What is GEO, and how is it different from SEO?
Updated: · Orbtown
Generative Engine Optimization means making your content easy for AI answer engines to find, use and cite. The term comes from a research paper, and what that paper found is more modest than much of the marketing built on it.
Where the term comes from
The paper GEO: Generative Engine Optimization by Aggarwal and co-authors was accepted at KDD 2024. It tested ways of editing web content and measured how visible the content became in generated answers.
What it found
The authors report that the methods can raise visibility by up to 40%, and by up to 37% in a test on Perplexity. Up to is the key phrase: it is a best case, and the paper says effectiveness varies by domain. Reported tactics include adding statistics, quotations and citations of sources.
GEO versus SEO
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | A click from a list of results | Being used or cited in an answer |
| Depends on | Indexing, relevance, links | The same, plus clear and quotable facts |
| Measured by | Rankings, clicks | Mentions in answers, referral traffic |
GEO does not replace SEO. Google says standard SEO fundamentals apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, and assistants that search the web still depend on pages being indexed.
A practical GEO checklist
- Answer the question in the first sentences of a section.
- Use specific numbers and name their source.
- Keep facts about your company consistent across the web.
- Show who wrote the content and when it was updated.
Common questions
Is GEO just a new name for SEO?
Largely it builds on SEO. The extra focus is on being quoted inside an answer rather than ranked in a list.
Does GEO work for every industry?
The original paper says effectiveness varies by domain, so test it on your own questions.