Search engines are undergoing a shift as GenAI rises. For years, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been the go-to strategy for getting products discovered in search engines. But Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) has emerged as the counterpart that optimizes content to appear in AI-generated answers from chatbots and AI search tools.
Rather than scrolling through results, users are now turning to AI chatbots (like ChatGPT or Google's AI-powered results) for direct answers. A recent Adobe study found that GenAI drove a 690% increase in traffic to retail sites during the 2025 holiday season. Furthermore, sources like Wired state that the GEO industry is expected to be worth nearly USD 850M.
Companies relied on SEO practices to master search engine results and put their products and services at the forefront of results and, as a consequence, people's minds. Yet, as users started preferring conversational chatbots to form opinions and select products and services, brands had to rethink their digital product growth strategies.
In this article, we'll explain Generative Engine Optimization vs traditional SEO, outline their technical underpinnings and discuss the business impacts of each. For decision-makers in the product development industry, we'll share how a combined SEO+GEO approach can position products for maximum visibility.
At its core, traditional search engines crawl sites, index content and use algorithms to determine which pages best answer users' queries. While it may seem like a new concept, search engines began adjusting their algorithms to prevent ranking manipulation as early as 1997, as captured in archived sites on the Wayback Machine.
In this context, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) encompasses the strategies for tailoring content to rank higher in search engines such as Google and Bing. The process includes keyword optimization, backlink management and technical site improvements, as well as UX factors like page speed and mobile friendliness.
The result of a well-executed SEO strategy is often a higher ranking for relevant keywords or concepts, which translates into qualified traffic, leads and conversions that meet specific business requirements. Since half of website traffic still comes from organic search, SEO is a cornerstone of digital marketing that companies cannot afford to ignore.
Unlike its search counterpart, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) has emerged alongside AI-driven search and chatbot assistants. Introduced in 2023, the term was first used by researchers at Princeton University to describe strategies for influencing how Large Language Models retrieve and present information in response to user queries.
GEO can be defined as the practice of adapting digital content and online presence to improve the visibility of specific content in answers produced by Generative AI rather than items in blue link listings. Examples include Google's Search Generative Experiences (known as AI Overview), OpenAI's ChatGPT and Amazon's Alexa.
Let's say you ask Google, "What project management apps integrate better with Slack?" SEO results would show you ten website links with lists of apps, yet its AI may generate a simple answer such as, "Management apps X, Y and Z integrate with Slack and offer these features(...)." The role of GEO is to make your content or product part of that answer.
GEO best practices encompass content formatting (concise answers, bullet points, Q&A), factual accuracy (AI values current, authoritative data), and clear, trustworthy signals (citing sources or using schema markup). The main goal is for your content to be among the sources the AI retrieves, draws upon and cites when assembling its response.
A key driver is that AI search engines work differently, so known SEO tricks such as keyword stuffing won't help. Traditional keyword stuffing can actually decrease content visibility in AI-generated results, as AI focuses on value or outcome to understand the context of a piece of content.
Even before Generative AI, there were glimpses of this structure in featured snippets and voice assistants, where providing a direct answer and using structured data could get your content read aloud by Siri or shown in a Google snippet. GEO takes it further with AI models that synthesize answers from multiple sources.
Search queries are becoming more conversational, with longer, question-like queries, yet half of web traffic comes from organic search. This combination shows that, rather than abandoning SEO, GEO serves as a complementary tool to help users discover brands and products through both methods.
Both Search and Generative Engine Optimization share the goal of connecting users with relevant content, yet they operate in different arenas and reward different tactics. Let's compare some key aspects of SEO vs GEO.
Let's say you have a blog about UX, and someone is searching for "user onboarding best practices." SEO would focus on getting them to click your "10 Best Practices for User Onboarding" post, and GEO would aim to have your content included in its summary: "According to YourWebsite's blog, onboarding best practices include tutorials and messages(...)." Both scenarios are valuable, but they require different preparation.
While they are part of the tactics to achieve the same goal, SEO and GEO differ in query styles, result formats, optimization techniques and success metrics. Traditional SEO is about earning one of those top 10 spots on a page; GEO is about earning a spot in the answer itself.
It's often referred to as the bridge between SEO and GEO, but what is Answer Engine Optimization? AEO optimizes content for "answer-first" interfaces and search experiences that prioritize instant responses over link lists, including featured snippets, People Also Ask, knowledge panels and voice assistants.
But how does AEO Answer Engine Optimization work? In plain terms, answer engines look for content that can be parsed quickly and matched to explicit questions. Algorithms tend to favor clear headings, short paragraphs and bullet lists, while also highlighting the who, what, how, why or when of a specific topic.
The output is usually a single snippet, a voice response or a compact answer block that may or may not drive clicks. To achieve successful AOE, it's important to use schema markup such as FAQPage, HowTo, Product or Organization, depending on the content.
While differing in formats and KPIs, there's a practical relationship among SEO, AEO, and GEO. SEO builds the foundation in authority, crawlability and discoverability, and while AEO can be leveraged as a format advantage, GEO works as the AI distribution strategy.
There are some high-level strategies and best practices for succeeding in both traditional search engines and generative AI platforms. The goal is to create a synergistic approach where efforts in one also benefit the other.
These strategies can create a virtuous cycle: SEO brings users to in-depth content on your site, and GEO ensures your content permeates AI-driven conversations elsewhere. Strong SEO performance often correlates with being included in AI results, and insights from AI queries can reveal new SEO content opportunities.
The rise of GEO presents both challenges and opportunities, but what real-world impact do both SEO and GEO have on a company's business edge?
In summary, the business impact of combining SEO and GEO is greater and more resilient discoverability, improved brand authority and insights that can drive product and content strategy. Companies that excel in both will effectively own the conversation in their domain, whether that conversation happens on a search results page or in an AI chat window.
We are witnessing a shift from the "web of links" to the "web of language." Search engines and AI assistants provide answers synthesized from myriad sources, making both SEO and GEO indispensable for digital product companies.
With a solid understanding of both edges, businesses can avoid the pitfall of tunnel vision. The technical nuances may differ, but ultimately, both efforts align with the goal of providing valuable information to the right audience and staying top of mind with customers.
Investing in GEO does not mean throwing out the SEO playbook. It means recognizing that your knowledge strategy is now as important as your product features. Those who will win in this new era are those who effectively productize their knowledge for both human searchers and AI algorithms.
Search engines are undergoing a shift as GenAI rises. For years, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been the go-to strategy for getting products discovered in search engines. But Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) has emerged as the counterpart that optimizes content to appear in AI-generated answers from chatbots and AI search tools.
Rather than scrolling through results, users are now turning to AI chatbots (like ChatGPT or Google's AI-powered results) for direct answers. A recent Adobe study found that GenAI drove a 690% increase in traffic to retail sites during the 2025 holiday season. Furthermore, sources like Wired state that the GEO industry is expected to be worth nearly USD 850M.
Companies relied on SEO practices to master search engine results and put their products and services at the forefront of results and, as a consequence, people's minds. Yet, as users started preferring conversational chatbots to form opinions and select products and services, brands had to rethink their digital product growth strategies.
In this article, we'll explain Generative Engine Optimization vs traditional SEO, outline their technical underpinnings and discuss the business impacts of each. For decision-makers in the product development industry, we'll share how a combined SEO+GEO approach can position products for maximum visibility.
At its core, traditional search engines crawl sites, index content and use algorithms to determine which pages best answer users' queries. While it may seem like a new concept, search engines began adjusting their algorithms to prevent ranking manipulation as early as 1997, as captured in archived sites on the Wayback Machine.
In this context, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) encompasses the strategies for tailoring content to rank higher in search engines such as Google and Bing. The process includes keyword optimization, backlink management and technical site improvements, as well as UX factors like page speed and mobile friendliness.
The result of a well-executed SEO strategy is often a higher ranking for relevant keywords or concepts, which translates into qualified traffic, leads and conversions that meet specific business requirements. Since half of website traffic still comes from organic search, SEO is a cornerstone of digital marketing that companies cannot afford to ignore.
Unlike its search counterpart, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) has emerged alongside AI-driven search and chatbot assistants. Introduced in 2023, the term was first used by researchers at Princeton University to describe strategies for influencing how Large Language Models retrieve and present information in response to user queries.
GEO can be defined as the practice of adapting digital content and online presence to improve the visibility of specific content in answers produced by Generative AI rather than items in blue link listings. Examples include Google's Search Generative Experiences (known as AI Overview), OpenAI's ChatGPT and Amazon's Alexa.
Let's say you ask Google, "What project management apps integrate better with Slack?" SEO results would show you ten website links with lists of apps, yet its AI may generate a simple answer such as, "Management apps X, Y and Z integrate with Slack and offer these features(...)." The role of GEO is to make your content or product part of that answer.
GEO best practices encompass content formatting (concise answers, bullet points, Q&A), factual accuracy (AI values current, authoritative data), and clear, trustworthy signals (citing sources or using schema markup). The main goal is for your content to be among the sources the AI retrieves, draws upon and cites when assembling its response.
A key driver is that AI search engines work differently, so known SEO tricks such as keyword stuffing won't help. Traditional keyword stuffing can actually decrease content visibility in AI-generated results, as AI focuses on value or outcome to understand the context of a piece of content.
Even before Generative AI, there were glimpses of this structure in featured snippets and voice assistants, where providing a direct answer and using structured data could get your content read aloud by Siri or shown in a Google snippet. GEO takes it further with AI models that synthesize answers from multiple sources.
Search queries are becoming more conversational, with longer, question-like queries, yet half of web traffic comes from organic search. This combination shows that, rather than abandoning SEO, GEO serves as a complementary tool to help users discover brands and products through both methods.
Both Search and Generative Engine Optimization share the goal of connecting users with relevant content, yet they operate in different arenas and reward different tactics. Let's compare some key aspects of SEO vs GEO.
Let's say you have a blog about UX, and someone is searching for "user onboarding best practices." SEO would focus on getting them to click your "10 Best Practices for User Onboarding" post, and GEO would aim to have your content included in its summary: "According to YourWebsite's blog, onboarding best practices include tutorials and messages(...)." Both scenarios are valuable, but they require different preparation.
While they are part of the tactics to achieve the same goal, SEO and GEO differ in query styles, result formats, optimization techniques and success metrics. Traditional SEO is about earning one of those top 10 spots on a page; GEO is about earning a spot in the answer itself.
It's often referred to as the bridge between SEO and GEO, but what is Answer Engine Optimization? AEO optimizes content for "answer-first" interfaces and search experiences that prioritize instant responses over link lists, including featured snippets, People Also Ask, knowledge panels and voice assistants.
But how does AEO Answer Engine Optimization work? In plain terms, answer engines look for content that can be parsed quickly and matched to explicit questions. Algorithms tend to favor clear headings, short paragraphs and bullet lists, while also highlighting the who, what, how, why or when of a specific topic.
The output is usually a single snippet, a voice response or a compact answer block that may or may not drive clicks. To achieve successful AOE, it's important to use schema markup such as FAQPage, HowTo, Product or Organization, depending on the content.
While differing in formats and KPIs, there's a practical relationship among SEO, AEO, and GEO. SEO builds the foundation in authority, crawlability and discoverability, and while AEO can be leveraged as a format advantage, GEO works as the AI distribution strategy.
There are some high-level strategies and best practices for succeeding in both traditional search engines and generative AI platforms. The goal is to create a synergistic approach where efforts in one also benefit the other.
These strategies can create a virtuous cycle: SEO brings users to in-depth content on your site, and GEO ensures your content permeates AI-driven conversations elsewhere. Strong SEO performance often correlates with being included in AI results, and insights from AI queries can reveal new SEO content opportunities.
The rise of GEO presents both challenges and opportunities, but what real-world impact do both SEO and GEO have on a company's business edge?
In summary, the business impact of combining SEO and GEO is greater and more resilient discoverability, improved brand authority and insights that can drive product and content strategy. Companies that excel in both will effectively own the conversation in their domain, whether that conversation happens on a search results page or in an AI chat window.
We are witnessing a shift from the "web of links" to the "web of language." Search engines and AI assistants provide answers synthesized from myriad sources, making both SEO and GEO indispensable for digital product companies.
With a solid understanding of both edges, businesses can avoid the pitfall of tunnel vision. The technical nuances may differ, but ultimately, both efforts align with the goal of providing valuable information to the right audience and staying top of mind with customers.
Investing in GEO does not mean throwing out the SEO playbook. It means recognizing that your knowledge strategy is now as important as your product features. Those who will win in this new era are those who effectively productize their knowledge for both human searchers and AI algorithms.
