GEO vs SEO: What's the Difference and Why You Need Both
SEO helps you rank on Google. GEO helps you get recommended by ChatGPT and Gemini. Learn how they differ and why modern marketing needs both.
Two years ago, ranking on Google was enough. Now your customers are asking ChatGPT for recommendations before they ever open a search engine. That shift created a new discipline alongside SEO, and understanding when to use each determines whether your brand gets found or gets forgotten.
Quick answer: SEO optimizes your website to rank in Google's list of ten results. GEO optimizes your brand to be recommended directly by AI assistants like ChatGPT and Gemini. SEO is about ranking higher. GEO is about being chosen. Most companies need both because users now discover brands through traditional search and AI conversations.
SEO: a quick refresher
Search engine optimization has been around for decades and the core concept remains simple: make your website rank higher in Google's search results. When someone searches "best CRM for small business," SEO determines which ten websites appear on page one.
The mechanics involve optimizing for Google's algorithm through keywords and backlinks and technical performance and content quality. You're competing for a spot in a ranked list, and success means appearing as high as possible so more people click through to your site.
SEO is well understood at this point. There are mature tools, established best practices, and predictable ways to measure progress through rankings and traffic and conversions.
GEO: the new layer
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is what happens when people stop searching Google and start asking ChatGPT. Instead of typing "best CRM for small business" into a search bar, they ask an AI assistant "what CRM should I use for my 10-person startup?"
The difference is significant. Google returns a list of ten options and lets the user decide. ChatGPT returns one or two recommendations and the user often just goes with whatever the AI suggests. There's no page one to rank on because there's no page at all, just a direct answer.
GEO is the practice of optimizing your brand to be that direct answer. It involves building authority and creating content that AI models want to cite and monitoring how language models talk about you compared to competitors.
The key differences
While SEO and GEO share some DNA, they differ in important ways:
The goal: SEO aims to rank higher in a list of results. GEO aims to be chosen as the answer. In SEO, ranking fifth still gets you clicks. In GEO, being the second choice often means getting nothing.
The competition: Google shows ten results on page one, so you're competing for one of ten spots. AI assistants typically mention one to three brands at most, making the competition much tighter.
The ranking factors: Google weighs backlinks and keywords and page speed and technical SEO. AI models care more about brand authority across the web and sentiment in reviews and discussions and how clearly your content answers specific questions.
The measurement: SEO performance shows up in Google Search Console through impressions and clicks and rankings. GEO performance requires testing prompts across ChatGPT and Gemini and Perplexity to see whether your brand gets mentioned, which is why tools like SearchSeal exist.
The content approach: SEO content targets specific keywords and optimizes for search intent. GEO content focuses on being definitive and citable, answering questions so clearly that an AI model would want to reference it.
How they overlap
The good news is that SEO and GEO aren't competing strategies. Much of what works for one also helps the other.
Backlinks signal authority to both Google and AI models. If respected sites link to you, Google ranks you higher and language models are more likely to view you as a credible source worth mentioning.
Clear and well-structured content helps both channels. Google rewards content that answers search queries directly, and AI models prefer content that's easy to parse and cite. Writing comprehensive guides with clear headings and direct answers serves both purposes.
Brand mentions across the web matter for both. Getting featured in industry publications and review sites and expert roundups builds the kind of authority that improves your Google rankings and makes AI models more likely to recommend you.
The main difference is mindset. SEO focuses on individual pages ranking for specific keywords. GEO focuses on your overall brand being recognized as a trusted solution in your category. But the underlying work of creating valuable content and building authority supports both.
Which should you prioritize
The answer depends on where you're starting from.
If you have established SEO: Layer GEO onto your existing strategy. You already have the content and authority, so now you need to audit how you appear in AI responses and adjust your approach to capture that channel too. The foundation is there and you're just expanding.
If you're starting fresh: Build for both from day one. Structure your content to rank on Google while also being citable by AI models. This means writing comprehensive, authoritative content rather than thin keyword-targeted pages. The extra effort now saves you from retrofitting later.
If budget is tight: SEO still has more predictable ROI today because the tools are mature and the process is understood and you can track progress clearly. But GEO is growing fast as more people shift their research to AI assistants. Ignoring it entirely means falling behind competitors who are already optimizing for both.
For most companies, the practical answer is to do SEO with GEO in mind. Create content that can rank on Google and get cited by AI. Build authority that helps both channels. Then monitor your AI visibility so you can adjust as that channel grows.
Getting started with GEO
If you're new to GEO, start with the basics.
First, audit your current AI visibility by asking ChatGPT and Gemini and Perplexity questions your customers would ask. See whether your brand appears, how it's positioned, and which competitors show up instead. This gives you a baseline to improve from.
Second, review your content strategy. Are you creating definitive resources that an AI model would want to cite? Or are you writing thin content that targets keywords but doesn't provide real depth? The content structure that gets AI citations tends to be comprehensive and clearly organized and direct in answering questions.
Third, set up ongoing monitoring. AI visibility isn't static because models update, competitors improve, and recommendations change. You need to track your visibility over time so you can respond when things shift. See our guide on improving ChatGPT visibility for specific tactics.
SearchSeal automates this monitoring across ChatGPT and Gemini and Perplexity and Claude, tracking your brand visibility and sentiment so you always know where you stand in AI search.
