Two Disciplines, One Goal: Being Found
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) has been the cornerstone of digital marketing for over two decades. It is well understood, widely practised, and demonstrably effective. Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is newer – but it is growing fast, and for good reason.
As AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude become mainstream ways of finding information, businesses face a practical question: do you need GEO as well as SEO, or does one replace the other?
The short answer is that you need both, but the way they work together – and where they diverge – is worth understanding in detail. This guide compares SEO and GEO, explains the overlap, and provides a framework for integrating them into a single, coherent strategy.
What SEO Does
SEO optimises your website to rank highly in traditional search engine results – primarily Google, but also Bing, Yahoo, and others. The output of SEO is improved positioning in a list of links, which drives organic traffic to your website.
The core disciplines of SEO include:
- Keyword research: Identifying the terms and phrases your audience uses to search.
- On-page optimisation: Ensuring your content, headings, meta tags, and structure align with target keywords and user intent.
- Technical SEO: Optimising site speed, crawlability, mobile usability, structured data, and other technical factors.
- Link building: Earning backlinks from authoritative websites to signal trust and relevance.
- Content strategy: Creating high-quality content that satisfies user intent and attracts organic traffic.
SEO is mature, measurable, and – when done well – one of the highest-ROI marketing investments available. Learn more about our approach on our SEO services page.
What GEO Does
GEO optimises your brand's presence across AI-powered platforms so that you are cited, recommended, and accurately represented in AI-generated responses. The output of GEO is not a ranking position but a citation, mention, or recommendation within an AI answer.
The core disciplines of GEO include:
- AI visibility auditing: Assessing how AI platforms currently represent your brand.
- Content optimisation for AI retrieval: Structuring content so AI crawlers can easily extract and cite it.
- Entity optimisation: Ensuring your brand is recognised as a distinct, authoritative entity across AI knowledge systems.
- Crawler management: Configuring access for AI crawlers, distinguishing between training and search retrieval.
- Structured data implementation: Using schema markup to provide machine-readable context.
- Cross-platform consistency: Maintaining accurate, consistent brand information across the web.
GEO is newer, but it is not experimental. It addresses a real, measurable shift in how people find information. Explore our Generative Engine Optimisation service to see how we approach it.
Where SEO and GEO Overlap
Despite their differences, SEO and GEO share significant common ground. Many of the activities that make you more visible in traditional search also improve your AI visibility.
High-Quality Content
Both SEO and GEO reward content that is well-written, factually accurate, and genuinely useful. Google's helpful content updates and AI platforms' preference for authoritative sources point in the same direction: create content that serves the user, not content that games an algorithm.
Structured Data
Schema markup helps Google understand your content for rich results, and it helps AI crawlers extract structured information for their responses. Implementing schema markup is a shared best practice across both disciplines.
Domain Authority
Backlinks, brand mentions, and a strong reputation benefit both SEO rankings and AI citation rates. There is no conflict here – authority is authority, regardless of which system is evaluating it.
Technical Foundations
A fast, well-structured, crawlable website is the foundation for both SEO and GEO. If your site has technical issues that prevent Google from crawling it effectively, those same issues will likely affect AI crawlers too. Our technical SEO service addresses both simultaneously.
E-E-A-T Signals
Google's Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness framework aligns closely with what AI platforms look for when selecting sources to cite. Demonstrating genuine expertise through author credentials, original research, and credible sourcing benefits both channels.
Where SEO and GEO Diverge
The overlap is substantial, but there are meaningful differences in approach and emphasis.
Output and User Journey
The most fundamental difference is the output. SEO drives users to your website via a clicked link. GEO may result in your brand being mentioned in an AI response without any click at all. This changes the value proposition: in GEO, the citation itself is the visibility, even if it does not generate a direct website visit.
This has implications for measurement, attribution, and how you think about the value of your content. A page that is frequently cited by ChatGPT may not show increased traffic in your analytics – but it may be influencing thousands of purchasing decisions.
Keyword Targeting vs Question Answering
SEO has traditionally been organised around keywords – specific terms you want to rank for. GEO is organised more around questions and topics. AI users ask conversational questions, and AI systems look for content that directly, comprehensively answers those questions. The shift from keyword-centric to question-centric content planning is a meaningful operational difference.
Crawler Management
Traditional SEO involves managing Googlebot access. GEO introduces a new layer of crawler management: GPTBot, OAI-SearchBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot, Google-Extended, and others. Each has different purposes (training vs search), and the optimal configuration is not simply "allow all" or "block all." A nuanced, per-bot approach is required.
Entity Optimisation
While entity SEO has grown in importance over the past few years, it is absolutely central to GEO. AI models understand brands as entities – collections of facts, attributes, and relationships. If your entity profile is weak, inconsistent, or poorly defined, AI systems may fail to recognise your brand or may present inaccurate information about it. Entity optimisation in GEO goes deeper than typical SEO practice.
Content Format Considerations
AI retrieval systems process and extract information differently from traditional search crawlers. Content that performs well in traditional search – such as long-form, keyword-rich articles – may not be optimally structured for AI extraction. GEO often favours content with clear, self-contained sections, explicit definitions, structured data, and factual density over raw length.
Which Businesses Need Both?
Practically speaking, almost every business with an online presence should be thinking about both SEO and GEO. However, the relative priority depends on your circumstances.
Businesses Where GEO Is Especially Critical
- B2B service providers: Professional buyers increasingly use AI tools for research and shortlisting. If you are not visible in AI search, you may not make the shortlist.
- SaaS and technology companies: Tech-savvy audiences adopt AI search tools fastest. Your target users are likely already using ChatGPT or Perplexity for product research.
- Ecommerce brands: AI product recommendations are growing rapidly. When a user asks "What is the best [product] for [use case]?", being recommended is enormously valuable.
- Local service businesses: AI platforms are increasingly used for local recommendations. "Best plumber in Liverpool" is as likely to be asked to ChatGPT as to Google.
- Content publishers: If your business model depends on being a trusted source of information, AI citation is a direct extension of your core value proposition.
Businesses Where SEO Remains the Primary Focus
- Companies with no digital competitor pressure in AI: If your industry has not yet seen significant AI search adoption, SEO may still deliver the majority of your organic value. But this window is closing.
- Businesses entirely dependent on click-through traffic: If your revenue model requires website visits (e.g., ad-supported content), the direct traffic from SEO remains more immediately measurable.
In our experience, the most effective approach for the vast majority of businesses is an integrated strategy that addresses both traditional and AI search from a single, coherent foundation.
How to Integrate GEO and SEO Into One Strategy
The good news is that SEO and GEO are not competing priorities. They are complementary disciplines that share a common foundation. Here is how to integrate them:
1. Start with a Unified Content Strategy
Plan content that serves both channels. This means writing for user intent (SEO) while also structuring content for AI extraction (GEO). Use clear headings, provide direct answers, include structured data, and ensure factual precision. Content planned this way performs well in both traditional and AI search.
2. Implement Comprehensive Structured Data
Schema markup benefits both SEO (rich results, better crawling) and GEO (AI content extraction). Invest in comprehensive structured data implementation across your site.
3. Manage All Crawlers Deliberately
Extend your technical SEO practice to include AI crawler management. Review your robots.txt configuration, implement appropriate directives for each AI crawler, and consider creating an llms.txt file to guide AI systems.
4. Build Entity Authority Holistically
Activities that build entity authority – earning mentions, maintaining consistent listings, generating reviews, producing original research – benefit both SEO and GEO. There is no need to duplicate effort here.
5. Measure Both Channels
Track traditional SEO metrics (rankings, traffic, conversions) alongside GEO metrics (AI mention frequency, citation accuracy, share of voice in AI responses). Over time, you will develop a holistic view of your organic visibility across all search channels.
The Bottom Line
SEO is not dying, and GEO is not a replacement for it. They are two expressions of the same fundamental goal: making your brand visible where your audience is looking for answers. The audience is now looking in two places – traditional search engines and AI platforms – and your strategy needs to cover both.
The businesses that recognise this early and invest in an integrated approach will have a compounding advantage. The overlap between SEO and GEO means that much of the work is shared, and the return on investment is amplified across both channels.
Want to build a search strategy that covers both traditional and AI search? Get in touch to discuss how we can help you integrate GEO and SEO into a single, effective strategy.