What Is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

Q: What is GenAI?

GenAI is a form of artificial intelligence that uses Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning, and Natural Language Processing (NLP) to generate new content, from text to images to sound. As of this writing, GenAI is only able to regurgitate information it learned from its training data or from searching the internet.

Q: What is GEO?

GEO is the digital marketing practice of optimising your content for generative AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude, etc. GEO-optimised content is structured to improve the likelihood of your page being used to generate an answer when someone queries an AI-powered search engine.

Q: What is traditional SEO?

Traditional search engine optimisation encompasses techniques—such as keywords, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO—to increase your visibility on search engine result pages like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo.

Q: What is the objective of SEO?

SEO’s objective is search engine visibility, and its target is page one of Google.

Q: What is the objective of GEO?

GEO’s objective is generative AI engine visibility, and its target is pretty much every answer to every relevant query within an answer engine.

Q: What are the main pillars of SEO strategy?

The three main pillars of SEO are keyword research, technical optimisation, and backlinks, with honourable mentions to competitor benchmarking, on-page optimisation, content, and CRO.

Q: What does a GEO strategy look at?

A generative engine optimisation strategy looks at how to optimise content structure, contextual/semantic relevance, related topics, user intent, and content quality. If SEO is at the mercy of search engine algorithms, GEO relies on AI's evolving functionalities and capabilities, as well as emerging regulatory frameworks designed to keep them in check.

Q: How is GEO content different from SEO content?

GEO content is easy to read and is written in natural-sounding language, formatted to make it easy for AI to understand, scoop up, and synthesise. Structured data or schema markup facilitates AI's understanding of your content. AI prioritises content that is well-written and contextually relevant.

Q: How does SEO content differ from GEO content?

SEO content is often seen as a delivery system for keywords and follows SEO best practices to simplify crawling and improve readability, signalling suitability for answering user queries. High-quality, keyword-rich content is crucial for ranking on search result pages.

Q: How does intent in SEO work?

In SEO, intent is often determined by keywords (informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional). Researching competing pages that dominate SERPs helps understand where user intent truly lies to match content accordingly for more traffic.

Q: How does intent in GEO work?

GEO intent is more nuanced, looking at context, subtleties in language, and user interaction with generative search. It responds dynamically and focuses on delivering content for AI-generated interactions, optimising for subtlety and personalisation.

Q: How do users find information in a normal search engine?

Users type a search term, and Google presents a list of links ordered by relevance, accuracy, popularity, backlinks, age, and other algorithmic factors. Users then click links to find the answer.

Q: How do users find information in an AI-driven search engine?

Users type a search query, and the AI tool generates a response directly, drawing information from various web sources to provide a comprehensive answer conversationally, including citations and links for deeper dives.

Q: How are GEO and SEO the same?

Both GEO and SEO focus on driving visibility. They both benefit from understanding target audience behavior, using related phrases (LSI) and long-tail keywords to enrich text, and require high-quality content that is helpful, relevant, comprehensive, and true. Both also rely on building off-page authority through credible relationships and showcasing trustworthiness through security, trust seals, clear policies, consistent NAP details, and optimized Google Business Profiles. Data insights and technical optimization, including Core Web Vitals, structured data, crawlability, and meta tags, are crucial for both.

Q: What are the benefits of using related phrases and long-tail keywords in both SEO and GEO?

Using related phrases (latent semantic indexing, or LSI) and long-tail keywords enriches the text and gives both bots and AI tools a better understanding of the content's broader meaning, helping to clarify the page's topic beyond a single keyword.

Q: How is content quality important for both SEO and GEO?

High-quality content is essential for visibility in both SEO and GEO. For SEO, helpful, relevant, comprehensive, and true content outranks poor-quality content. For GEO, high-quality content that is relevant and answers user queries fully and straightforwardly is more likely to be used in AI-powered searches. E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) is a key factor in content quality for both.

Q: How can E-E-A-T be demonstrated?

E-E-A-T can be demonstrated by assigning a real author with a detailed bio showcasing relevant education, experience, awards, and certifications; writing well with original, engaging content that demonstrates good flow and adheres to the 5 Cs of copyediting; building off-page authority through credible relationships and positive mentions from other high-authority sources; and being a trustworthy brand with necessary security protocols (https), visible trust seals, easily accessible privacy policies, consistent NAP details, and an optimized Google Business Profile.

Q: Why is building off-page authority important for both SEO and GEO?

Building off-page authority through credible relationships and positive attention from other high-authority sources indicates trustworthiness to both search engines and AI, signaling that a site is legitimate and reliable.

Q: What technical practices should be optimized for both SEO and GEO?

Core Web Vitals, structured data (Schema markup), crawlability (site speed, sitemaps, Robots.txt), and meta tags/page structure (meta titles, title tags, meta descriptions) should be optimized for both SEO and GEO.

Q: Are AI Engines taking over traditional search engines?

Not exactly. AI is becoming a 'trusty sidekick' to SEO, rather than replacing traditional search engines like Google, which remain the most popular way people search online. GEO strategies should be implemented alongside, not instead of, SEO practices.

Q: How can you boost the chances of your content being used to generate AI responses?

To boost content's use in AI responses, dive deep into research beyond keywords, create high-quality content that directly answers user queries thoroughly and uses semantically related words, fine-tune content structure for readability and AI understanding (e.g., placing important info early, using short paragraphs, headings, structured data), expand content reach to external platforms like social media and forums, test and adapt strategies, and continue doing SEO.

Q: Why is GEO important?

GEO is important because it is not a trend companies can afford to ignore, as AI and large language models are evolving rapidly. While SEO is still dominant, GEO complements it, and there's an indication that LLMs may generate a higher percentage of conversions. Aligning marketing goals and using AI to an advantage is crucial for future-proofing.

Q: How does Geeky Tech combine GEO with SEO?

Geeky Tech incorporates GEO into SEO strategies by adapting keyword research to include traditional terms and conversational queries, maintaining SEO practices like demonstrating E-E-A-T, leveraging data insights, and upholding high technical excellence to prepare clients for the intersection of SEO and GEO.