Is GEO going to replace SEO?

The big debate on every SEO’s lips at the moment is GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation). Whether you’ve seen industry experts discussing it on LinkedIn or seen agencies selling GEO optimisations to increase your chances of being seen in AI Search, the discussion of GEO is everywhere and is likely to continue for some time to come. 

We’ve written a couple of blogs around AI, because the way search is evolving and the growing popularity of AI is something that can’t be ignored. 

I have included a couple of links to our AI-related blogs if you’re interested in reading those. 

As an agency, we are regularly asked by clients about how we intend to implement AI into our workflow. Whilst this is something we are doing, it’s vital for us to outline where we are when discussing GEO. 

If you’re a business owner who is looking to begin utilising SEO in your marketing efforts, or have seen the term GEO and don’t quite understand it. We have written this blog to help you understand our perspective and give a brief overview of whether you need to consider GEO when considering starting SEO for your business. What is GEO? 

GEO is Generative Engine Optimisation, it’s the practice of optimising your website so it has a better chance of appearing in AI Search results like overviews. 

The principle is much like SEO. You optimise your website for Google and/or Bing to increase visibility, whereas with GEO, the idea is you optimise your website to appear in AI Search. 

Why is GEO replacing SEO? 

Quite simply, it isn’t. GEO is not replacing SEO, nor will it in future. SEO has long been rocked by new technologies, and often experiences existential crises, and has done so since the early 2000s. 

This is nothing new. 

What makes the existence of GEO so compelling and hard to ignore is the prevalence AI has on our daily work lives and its becoming a major aspect in our workflow. This shift has led to the system being used to help create efficiencies. 

Does GEO even exist?? 

The question here is not so much is GEO real, rather is it important or even achievable? GEO is a fancy new term that can be easy to sell. The problem with this is that there is no data to cement whether optimising to appear in the likes of ChatGPT or Gemini actually works. 

So GEO is technically real, but realistically GEO is SEO – SEO is GEO. That’s the crux of it. 

So, job done? Well, not quite. 

What’s the main issue? 

To run a successful “GEO” campaign, data should be everything, and trackable insights need to be apparent. With some of the best tools on the planet for tracking SEO efforts – Google Search Console and Google Analytics – GA4 will show key events from ChatGPT, but that’s where the data ends. And with Google Search Console, you aren’t able to see which pages appeared in AI search. 

This presents its next problem. If you are to look at AI search for your website, you aren’t able to determine which pages are your best-performing. 

As we all know, data is paramount for any SEO strategy to be successful. With GEO, it’s difficult to understand whether any optimisation effort has worked. 

Another important factor is that when we optimise your website following SEO best practices, we actually increase your chances of appearing in AI search results.

GEO is SEO 

The main point we want to highlight again is that GEO is SEO. There’s no mystical wizardry going on, and as an agency that offers comprehensive SEO strategies, our main priority is to ensure your business competes and is visible in search engines, whether that’s in search results or in AI overviews

How is GEO SEO? 

AI Search is another aspect of Search, so as long as we continue to optimise your site following the best practices of SEO, we’ll increase the chances of appearing in the likes of ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity. 

Whilst SEO is always changing, with new methods arising, the focus always needs to be on driving high-quality users to your website

Conclusion

It’s easy to be swept up in the momentum of AI, since its inception in early 2022, it’s showing no signs of abating. 

Whilst Search is always evolving, and new technologies emerge and promise the next best system, the goal remains the same: to help users complete their journey. 

That will always be our goal when optimising your website; we’ll do what works to drive more visibility and users to visit your website to help you meet your targets. That will never change. If you are interested in implementing SEO into your marketing efforts, contact us today.