Everyone's talking about SEO. But the brands winning right now are already thinking about what comes next — and most of them haven't heard of GEO yet.

01 — The Shift

The Way People Search Is Changing

Not long ago, the default move when you needed a recommendation was to type something into Google and click through a few links. That's still happening, but increasingly it isn't. More and more people are opening ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or Claude and just asking. "What's the best project management tool for a small team?" "Which skincare brand is best for sensitive skin?" "Who are the best Shopify agencies in Europe?"

AI tools answer those questions directly. They don't show a list of links and leave the user to decide — they give a recommendation, often with a named brand or two. And if your brand isn't in that answer, you don't exist for that person at that moment.

02 — Definition

What Is GEO?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation. Where SEO is the practice of making your brand visible on Google, GEO is the practice of making your brand visible inside AI-generated answers.

It's not about gaming a system. It's about making sure that when an AI model is forming an answer about your industry, your brand has given it enough clear, credible, consistent information to be part of that answer. The brands that show up in AI responses are almost always the ones that have published useful content, built credibility across the web, and maintained a consistent presence in the places AI models trust — press mentions, directories, reviews, structured data, and authoritative articles.

03 — Visibility

How Does a Brand Appear in AI Searches?

AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity pull from a wide range of sources when generating answers — published articles, review platforms, directories, social proof, structured website data, and more. They tend to favour brands that are mentioned consistently across multiple credible sources, that answer questions clearly and directly, and that have an established digital footprint beyond just their own website.

There are four things that move the needle most:

  • Creating content that directly answers the questions your customers are already asking AI tools.
  • Building credibility by showing up in the places AI trusts — press, directories, third-party reviews.
  • Staying consistent so that every platform tells the same story about who you are and what you do.
  • Being present everywhere your audience searches, not just Google.

04 — The Gap

Why Most Brands Aren't Ready

The honest answer is that most brands have spent years optimising for Google and haven't thought about AI visibility at all. Their website might rank well, but their content isn't structured to answer direct questions. They might have good reviews but they're scattered and inconsistent. Their brand story on their website says one thing, their LinkedIn says another, their press mentions say something else.

AI models struggle to form a confident recommendation about a brand they can't get a clear, consistent picture of. That inconsistency is what keeps most brands out of AI answers — not a lack of quality, just a lack of clarity.

05 — Strategy

SEO Isn't Dead — But It's Not Enough on Its Own

GEO isn't a replacement for SEO. A strong Google presence still matters, and much of what makes you rank well on Google also helps with GEO — quality content, credible backlinks, structured data. But GEO requires an additional layer of thinking: are you answering questions the way an AI would want to cite you? Are you building credibility in the places AI models actually look?

The brands that treat GEO as an extension of their existing digital strategy — rather than a separate thing to figure out later — are the ones that will own the AI search landscape over the next few years. Right now, the space is still wide open. Most of your competitors aren't there yet.

That's the opportunity.