Aim: Satisfy User Intent
The ultimate aim for any SEO or GEO strategy is to ensure your website and landing pages serve user intent well. Users should find all the information they’re looking for, with answers to their key questions.Content Quality is Crucial
Both traditional search algorithms and large language models (AI) favour accurate, well researched and up to date content. EEAT guidelines have been around for some time now and become even more important, ensuring your content can be trusted.Clear and Consistently Structured Content
Clear headings, sub-sections and a logical flow to your content helps both traditional and AI crawlers evaluate context and relevance while making it easy for them to extract the key information.Technically Sound Website
If you want content to be discovered by both traditional and AI crawlers, your website needs to provide effective access without any blockers. Ensuring your website is technically sound remains a crucial part of an SEO and GEO strategy.On-going Optimisation
Both SEO and GEO require regular monitoring and refinement. Search algorithms continue to evolve, and AI models are always re-training on fresh data. As a result, it’s crucial to ensure your strategy is geared towards regularly updating content, adding new insights or re-structuring where required.User Experience Remains Key
User experience is the underlying element here. Regardless of whether a user clicks on your site from an AI-generated summary or not, your website should be ready to provide an effective experience whilst delivering the information.What are the differences?
More Conversational
Online searches are becoming more conversational, and users are interacting with AI search engines in a more detailed way. This has led to increased lengths of search queries.Focuses on Citations
Whilst SEO focuses on winning clicks from a list of website links, GEO focuses on getting cited within AI-generated responses. Traditional SEO visibility is measured in ranking position whilst GEO is measured in whether content is surfaced and referenced.Signals of Value
Traditional SEO still partly relies on high quality backlinks as a key aspect to rank a website higher within the organic listings. GEO shifts more focus onto the clarity of content, structured formatting and topical alignment.Measurement of Success
In the world of SEO, key performance metrics include keyword rankings, organic traffic and click-through rates. GEO is measured by brand visibility within AI summaries, including citations, mentions in AI results and consistent brand presence across AI driven search engines.Best Practices
SEO requires continued link building, maintaining technical health and producing evergreen content amongst other areas. GEO adds additional considerations into the mix, such as: diversified content formats and layouts, question based and conversational query targeting and wider distribution across AI platforms where answers are pulled from.Below is a quick overview of GEO vs SEO:
|
Area |
GEO |
SEO |
|
Goal |
Gain citations and references within AI-generated summaries |
Improve webpage ranking within traditional search engines |
|
Target Platforms |
AI-powered Generative Engines: ChatGPT, Google AI Mode & AI Overviews, Bard, Perplexity etc) |
Traditional Search Engines - Google, Bing, Yahoo etc |
|
Audience Action |
Consume the AI-generated summary (may not lead to a click) |
Click on organic listings and visit websites |
|
Ranking Method |
Ease of AI extraction and synthesis capabilities |
Algorithm that is based on 200+ factors |
|
Core Optimisation Focus |
Core aspects of SEO remain important but GEO priorities elements such as content structure, EEAT, comprehensive coverage etc |
Keyword targeting, high quality content and backlinks, strong technical health and great user experience |
|
Content Structure |
Citation ready, answer-first, verifiable, clarity focused and fresh |
Comprehensive, keyword optimised and high quality |
|
Key Metrics |
Citations frequency within AI summaries, response accuracy and engagement in conversations |
Organic rankings, click-through rates, traffic |
Is SEO Dead? Will GEO Replace SEO?
The short answer to both questions is - no.
These questions reflect a general confusion and concern about the relationship between SEO and GEO or AEO etc, and whether SEO is still relevant.
AI powered search engines are not replacing SEO, they’re just reshaping the way in which we need to think about visibility.
SEO will remain an essential element of a digital marketing strategy to ensure organic rankings are maintained in traditional search engines such as Google and Bing. However, GEO and AI SEO are becoming an important area of an overall SEO strategy to ensure your content is being cited within AI-generated responses.
Essentially, modern day SEO is GEO and GEO is SEO.
They aren’t separate skill sets and as AI-powered search engines continue to become more sophisticated, SEO specialists will need to be proficient in developing strategies that maximise visibility across both traditional and AI search engines.
SEO & GEO: Working in Harmony
SEO builds the foundation for a strong, authoritative website with high quality content, that is geared up for satisfying user intent within traditional search results.
However, an effective SEO strategy needs to now include GEO elements to extend reach into AI powered search engines.
We’ve detailed below a range of areas that you need to consider as part of you’re overall SEO and GEO strategy into the future.
GEO Optimisation Strategies
Technical considerations
The first step to getting cited within AI search engines is to ensure your website can be crawled and AI crawlers can easily extract your content. Schema also plays a big part here too.Content types and formats
Certain types of information may be better suited to a variety of content formats and types. Whether that’s a detailed graphic, video, audio, table, bulleted list, it’s worth identifying the most common formats and types for your target phrases so you can tailor your content.On-page writing strategies for GEO-aware content
There are lots of factors that need to be considered within the content you’re writing, ensuring it’s geared up well for AI models. Aspects such as: content clarity, freshness, clear structure, conversational language, topic optimisation amongst other areas. You should also be conducting more regular content audits to ensure freshness and up to date information.Off-page & reputation
The strength and authority of your website continues to be crucial for success and is more important in the world of AI-driven search engines. Aspects such as EEAT are being prioritised over other areas when it comes to GEO and AI SEO.UX & accessibility
User experience continues to be a core component of getting cited within AI search engines.For more optimisation strategies and guidance, read our detailed article on how to ensure your website is AI Ready.
Measuring Success: KPIs for SEO & GEO
Key performance metrics from an SEO perspective track engagement and visibility, with the main areas detailed below:
- Keyword rankings
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Organic traffic
- Conversions & leads/revenue
- Engagement signals such as bounce rate or time on page
GEO performance indicators vary slightly from the traditional SEO metrics. It’s mostly about how often generative engines surface and cite your content.
- Citation frequency (impressions)
- Visibility in AI-driven SERP features (AI Overviews etc)
- Share of voice in AI-generated answers for key topic areas
- Referral traffic from AI search engines
To effectively track both SEO and GEO success, you need to deploy a combination of tools. Traditional methods of tracking SEO success include using tools like Google Search Console, Google Analytics and SEO tracking software (such as Ahrefs or SEMRush for example).
Whilst many of the SEO tracking software providers are developing ways to track visibility and citations across AI search engines, you may need to explore a dedicated toolset for monitoring success across AI platforms.
Summary & Key Takeaways
The rise of AI-powered search engines has made one thing clear - traditional SEO alone is just not enough anymore.
Marketers and SEOs need to adapt to the evolving landscape, to ensure their strategy includes the relevant GEO and AI SEO considerations. The smartest way of approaching this is to ensure SEO and GEO are working together in harmony, which will future proof a brands visibility across all discovery channels.
Key takeaways:
- Traditional SEO is not dead, but is evolving
- GEO is not a replacement for SEO, but is a strategy for AI-driven search engines
- Modern day SEO is GEO and GEO is SEO. Both need to work in harmony
- Winning in both traditional and AI-powered platforms means not only an increase in organic visibility, but a boost in brand authority and awareness
- Brands need to adapt their strategies to remain visible across traditional search engines and AI platforms
The bottom line is simple - adapt or become invisible.
If you haven’t considered any of the factors discussed in this article yet and aren’t sure where to start - we can help. Get in touch today and future proof your brand's visibility.
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