Generative Engine Optimisation: What You Need To Know
Search is changing. And there’s no prizes for guessing the main driver of that change. That’s right. AI.
The emergence of AI-powered search marks a shift in how generative AI is being used, too. When platforms like ChatGPT were first launched, all the excitement was around their creative (or ‘generative’) capabilities, their ability to produce text, code, images, even animations from a simple prompt.
But it quickly became apparent that the way Gen AI tools are built – ‘trained’ on massive data sources called large language models (LLMs) so they understand the type of content requested well enough to create it – also makes them very effective search and research tools. Their ability to craw, analyse and evaluate vast amounts of digital data in close to real time outstrips traditional search algorithms. And Gen AI tools don’t just return a list of websites that are relevant to a search query. They summarise findings and give detailed, informative, contextually relevant responses.
So it is that we now have dedicated Gen AI ‘answer’ engines like Perplexity; ChatGPT has added a specialised search function; and, most significantly of all, the world’s biggest search engines, Google and Bing, now place AI overviews at the top of their results pages.
For businesses and marketers, this is a big deal. Generative search works differently to traditional search engines. The way information is found, assessed and presented in response to a search query is different. And that means, if you want to get to the top of search rankings, you have to do things differently.
AI hasn’t just changed search. It has fundamentally changed search optimisation. If you want your digital channels and content to be visible in search, you have to be thinking beyond search engine optimisation (SEO). You also need to be thinking about generative engine optimisation, or GEO, too.
In this article, we’ll explore exactly what GEO is, how it works, why it matters – and what you can start doing straight away to get on board.
What is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimisation, or GEO, is a rapidly growing sub-field of search marketing that focuses on maximising visibility in AI-powered search engines and search results. Like traditional SEO, GEO is about ‘organic’ rather than paid-for activity like advertising. This means making websites and their content as ‘AI friendly’ as possible, in the hope that when a relevant search query is made, the AI search bots will pick out your content and feature it prominently in the answers they return.
How Does GEO Work?
GEO is very similar to traditional SEO in its goals. But the mechanics of how you achieve those goals are different. Some of the most important differences between generative and traditional search include:
- Comprehension of the search query: Traditional search engines primarily look for keywords and phrases in the query, and then crawl indexed web pages looking for matches. Generative engines use their natural language processing (NLP) capabilities to interpret the intent and context of the query in a much more sophisticated way. This means generative search can handle more in-depth and complex queries.
- Types of response: Traditional search engines return lists of web pages that they judge to best match the search query. Generative search instead analyses the content of the most relevant sources, and synthesises it to create a summary, with links to the sources used. Another way to put it is that traditional search lists existing content, while generative search creates a unique response.
- Query development: Traditional search treats every query as unique, with some limited ability to use search history to complete queries or offer prompts. Generative search, by contrast, remembers the context of a query and uses that to shape responses to follow-up requests. Generative search is therefore often described as ‘conversational’, with the ability to develop, tailor and personalise search results through a Q&A-style dialogue with the user.
These differences have a significant impact on how you approach optimising a website and its content for the different types of search. Most importantly, with GEO, you have to remember that the goal is no longer to get your page listed high in the search rankings to encourage clicks. It’s all about getting your content picked up and used by the AI bots in the responses they generate. To do this, GEO focuses on:
- Making content as easy to scan as possible, with a focus on logical structure, clarity, and breaking content down into concise, bite-sized sections.
- Answering intent directly, for example by researching the most common search queries relevant to your niche (not just keywords, but full questions), and answering them directly, using approaches like standalone Q&A or FAQ sections, or turning headings into questions.
- Focusing on ‘quotable’ content. As well as keeping content concise and organised into easily digestible chunks, making content ‘quotable’ can involve providing clear definitions and explanations, including snappy headings and taglines, statistics and more. The aim is to make it as easy as possible for the AI bots to drop your content straight into their responses.
- Establishing authority. This requires more than just knowing your stuff and producing high-quality content (although that still matters). The key is being able to flag your expertise and authority to the AI bots. To this end, nowadays you hear a lot of talk about including cues that demonstrate E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) in content.
Why Does GEO Matter?
We know what you’re thinking. This is yet another thing to think about when it comes to building your brand online, another set of tasks. But as business owners, there’s only so much you can do. Why should GEO deserve your time and effort above all the many other digital marketing strategies out there?
First of all, it’s worth remembering why search itself is so important. Even with the advance of social media and myriad other channels, a third of internet users still use search engines to discover brands, products and services.
GEO matters because generative search is increasingly influential in how those 33% of internet users find brands, products and services using search engines. Let’s not forget that AI search results now appear at the top of every search results page in both Google and Bing. Forecasts suggest that web traffic from AI search results will overtake traditional search by 2028.
Getting to grips with GEO now will put you ahead of the game when generative search becomes the dominant search model.
Actionable GEO Strategies for SMEs
So that’s the theory on GEO. Let’s finish with some practicalities. Here’s a list of simple steps you can take right now to make your websites and online content more generative search-friendly.
- Audit existing content: The first step is to look at your existing content through a GEO lens. How well do you directly respond to query intent? How quotable and authoritative is your content? What’s your content structure like? You will probably find you already do a lot of GEO-friendly things. What you want to know is where the obvious gaps are that you can focus on first.
- Add direct Q&As: A really easy win for GEO is to incorporate direct questions into your content. Try turning headings into questions, making sure the body text underneath provides a clear, concise answer. Or add FAQs to product and service pages, blogs and articles, or to your self-help section.
- Show off your E‑E‑A‑T: There are lots of ways to demonstrate your expertise and authority in an AI-friendly way, such as including case studies and examples, customer/client testimonials, referencing your experience when talking about a topic etc.
- Think about organising content by search intent: Good SEO considers search intent to the extent that it interprets what the user wants to achieve from key phrases like ‘how to’ or ‘cost of’, and makes sure informational or transactional content is optimised accordingly. AI takes the interpretation of intent to a whole new level based on more subtle comprehension of language, context, search history etc. It also moves consideration of intent towards anticipating potential next steps in what the user wants to do. You can respond to this for GEO purposes by mapping out possible ‘intent journeys’ for how audiences might want to progress an initial search, and then organise your content so it’s easy for an AI bot to follow these different path picking out relevant content for each step.
The good news is that good GEO practice is also good SEO practice, and vice versa – at the end of the day, the principles and goals of search visibility remain the same. It’s therefore helpful to view SEO and GEO as two sides of the same coin, and approach search optimisation from both perspectives.
To start making the transition to GEO, you can of course also look for a helping hand from search optimisation specialists like Key Element. To get a flavour for our experience in search engine marketing, check out how we helped boost the local visibility of a global trading platform after rolling out market-specific landing pages, or how we helped an eCommerce start-up get off the ground with a full optimised digital launch.
And as always, don’t be shy about getting in touch with our team directly to find out more.
Frequently Asked questions
What is the difference between SEO and GEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) focuses on ranking higher in traditional search engines like Google and Bing by targeting keywords, backlinks, and technical performance. GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation), on the other hand, focuses on making content AI-friendly so that generative AI search engines use and feature your content directly in their responses.
Why is Generative Engine Optimisation important for businesses right now?
Generative AI search results now appear at the top of Google and Bing, and forecasts suggest AI-driven search will overtake traditional search traffic by 2028. Investing in GEO early helps businesses stay visible and competitive as the search landscape evolves.
How do AI-powered search engines choose which content to feature in their answers?
AI search engines look for clear, concise, authoritative, and quotable content. They prioritise information that directly answers intent-driven queries, demonstrates expertise (E-E-A-T), and is well-structured for easy scanning.
What practical steps can SMEs take to optimise their content for GEO?
SMEs can start by auditing existing content, adding direct Q&A sections, showing off expertise with case studies and testimonials, and structuring content by intent. The goal is to make it easy for AI engines to pull useful, quotable snippets.
Does investing in GEO mean traditional SEO is no longer relevant?
Not at all. SEO and GEO are two sides of the same coin. Good SEO practices like keyword research, content clarity, and authority building still matter and often overlap with GEO strategies. Businesses should pursue both for maximum visibility.
What type of content works best for GEO?
Content that is concise, structured, and directly answers questions performs best. FAQs, how-to guides, definitions, and statistics are especially effective because they are easy for AI bots to quote and summarise in their responses.
How can businesses demonstrate authority to generative search engines?
Authority can be demonstrated through including customer testimonials, case studies, expert commentary, and clear signals of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Citing credible sources also strengthens content authority.
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