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For those of you who are coming across the term for the first time, GEO is an acronym for Generative Engine Optimization (or Optimisation).

Other than the spelling, GEO differs from SEO – another 3-letter acronym in the digital marketing world – in a couple of crucial ways.

Firstly, GEO – as defined by Search Engine Land – is “the process of optimizing your website’s content to boost its visibility in AI-driven search engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews”.

(Source: Search Engine Land: What is GEO?).

This differs from SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimisation, and is primarily concerned with the process of optimising your website’s content to boost its findability on and visibility in previous iterations of search engines like Google and Bing, in the days before AI.

Secondly, GEO is a relatively new and recent concept, one that’s emerged as AI-driven search engines like Google’s Search Generative Experience and Bing Chat have become more popular.

SEO, on the other hand, is a long-established term and set of techniques and best practices, with the usage of the term Search Engine Optimisation first becoming prevalent in the late 1990s.

As Rellify says in their Blog Post on the history of SEO:

“In 1997, the Webstep Marketing Agency was the first group to use the phrase “search engine optimization” in their marketing materials. And around 1998, Danny Sullivan, founder of Search Engine Watch, started popularizing the term and helping clients optimize their content to rank well in search engine results.”

And…

So, does that beg the question, is Search Engine Optimisation dead in 2025?

No – far from it, Search Engine Optimisation isn’t dead, but it is changing all the time.

As Search Engine Land puts it, “Change is the only constant in today’s rapidly evolving digital marketing landscape”

(Source: Search Engine Land: What is generative engine optimization?)

What worked back in the day is no longer considered best practice or even necessarily advantageous as far as your search engine ranking and showing up in the search engine results pages (SERPs) is concerned – the goal posts have moved and the playing field is different.

As Pierpont say in their insight into the current state of SEO, “it is evolving”.

They state that:

“In the early years of Google, having pages ranked in the top ten spots…was valuable [but now a] position on the first page of Google search results isn’t as valuable as it once was. Today, digital marketing experts must learn how to broaden their approaches to expand beyond traditional organic Google SEO.”

(Source: Pierpont: Is SEO Dead? Spoiler Alert—It’s Not! It’s Just Evolving)

Hubspot also highlights how SEO and the search arena has changed, in their Blog Post about GEO, saying that we are “entering a new era of search — the AI age — and, with it, a new type of digital content technique, [namely] Generative Engine Optimization”.

“How we obtain information now has changed dramatically as a result of AI. More than ever, people rely on generative engines for information, making learning how to optimize for AI essential.”

And:

“If we want our content to reach the right people, we need to adapt. There’s no need to throw out the SEO principles you’ve spent decades learning. GEO is an extension of these techniques — and it’s not as scary as it sounds.”

(Source: Hubspot: Generative Engine Optimization: What We Know So Far)

Now that we’ve established that GEO and SEO differ, how does GEO affect SEO, and vice versa?

GEO and SEO play nicely together, to create content that is easily understood, by AI and humans alike. Easily understood content is also great for Accessibility, which – as you know – is one of the things that Bnode are specialists in. Both bring creating content that is engaging, easy to find and navigate to the fore – all of which are also key tenets of Accessibility and accessible websites.

Quoting again from Search Engine Land, “GEO and SEO share several key objectives and methodologies”, including Visibility, Keyword Strategy, User Experience [including E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) principles], Data Insights and Analytics, Technical Optimisation, Authority Building, plus Continuous Adaptation to an evolving search ecosystem.

But, as we’ve seen, GEO and SEO also differ in their application and approach.

To quote at length from Search Engine Land again:

“SEO primarily targets traditional search engines like Google, whereas GEO is designed for the dynamic world of generative AI and answer engines.

“These engines use advanced algorithms to gather and present information in a more contextually relevant way, which means we need different strategies to optimize for them.”

Without going into too much detail (see the original Search Engine Land website article for a full and effusive breakdown) we’ve summarised some of the key aspects that set them apart, including Response Generation, Content Contextualisation, Information Synthesis, User Intent understanding, Algorithm Adaptation, Content Formatting, Research-driven Strategy, and Performance Tracking.

Despite these differences in design, approach and application, “traditional SEO techniques often lay the essential groundwork for GEO, and when combined, they can create a powerful digital marketing strategy that maximizes your online presence”.

Again, giving consideration to Accessibility, you should also optimise for technical excellence:

“Keep your website technically sound to meet the needs of SEO and GEO. This includes optimizing for load speed, mobile friendliness, structured data and natural language processing. “

Whilst SEO certainly isn’t dead quite yet, traditional search has undoubtedly had its day. As AI-driven search continues to grow, it continually gains ground on old school search engines, with “Google, once the undisputed leader, now [facing] serious competition from Bing’s AI integration, ChatGPT, Perplexity and other innovative AI-driven platforms”.

“A significant drop in traditional search volume by 25% by 2026” is predicted, and “organic search traffic [is] expected to decrease by over 50% as consumers embrace AI-powered search”.

Plus, “79% of consumers are expected to use AI-enhanced search within the next year and 70% already trust generative AI search results.”

So, what does that mean for traditional SEO as we knew it?

All of which means that:

“Traditional SEO alone won’t cut it anymore. Brands must adapt by integrating GEO into their strategies to effectively capture and retain user attention on AI-driven platforms.”

Once again, looking at GEO through the lens of Accessibility, and enhanced user experience in particular:

“GEO optimizes content so AI can provide quick, relevant and personalized answers, improving user satisfaction and loyalty. By understanding context and user intent better, AI platforms offer more personalized information.”

So, not only is the desired information arrived at more quickly, it’s also more tailored.

GEO also plays nicely with Technical SEO which is another key component of Accessibility and Accessible Websites:

“GEO integrates with traditional technical SEO practices to ensure your site is technically sound and accessible, which is essential for it to be discovered and prioritized by AI algorithms.”

And, in the not-too-distant future, we could well see Voice Search and Voice Engine Optimisation (VEO) revolutionise user interactions with AI search, which will be a massive Accessibility boon for blind and partially sighted users:

“Voice search will become more prevalent as AI improves its ability to process and understand spoken queries… making information retrieval more intuitive and accessible.”

(Source: Search Engine Land: What is generative engine optimization?)