GEO Is the New SEO
Generative engine optimization — or how to supply content that will capture AI bots’ attention — is gaining ground
By Chuck Kapelke October 29, 2025
sk ChatGPT for its opinion on the best search engine optimization (SEO) agency for the cybersecurity industry, and one name consistently shows up near the top: First Page Sage. ChatGPT, powered by artificial intelligence (AI), says the software firm is “frequently ranked No. 1 in lists of cybersecurity SEO agencies.” Clicking the source of this information leads to a page on First Page Sage’s website featuring a detailed analysis of why the company outranks its competitors. The company has roughly 70 separate web pages customized to convince AI platforms of its superiority in multiple industries, from aviation to electrical contractors to staffing and recruiting. “As long as you use good criteria, and it seems a little scientific, [the AI platforms] really trust it,” says Evan Bailyn, CEO of First Page Sage, whose clients include Rodan + Fields and U.S. Bank. “If you’re in the top five Google search results, and you appear in two or three lists — especially with superlative keywords like ‘top’ or ‘best’— that really cements your place at the top.”
Highlighting competitive advantages is part of the emerging art of “generative engine optimization,” or GEO, a digital marketing strategy centered on ensuring a brand’s name is featured in the first few answers provided by platforms such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini, and other large language models (LLMs).
GEO is also called “answer engine optimization” (AEO), “AI visibility,” and “LLM optimization.”
Semantics aside, GEO is fast gaining ground on traditional SEO, as consumers are increasingly turning to AI chatbots to inform their purchasing decisions.
Brands’ organic search traffic will decrease by 50 percent or more by 2028, as consumers switch to search powered by generative AI, according to a Gartner survey of 253 marketing leaders conducted earlier this year.
“Traditional search is still king, but AI search is growing insanely fast,” says Michael Donnelly, EVP, AI, martech, and marketing futures at the ANA. “The challenge is that GEO is a moving target. Brands need to focus on unique, multimodal content, and it has to be findable. LLMs don’t care about flashy design. You have to go back to the basics.”
The Same Yet Different
Recommendations offered by LLMs are typically presented in short lists, so brands need to focus on gaining a prominent position. “It’s about being the answer, instead of one of 10 blue links,” says Sarah Gray, SVP of marketing and revenue enablement at Amsive, a performance marketing agency whose clients include Commerce Bank, Hiscox, and HubSpot. “Everything has to be set up to be as maximally digestible to crawlers and AI bots as possible, and you have to answer queries more directly and structure your content differently.”
GEO is not altogether different from SEO; a high ranking on Google usually translates into a favorable AI response. “The same types of things that appear in AI answers tend to be what appears on the first page of Google search results, so there are a lot of similarities,” Gray says.
However, GEO and SEO are not identical. While search engines rely on factors like how websites link together, LLMs scan the web looking for machine-readable language. At a technical level, this means content should be clearly structured and labeled, with elements like schema markup (code that helps computer readers understand context) and alt text (describing images as text).
Because consumers engage with AI bots through questions and conversation — rather than search keywords — brands should develop their content accordingly. Think of LLMs as proxies for consumers asking questions about a brand and its competitors.
“Use this as a call to arms for deeper customer understanding,” says Nikhil Lai, principal analyst at Forrester. “As you create content, model the questions that people are asking at different phases of the process, from discovery to evaluation to commitment, and then create content that directly responds to those questions.”
Key takeaway. Marketers do not have to reinvent the wheel but must adapt their SEO strategies for the GEO era. “It’s important not to abandon traditional SEO principles,” says Kelly Cutler, associate professor of digital marketing and visual communication at ANA member Northwestern University. “Building a rich content library of authentic thought leadership is also important. It’s sending signals out to generative engines to say, ‘This content is relevant for these types of queries.'”