// guide

GEO vs SEO: what's changing

Search is splitting in two. Some buyers still Google; a growing share ask an AI assistant for a recommendation. SEO and GEO are how you win each. Here's the practical difference.

The short answer

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) gets your pages ranked in Google and Bing. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) gets your brand named by AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. Same goal — be found at the moment of intent — different machines.

How they actually differ

The mechanics diverge in ways that change your tactics:

Output shape: SEO returns a page of links you can scroll; AI returns a short shortlist of names. There's no page 2.
What's rewarded: SEO rewards your own optimized pages + backlinks; GEO rewards what third-party sources say about you across many places.
Paid options: you can buy Google Ads; there's no paid placement in organic AI recommendations.
Feedback loop: SEO has mature tools and dashboards; GEO visibility is newer and most teams aren't measuring it yet.

Why GEO doesn't replace SEO (yet)

Plenty of buyers still search the classic way, and the two reinforce each other: the same third-party articles and brand searches that help GEO also build the authority that helps SEO. Treat GEO as a new, under-contested channel layered on top of SEO — not a swap.

Where to start

Measure your AI visibility to get a baseline, fix the cheap technical signals (llms.txt, structured data, clean crawlability), then invest in the thing that drives both: third-party mentions and comparison content. Re-check monthly.

Frequently asked questions

Is GEO just SEO with a new name? No. They overlap on authority signals, but GEO depends far more on third-party coverage than on your own on-page optimization.

Should a small team do both? Yes, but GEO is less contested right now, so an hour spent there often goes further than the same hour on saturated SEO keywords.