With AI inserting itself into many aspects of the search landscape, we have to ride the robot overlord wave and alter our content optimisation strategies to keep up.
SEO is always changing anyway as new Google updates roll out and more information is gained on how to rank higher, so why not include generative engine optimisation in the mix?
What is Generative Engine Optimisation?
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is a very similar practice to SEO, but you’re optimising content for AI-generated results instead of the traditional search engine results pages. This could mean optimising for Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Microsoft’s Copilot or any of the other many AI tools out there. The goal is to improve your site or business’ visibility in AI-generated content and responses, as well as making sure your brand is accurately represented.
Should you be optimising for AI-driven results?
You might be wondering whether it’s even worth it to optimise for AI-driven results, especially as Google received 373 times as many searches as ChatGPT in 2024. It’s obvious that traditional search is still on top, but even users who are exclusively searching with engines like Google and Bing will still be exposed to AI-driven results in the form of AI Overviews and Bing’s Generative Search summaries. You’ll find that AI Overviews appear for 18% of keywords in the UK - it’s unavoidable!
Despite Google still being top dog, a study found that 71.5% of people reported using AI tools for search, with younger generations more likely to search this way. There is absolutely an opportunity for optimising your content to appear in AI-generated results to target these users, and the best part is that it can be used alongside your usual SEO strategy. Having your content used in AI responses not only boosts visibility but also reinforces your brand’s trustworthiness as AI is supposed to prioritise authoritative sources.
How can you optimise content for GEO?
GEO and SEO can go hand in hand, so don’t worry about switching up your strategy to do one or the other. Optimising for both generative engines and search engines is actually pretty similar – you just have to be mindful of creating content that is easy for AI to understand.
1. Make structured, AI-friendly content
Even the most advanced AI might need a helping hand in understanding your content. The best way to do this is to organise content with clear headings, bullet points and concise answers which makes the page more readable for both AI and humans!
2. Optimise for conversational queries
When searching with AI, user queries tend to be more conversational, long-tail and question-based. Writing content in a natural style to match AI-generated responses can help, as well as FAQs with obvious questions and answers. No need for any giant flashing arrows; a simple H3 question with the answer concisely written beneath should suffice and lets any AI know when they’re asked the same thing, they can pull the information from here.
3. Keep content fresh and relevant
Generative engines prioritise relevant and accurate results over dusty and old content that probably needs a refresh anyway. You can update your content as well as target current and trending topics to really show that you’re still in the loop. While doing so, you can make sure no old links are broken and any redirects take you to the right place to boost SEO. GEO and SEO really can be a match made in heaven.
4. Multimodal content is key
AI search can integrate text, images, audio and video for both queries and responses, so your content should reflect this too. When including multimodal content, make sure you’re optimising your images, videos and audio clips with descriptive alt text, transcripts and structured data to help our AI buddies understand the content easily, since they don’t have eyes and ears to figure it out themselves.
5. Always remember E-E-A-T
As with SEO, Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) also matter for GEO. AI engines are more likely to display your content if it’s credible, accurate and high-quality, with citations and facts to back up any claims. This shouldn’t differ from your SEO strategy so if you’re already doing this, there’s nothing to change! Give yourself a pat on the back and keep up the good work.
The future of SEO and GEO
While it may seem like a whole new feat to start optimising your content for AI-generated results, it really isn’t all that different from optimising for search engines. As more users get comfortable with searching through AI tools (and more AI summaries are shoved in our faces), we’re going to want our content, business, products or services to be the ones recommended and mentioned right from the get-go, so integrating a GEO and SEO strategy sounds like where we’re headed.
