SEO & GEO: The Future of Search Visibility
AI has changed the game, and staying relevant in search now takes more than a good SEO strategy. Staying competitive requires optimizing for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), so your content gets surfaced by AI tools. Check out these resources to learn how to earn citations in LLM answers and boost your visibility beyond traditional search.
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What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content so it is cited and accurately represented in AI-generated answers; the responses produced by AI tools like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. But SEO and GEO are complementary and should be used together. Both rely on high-quality, well-structured, authoritative content.
The difference is that they optimize for different endpoints: SEO for rankings and clicks, GEO for citations inside the answer. As more searches end with answers instead of clicks, being cited matters as much as ranking first. Our Marketer’s Guide to SEO and GEO gives you a free, actionable guide to help your team kickstart your new search strategy.
SEO and GEO: The Essentials
| SEO | GEO | |
|---|---|---|
Goal | Rank in the results list | Be cited in the AI answer |
Optimizes for | Clicks to your site | Mentions in generated answers |
Surfaces on | Google, Bing results pages | AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity |
Wins with | Keywords, backlinks, technical SEO | Structure, cited stats, authority |
Measured by | Rankings, traffic, CTR | Share of voice in AI answers |
Why it matters now
SEO and GEO are tied to website discoverability. It's why they're a priority when redesigning, migrating, or upgrading digital experiences, for both structural and content concerns. The same structured content and technical foundation that improves search visibility is also what search engines and AI tools need to find your content. Fixing one tends to help the other.
That relationship matters more as AI shapes discovery. Pew Research Center found users clicked a traditional search result on just 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, versus 15% when it didn't, though impact varies by query, industry, and methodology.
Visibility across both comes down to a solid technical foundation, content that answers real buyer questions clearly, and demonstrated expertise, backed by consistent measurement of what's actually working.
Take Bob W.'s redesign and migration, for example. Limited on-page SEO was a top pre-migration concern, which IDHL addressed through changes with a direct bottom-line impact, including:
- Structured content via Content Hub, easier to index and cite
- Caching fixed slow load times, a ranking factor
- Reusable content at scale for deeper topical coverage
The results?
Explore the SEO & GEO Hub
Everything you need to understand and act on SEO and GEO, in one place.
How Xperience by Kentico helps you win at SEO and GEO
Your DXP is the foundation for a successful SEO and GEO strategy. Xperience by Kentico helps you increase your presence for both, with the ability to easily maintain technical requirements, like schema, that help improve your content’s visibility. And with the built-in SEO & GEO Specialist analyzing individual pages and recommending improvements for content quality, structure, SEO fundamentals, keyword relevance and AI readability, you're ready to win search by turning optimization into a routine with minimal manual effort.
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