What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

For decades, people relied on search engines to look for information. In the prevailing majority of cases, they introduced their queries into Google, the undisputed leader among available search engine options, so it could suggest different websites, ranking them according to their relevance to the object of search. Then they further searched for information using the provided links. Most people usually checked several first links from the first search results page, often referred to as blue links, and all the marketing strategies that companies pursued till recently were concentrated on getting their websites into these top results. Efforts to achieve this goal are called SEO - Search Engine Optimization. And while search engines' algorithms were initially mostly influenced by keyword frequency, SEO has since expanded to include numerous other factors: backlinks (inbound links), content quality, and page load speed. 

This has changed with the advent of artificial intelligence, which is impacting more and more fields, and web search and content discovery are not excluded from this trend. With the appearance of generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, or Gemini, more and more people are relying on AI-generated responses for quick and accurate information. Instead of typing keywords into a search engine and sorting through a list of links, users now ask AI models full questions and receive instant, summarized answers. For example, the user's old behavior was searching "best email marketing tools 2025" on Google and browsing 10 links. A new user's behavior is asking ChatGPT, "What are the best email marketing tools in 2025?" and getting a concise, curated list immediately. 

Once AI generative platforms were made capable of online real-time search and offering sources they used to provide the results, their popularity has increased even more. 

As users rely more on short answers provided by AI-driven search, engagement with websites started to decrease. Gartner predicts that due to inquiries now processed through conversational AI interfaces, search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026, leading to a significant decrease in organic search traffic. This shift highlights the need for companies to adapt their digital marketing strategies, giving rise to a new approach - GEO or Generative Engine Optimization. The growing reliance on AI highlights the importance of GEO in ensuring content visibility and relevance. Without GEO, even high-ranking SEO content may be overlooked if it's not optimized for AI synthesis. 

So, What is Generative Engine Optimization?

While traditional SEO focuses on optimizing content for search engines like Google, GEO is about optimizing your digital presence for AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, Grok, or Microsoft's Copilot. These generative engines rely on natural language processing to interpret queries and synthesize answers from multiple sources. They don't just rank websites, they generate customized responses, often by summarizing or paraphrasing information. 

GEO, therefore, focuses on making content more likely to be easily discoverable and deemed authoritative enough to be selected, accurately interpreted, referenced, and featured by generative AI systems. AI search engines prioritize the ability of content to effectively respond to user queries. Therefore, GEO focuses on the internal quality of content rather than on aspects such as keyword availability or mobile loading speed.  

While both GEO and traditional SEO aim to enhance online visibility, their methods differ significantly.  

Advantages of Traditional SEO:

• Long-term effectiveness: Traditional SEO has a long history of use. It is based on established methods that have proven their effectiveness. A properly configured SEO strategy can provide a stable flow of organic traffic over a long period of time.

• Understandability for businesses: Companies, especially those with small marketing teams, have a good understanding of SEO and its goals, simplifying the implementation process.

• Extensive data and tools: There are many tools developed for SEO, such as Google Analytics, Ahrefs, and SEMrush, which help analyze user behavior, select keywords, and track results.

Limitations of Traditional SEO:

• Dependent on search engine algorithms: Search platforms regularly update their algorithms. Each major update can significantly affect the ranking of sites, requiring constant adaptation.

• Competition: Popular keywords and topics are often highly competitive, which makes it difficult to achieve high positions, especially for new players.

• Long-term strategy: SEO takes time to achieve tangible results. Gaining visibility and organic traffic quickly is difficult.

Advantages of GEO: 

• Adaptation to new technologies: GEO opens up access to audiences that are actively using generative AI. It is especially important as these platforms become more popular.

• More personalized responses: Optimizing for GEO allows brands to appear in individual AI responses, increasing the chances of establishing a deeper connection with the user.

• Agility: Unlike SEO, GEO takes into account the latest advances in data processing, helping brands stay one step ahead.

Limitations of GEO: 

• Novelty: GEO is a relatively new concept. Most marketers do not yet have sufficient experience with generative platforms.

• Training gaps: Marketing teams need additional training to effectively implement GEO strategies.

Limited tools: Current analytics platforms do not always provide detailed information on how AI uses data.

What strategies should be adopted for GEO?

Analysing audience needs and queries

GEO begins with an analysis of the most common queries on AI platforms. It includes studying frequently searched topics and understanding what answers people are interested in. Based on this data, you can form key topics that the optimized content should answer to. It is also important to clarify what information formats are being searched for for a specific query, namely whether it is short answers, lists, detailed explanations, or articles. 

Aligning content with a user intent

Generative engines aim to satisfy user intent, whether informational, navigational, or transactional. You should craft content that anticipates and answers specific questions users might ask, using natural language that mirrors conversational queries. For instance, instead of targeting "best laptops 2025," optimize for "What are the best laptops for students in 2025?" 

Optimizing content quality and сlarity 

AI tools don't just scan for keywords — they evaluate your content's credibility, structure, and value using complex E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness) principles. So make sure your content is high-quality, relevant, and follows these principles. Generative engines often summarize content in their responses. To increase the likelihood of your content being featured, place key information early, use strong topic sentences, and avoid fluff. Use clear headings, bullet points, and concise sentences to make your content scannable. Avoid jargon unless it's query-relevant, and ensure your content directly addresses potential user questions. Summaries, graphic diagrams or FAQs within your content can also serve as ready-made snippets for AI to pull.

Focusing on natural language 

As people interact with AI in natural language, your content should reflect that tone. So for GEO, it means the texts should be written in an accessible and easy-to-read manner. Answer real questions your audience is asking. Using colloquial language, focusing on precise wording, and avoiding complex constructions helps AI understand the meaning of the content faster. It is also important to provide clear and specific answers to common queries so that AI can easily integrate these parts of the text into its answers. 

Optimizing the structure of content 

In addition to the quality of the content, how the information is presented is also important. AI systems better perceive clearly structured content with formed headings, subheadings, accessible lists, and main highlights. For GEO, it is useful to use structured data (schema markup) to clearly indicate that a specific text describes a specific product, service, or answers a question. It makes it easier for AI to understand what the information is about and helps increase the likelihood that this content will be used to answer the query. It is important for GEO to clearly formulate image descriptions so that AI can pull them up in response to queries. Therefore, alt text is also important. 

Monitoring Content Relevance

AI systems also often prefer fresh and relevant content. Therefore, it is important for GEO to regularly update information, supplement articles with new facts, and monitor trends in search queries. It helps the content to remain relevant and respond to frequently changing queries. For example, if new information appears about a product or service, it is worth promptly updating the description so that AI can use this information to form an answer. Your content should be accessible, frequently updated, and answers current questions. AI systems usually "learn" from such sources, collecting information to create their knowledge base.

Citing facts, sources and statistical data

AI loves citing reliable data. So, GEO involves including reliable sources, statistical data, original insights, and quotes from experts, and trustworthy references that have a high level of authority. It will increase the likelihood that AI will find the content useful and use it in its answers. Mentioning scientific studies or analytical reports can make the content more authoritative for AI systems that value the quality and accuracy of information. For example, including statistics from trusted organizations or linking to primary sources can boost your content's chances of being selected.

Monitoring AI mentions and measuring the success of GEO strategies

Once you adjust your content for AI visibility, it is vital to monitor the success of GEO strategies just like tracking keyword rankings in SEO. You can start checking how generative engines talk about your brand or content, if they do at all. You can watch after:

• Mentions: How often does the AI reference your brand or content?

• Citations: Are your materials being cited as sources in AI responses?

• Share of Voice: How often does AI mention your competitors rather than you?

• Sentiment: Is the AI portraying your brand positively, negatively, or neutrally?

Monitoring these metrics ensures that your GEO efforts deliver the desired results and maximize your content's reach and impact. But how do you actually monitor these metrics?  Your brand might appear in AI answers, but you probably don't know it. Old SEO tools don't track this, leaving marketing teams in the dark. The good news is that AI visibility tools are improving quickly. The bad news is that most tools are still being developed and are focused on just a few AI platforms. So, choosing the right tool depends on your needs and resources, not just finding the best one.

HubSpot's AI Search Grader,  for instance, can be used to check content optimization for GEO. By simply dropping your URL into the tool, you can get custom suggestions for optimization areas, helping you fine-tune your content for better performance. 

Here are some other tools can help monitor your brand's visibility across AI platforms:

• Peec AI tracks how often your brand appears in AI-generated content across various platforms.

• getSAO analyzes and optimizes your content for better visibility in AI responses.

• Cognizo AI provides insights into how AI platforms use your content and suggests improvements.

• Profound is an enterprise-grade platform that offers comprehensive insights into how AI models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Copilot mention and cite your brand.

• Otterly.AI is a specialized tool that monitors brand visibility across generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

What is The Future of GEO

While GEO is still in its early stages, it's gaining momentum fast and looks like it will be the new SEO for the AI era. As AI becomes the default gateway to knowledge and product discovery, businesses, marketers, and creators who embrace GEO early will have a major advantage.  

We can also expect: 

• More complex algorithms: The future of SEO will likely increasingly rely on algorithms to understand not only text, but also multimedia content.

• The rise of local search: GEO can increase the importance of local context by providing users with recommendations based on their location.

• SEO and GEO synergy: Search engines may integrate generative models into their algorithms, thereby intertwining traditional SEO and GEO.

Google also understands the future relevance of generative answers and the real threat of becoming obsolete, as happened to Skype recently. So, this May, it introduced AI Overviews, a function that generates an AI-driven customized single answer on top of the search result. Google AI Overview Ads is now also available in the generative results.

Final Thoughts

As users increasingly obtain the desired answers to their questions directly through an AI search engine, they may have no reason to visit the source site anymore. This shift presents challenges for marketing strategies we are used to, so companies and content producers must adapt accordingly and the strategic importance of Generative Engine Optimization in a world powered by AI will continue to grow. GEO requires aligning your content with how people consume information nowaday, with an increased emphasis on the structure, context, and quality of information. It doesn't make SEO obsolete. It is rather about combining the strengths of both to create a powerful strategy that maximizes online presence and adapts to the evolving search requirements. With users no longer looking for a list of links and with AI curating single answers, your purpose is no longer to be in the top search results, you need to be the answer.