Generative Engine Optimization or GEO, refers to the process of optimizing one’s online presence or website to increase the likelihood of being recommended by AI search engines/chatbots like Gemini, Co-Pilot, and ChatGPT. As AI continues to shake up the digital world, we are seeing more and more people use generative search engines for their queries. This means less people are searching directly on Google, and opting to search through AI services instead. It’s expected that as these numbers shift, GEO will become just as important as SEO in the near future.
So, why does this matter for you and your business? Well, the goal for any form of marketing is to reach as many high-quality clients as possible. Not taking advantage of the large group of people using chatbots over Google means untapped markets you’re missing out on. As more individuals switch from classic search engines to generative ones, your traffic will slowly decline if you don’t optimize for both types of queries.
How Generative Search Is Reshaping User Behavior
Generative search significantly alters user behavior primarily by decreasing clicks. Previously, Google searches displayed only clickable links for users to research. Now, AI provides direct answers, reducing the need for multiple clicks. Even when users produce queries that relate to your site, the AI Overview may prevent the need for them to actually engage with your content. Therefore, optimizing websites for inclusion in AI-generated answers is now essential.
In 2023, when chatbots were being publicly released and expanded, most people did not trust the change in technology. However, it seems now that the streamlined and human approach AI brings to searching has taken public favor. Every month it seems that more and more people are utilizing AI in their online activities, especially for search queries. This change in opinion seems like it is here to stay and will only grow in the coming years.
Impacts on Search Engine Marketing (SEM) Strategies
The main impact we’re seeing on search engine optimization is that AI can completely negate your ability to present to potential customers. Even when utilizing paid ads, if users never click or scroll past the AI Overview from Google’s Gemini they may never see your ad outright. Some generative engines like Perplexity are working around this. Although currently in the experimental phase, they are testing a system where companies can pay to have their website shown in relevant search results. Despite being marked as an advertisement, this approach ensures ad visibility while still providing users with the experience of uniquely generated results.
Now that AI Overviews from Google can present results without clicks, visibility is at an all time low. Beyond the fact that Google’s Gemini provides answers for users, it also takes up a large amount of space on the top of the results page, pushing URLs down. Meaning that users may not even see the eye-catching URL you created since it’s not present in the AI overview.
Like regular SEO, generative engines also operate on keywords to provide users with the best results possible. Due to queries often being more context based, this can make optimizing a bit more difficult. This is where semantic research can be used, which studies how meaning is conveyed through words. By better understanding how people speak and convey meaning to chatbots, we can better optimize for those queries. While SEO focuses on keywords to match results, AI software is more advanced and can understand the user’s intent. This offers more specific and precise results, but like keywords, complicates optimization when compared to SEO.
Marketing Opportunities for Businesses in the GEO Landscape
Optimizing for AI chatbots means working in tandem with how the engine gathers data. Generative search engines look for high-quality content that is relevant, credible (well-written with multiple sources), accessible by AI. By optimizing your site to match these criteria, your likelihood of being used in generated results increases. Additionally, utilizing keyword and semantic research to match what and how people are searching for, better aligns you with what the AI algorithm will present. Keywords for GEO are often much different and more complex than SEO due to users using more words in queries. Doing proper keyword research is a simple and effective opportunity to boost your business’ visibility in AI chatbots.
On search engines like Google, people often search specifically with keywords. Phrases like “Chinese restaurant near me” are short and easy to optimize for. However due to AI being able to understand semantics and context clues, users’ searches are often more complex. This is because users feel a more human, conversational connection to chatbots as they have the capability to properly respond. Rather than a simple four word search for Chinese food, users may be writing prompts that read as “Hi, can you please find the best Chinese restaurants near me that are affordable and great for families? Thank you!” By better targeting these more extensive phrases, your likelihood of matching user queries increases.
While both SEO and GEO share the same goal of increasing visibility, they approach the task differently. SEO is primarily focused on making Google and other search engines view your site as highly relevant and of good quality. This increases your ranking for users’ queries. GEO operates similarly. Content above all else is key. Even if your site is highly relevant, having low quality content (which both Google and AI algorithms can detect now) can result in AI responses completely ignoring your site. Utilizing copywriting services to increase your content’s persuasiveness and authority score is an effective way of being used in generative search results.
GEO Best Practices for Forward-Thinking Marketers
If you are looking to stay ahead of the curve with GEO, you have to play by the AI’s rules. Having high quality content and making sure your website is AI-accessible is easy enough, speaking AI’s language is another thing. Natural language processing (NLP) is the technology that allows AI algorithms to understand and generate human languages. If your structured data and content is not formatted in a way that is easy for NLP to understand, you risk being ignored by generative search engine results. Additionally, the intelligent nature of NLP allows generative engines to see if your content has been promoted through social media channels and other websites. A little digital PR can go a long way when it comes to making AI viewing your site as high-quality. Optimizing your content to be accessible by AI algorithms following the NLP structure, is one of the best practices to improve your GEO.
Like Google, who has always valued quality above all else, AI algorithms are also trained in making sure sources are credible and accurate. Ironically, content generated by AI is often rated with the lowest level of quality. Basically, AI takes credible sources, and dumbs them down to be more suitable for easy viewing. This means AI rarely gets its information from other AI sources. If your site is primarily composed of AI content, your authority and credibility ratings will plummet. For this reason, we highly recommend only using AI to brainstorm and build off of, never to fill the majority of your site’s content. Doing this makes it very likely for Google and generated search engines to skip your website.
Recently, there has also been a spike in referral traffic from AI chatbots as more individuals begin using their services. From January 2025 to April 2025, 250 popular news and media sites saw a 98% increase in referral traffic from ChatGPT. In April alone, 243.8 million visitors were sent to these sites through ChatGPT. This is a great opportunity for companies and their marketers, as this referral data can be viewed in Google Analytics 4 and therefore optimized.
The Future of GEO and Paid Search Integration
As previously mentioned, some services like Perplexity are merging paid ads with generated results. A sort of win-win situation for both users and businesses. Additionally, Google’s AI Overview can sometimes present sponsored content, like products that have been paid to be promoted. We anticipate this becoming the norm very quickly as AI will most likely become the main form of searching in the coming years.
GEO is not specifically replacing SEO, rather they are merging together into a hybrid model. SEO is still important because it makes your website appear relevant to search engines. Since AI does the searching for users, it still operates with SEO to find the best results. Then, once it has done its research, GEO can help make sure your site specifically is being presented in the chatbot’s response to its users. An aspect of this is known as retrievability, which is the AI’s ability to view the content on your website. If a chatbot cannot effectively retrieve information, it will skip over your site even if it is well optimized for ranking.
Conclusion: Preparing Your Business for the Generative Search Revolution
As users leave classic search engines in favor of generative ones, it’s imperative to move with the times in order to maintain success moving forward. Kodak, for example, thought digital cameras would never take off, ultimately leading to their demise as a company. This is known as the Innovator’s Dilemma. When you fail to conform with modern consumer standards, you are often left in the dust of new technologies that disrupt the market. Failing to understand and utilize GEO now, means competitors who do will be miles ahead of you in the long run.
Here at Rise, our team of experts have been researching GEO from the start. If you are interested in optimizing for generative search engines, but don’t know where to start, contact Rise today for a free consultation!
