Is GEO replacing SEO?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is here, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is under threat. But what is GEO? What does it involve? And what is in store for businesses that rely on SEO to drive traffic and revenue for their businesses?

February 10, 2025

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When you search on Google today, the first result you will see for most queries is the “AI overview” which basically answers most of the general queries. This is a Generative Engine in action.

Why should SEO professionals and businesses that rely on SEO care about this?

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First, let’s take the example of Google search. Every “AI overview” answer that you get comes with additional results like this:

There are web pages which the Generative Engine a.k.a AI is recommending besides the “AI overview” answers. And these pages take away clicks from the page that is ranking “1st” on Google for every query.

Second, a report by Gartner found that 70% of consumers already trust generative AI search results. In addition to that electrifying stat, 79% of said consumers are expected to use AI-enabled search within the next year.

Traditional SEO cannot cut it anymore - at least not like it used to. Generative Engine Optimization needs to be factored into marketing strategies moving forward.

However, it is important for businesses to note that Generative Engine Optimization doesn’t just happen in search engines. It is happening within specific Generative AI engines like ChatGPT, SGE, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, among others. Here is an example of what Chatgpt says when you search “what is email marketing”:

It provides a definition backed by the source as “Mailchimp” and adds “citations” on the sidebar - web pages you can click on to go and learn more.

A lot of business owners are probably struggling to find ways of increasing their visibility in these Generative engine pages and queries.

I have some good news for you. The people that came up with the term “Generative Engine Optimization” did a research paper. It turns out, if you get your SEO right, you stand a great chance of appearing in the Generative Engines sections.

It’s a long paper, but to summarize it for you, if your content displays Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (EEAT) - very common guidelines in SEO - then you are very likely doing Generative Engine Optimization already as well.

Therefore, GEO is not replacing SEO so far as we can see. In fact, it does seem that GEO is just a part of SEO. The highly ranking websites through SEO will dominate in Generative AI Engine experiences.

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