What is GEO? (or AEO and GSO)
GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation), AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) and GSO (Generative Search Optimisation) all describe the process of optimising your content for AI search engines with the hope of being cited in the answers provided by systems like ChatGPT to users’ prompts and queries.
Generally used interchangeably, these different acronyms reflect the fact that we don’t yet have an agreed industry-standard term for this process. In the era of AI search, marketers have been trying to identify workable methods that take advantage of the huge advances in AI and large language models seen over the last couple of years, and people's increasing use of AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot.
Disrupting the search landscape, the introduction of AI search engines and chatbots (including Google’s AI Overviews) has caused a shift in search behaviour. For a couple of decades, successful SEO for Google and its competitors reigned supreme in ensuring that your brand or business ranked well for any targeted keyword or phrase. Now more and more users are turning to AI search to solve their queries, and search engines including Google are also defaulting to AI-first response patterns to queries, which tend to dominate the top of the page for most of the queries that are being run.
In order for your business or brand to stay visible and relevant within search, optimising for AI search engines and chatbots (whether we call the process GEO, AEO or GSO) is going to become ever more important - and needs to be part of your marketing strategy. Let’s explore this further.
Screenshot from Google showing AI summary
Why is GEO Important?
GEO is important because the adoption of AI search shows no signs of slowing down, which means in practice that business owners need to either optimise their websites for AI search or risk losing visibility, and losing out to the competition.
There is no denying that there has been a reduction in organic traffic to most websites from search engines since the introduction of these new AI features. Take Google’s AI Summary feature for example: because of the convenience factor, users are relying heavily on these summaries to get immediate answers to their queries, without needing to click through to websites for further information.
At the bottom of Google’s AI summary section, you also have the option to click ‘Dive deeper in AI mode’. Clicking this opens a page which gives a more in-depth answer to a user’s query, so even if the summary didn’t completely answer their request, this extended version may do. This raises the likelihood of a zero-click search, meaning less traffic coming through to a website from the search engines. One interesting fact is that most people agree this does not affect brand searches as much (that is, searches including a company name) - so brand awareness and brand-building remain just as important as they were.
Alongside its responses, AI Overview typically displays a shortlist of web pages it consulted to generate its answers. With this in mind, it is becoming more important to optimise for Google’s AI Overview and similar features in other search engines with the goal of being cited in the answers given - then at least you may find that the user requires more information and may then click through to your website.
How is GEO different to SEO?
Mastering GEO requires a shift in thinking. What marketers have previously known to work and have practiced in terms of SEO is no longer as effective in driving traffic from search engines. The requirements for attaining visibility on the Internet are evolving. Being flexible, adaptable and open to new techniques is always something that has helped with online marketing, and is becoming particularly important in the AI-led online world. Below we explore some of the ways that GEO differs from SEO.
1. Focus
SEO – to gain higher rankings in search results.
GEO – to be cited as an authoritative source in an AI-generated response.
2. Content
SEO - uses keywords, phrases and links across content to signal the topical relevance of each web page to search engines.
GEO – uses a variety of multimedia content and sources to signal authority and show high quality.
3. The Result
SEO – aims for clicks and traffic to a brand or business site by matching keywords and content with corresponding queries.
GEO – aims to deliver the most accurate and relevant response to a user query by carefully assessing selected prompts and reading the user's intent.
4. Impacts of Ongoing Developments
SEO – changes in search engine algorithms have required adaptations in search strategy.
GEO – changes and developments within AI search engines and what they are capable of will determine the techniques required to be cited as AI search develops.
The impact of AI on search
Search has always evolved, from the original keyword-matching through to page ranking and link value, intent matching, natural language search and long-tail search. As user queries and behaviour evolve, and the search engines change, websites have had to respond to those changes to stay relevant.
AI has impacted search by changing user behaviour - how we search and what we search for. Users are now searching much more often than they did only a few years ago for long-tail phrases or whole (natural language) questions in order to find the answers they require. Brightedge found a sevenfold increase in searches comprising eight or more words in the 12 months from May 2024 to May 2025.
Whereas previously, the norm would be that a user navigated to search engines like Google and keyed in either a single keyword or a two-to-three-word phrase on the assumption that that was about as much information as the search engine could meaningfully process, optimising for this type of search is no longer enough, because users are now posing relatively complex whole questions, which AI search is set up to answer by generating helpful and concise responses in a conversational and friendly tone.
Screenshot from Google Gemini showing prompt and AI generated answer.
The benefits of GEO
GEO is not something that can be ignored by web marketers. Embracing the new ways that searches are carried out, and incorporating that into your marketing strategy by optimising for AI tools, is something that every company or organisation with a website ought to do.
The benefits of GEO include:
1. Advantage over competition:
Embracing AI search and ensuring your content is optimised for that offers a competitive advantage as some sites have not yet started to do this. It also allows you to position your brand as an early adopter of evolving technology, which will help to strengthen the perception of your business as one that is embracing the future, and on top of emerging trends.
2. Increased visibility:
Optimising for these generative engines means your business is more likely to be cited in the answers produced. Citations are not only positive in terms of potential clicks but can also build brand awareness in searches that do not result in clicks through to any website, when users see your brand cited.
3. Protecting future SEO strategy:
Ensuring that your business moves with the evolving search technologies and implements a generative search strategy will help ensure that it will stay relevant and continue to be visible even as the search landscape changes.
4. Improved user experience:
Generative engines are able to use well-optimised content to produce accurate and relevant answers for users fast. This gives users a positive experience and they should remember brands or businesses that contributed, when acknowledged in the citations.
How can you optimise for Generative Engines?
Start optimising for Generative Engines by focusing on your content. Content has always been key, but now needs to be adapted to suit the requirements of AI systems. You may also need some technical changes to help ensure you give AI the best chance of crawling your site and finding the information it needs.
Optimise for AI search by reviewing these areas:
1. E-E-A-T content:
Does your content follow the E-E-A-T guidelines set out by Google? E-E-A-T stands for Experience-Expertise-Authoritativeness-Trustworthiness. Consider each of these in turn. Experience – how can you show your direct experience and knowledge of a topic? Expertise – is your content 100% accurate? Authoritativeness – show this by including comment from industry experts. Trustworthiness – gain trust from users by being authentic and transparent in your operations.
2. User intent:
Ensure your content aligns with your user intent. What might be the aim of their search? Are they looking for information? Are they looking to purchase something? Define the type of query your user is most likely to search for and examples of those queries, and optimise your content based on those needs.
3. Answers, FAQs, bullet points and numbered lists:
Ensure the layout of your content is as clear as possible by including well-ordered sections such as FAQs, bullet points and numbered lists. This will help lead AI bots crawling your pages to the key information fast and efficiently. Also, answer questions within your content clearly and concisely, and if possible within the first sentences of your relevant pieces so that AI’s bots can immediately find relevant information. Easy-to-read content allows AI to understand your pages fast and efficiently, and will also tend to benefit the user who may be looking for a quick and simple answer to their query.
4. Competitor research / overview and AI engine response analysis:
Carry out research on your business and those of your competitors by testing likely prompts your customers or potential customers may use. Analyse what mentions and citations are present and where they are coming from. If your business isn’t appearing as a source for responses to target queries whereas your competitors are, analyse why this might be by reviewing differences in your content. Identify areas for potential improvement, and make changes to your content where needed - if necessary trialling in one area before you move onto others, to establish a link between your changes and the results.
4. Technical structure, schema, headings:
Ensuring that the technical structure of each of your important web pages is set up correctly is essential, as this allows AI to crawl and understand your content most effectively. This will increase the chances of your business showing up in the AI answers and citations following a user query. Review the technical structure, schema mark-up, title tags, meta descriptions and heading tags of each key page to ensure that it is easy to scan and not misleading (or written by AI).
Image created using Google Gemini.
The future of GEO
GEO, AEO or GSO, or whatever we may officially call it in the future, is a strategy for optimising for a new way of search that is becoming increasingly dominant; if businesses ignore it, they risk losing valuable visibility within search. It’s no longer possible to stand back and reserve judgment or wait and see how things develop. AI search is here to stay and will continue to become more capable and effective. In order to stay visible online, businesses must be able to change and evolve their strategy to reflect these developments.
How AI search may adapt in the future:
1. Voice search
Voice assistants are already very much a part of modern life for many users. Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant (to name a few) have become widely familiar, and collectively, their usage is only growing. Stats from Data Reportal report as of 2025, there are around 8.4 billion voice assistants in use, a figure which has doubled from 2020.
20.5% of people worldwide are already using voice search, with more than 1 billion voice searches taking place every month. These figures from Demand Sage show that a substantial body of users has been exploring this new type of search and adopting it into their everyday routines.
We believe these figures will continue to grow as more people discover the ease and convenience of voice search. Ensuring your content and website is optimised and discoverable for this kind of conversational search will become more important, and is quite a move away from the 'multiple results' model of traditional search.
2. Advancing capabilities of AI
Navigating the uncertain but exciting future of AI and its capabilities is a challenge currently facing almost every business and organisation. We think the key to success is to be open to exploring new possibilities and ways of working with (and thinking about) content, rather than feeling daunted by or disconnected from this new technology and its implications.
Embracing AI search and building an understanding of it into your marketing operations will help your business to remain visible and competitive. At the same time, as with traditional SEO, always create content for people - if your content starts to read unnaturally as though it has been forced to match what you think AI bots are looking for, that is not going to deliver a good experience for visitors and ultimately will not help your visibility. To keep your user experience positive, you should ensure that your creativity and authentic voice are not lost in the rush to create content for AI search.
3. Integration
The integration of AI search with other software systems is already underway. For example, Copilot, as found within Microsoft Outlook, allows for searches within the platform, meaning that users do not even need to leave Outlook to access a search engine. We think this built-in capacity for search in other platforms will become more common. This kind of integration aims to offer a more streamlined user experience and to retain users on the platform for longer.
Not needing to navigate to another search engine removes friction for users, making it easier for them to find what they are looking for within a platform they are already using, encouraging them use this feature. Ensuring that your business is visible in these searches will be vital to maintaining enquiries and ultimately to ensuring your sales funnel remains filled.
4. Personalisation
If you are one of the many people already using AI, including AI search, and hold an account on one or more platforms that offer it, they are probably tailoring the style and type of content they are providing you with based on your previous searches and requests.
With AI systems constantly learning, the experience that we, as users, receive is likely to be tailored more and more to our specific tastes and requirements. AI, including AI-powered search engines, will learn to predict what an individual user actually means even if their prompt seems ambiguous as it gets to know us better.
This could improve user experience and satisfaction and increase efficiency for users, which in turn has the potential to make AI and search engines that use that far more useful to users than traditional search, and ultimately allow AI to completely eclipse traditional search. With this in mind, optimising your website and content for AI has never been more important.
Please note our banner image for this article was created in Google Gemini.
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