As search engines and generative AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, and ChatGPT increasingly shape how people find answers online, traditional SEO alone is no longer enough. Enter Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO): a strategy that ensures your business is visible, trusted, and cited in AI-driven search results.

While traditional SEO focuses on ranking your site in the blue links of search results, GEO expands this by optimising your content and digital footprint for the language models and knowledge graphs that generative AI relies on to answer queries.

Why combining SEO + GEO is essential

Many businesses assume that once their site ranks well on Google, their work is done. But generative engines are trained not just on what ranks — but on the most authoritative, relevant, and structured content available. That means if your site is hard to crawl, lacks schema markup, or isn’t cited across trusted sources, you risk being omitted from AI answers — even if you rank #1 in traditional results.

For example:

  • Websites with clear structured data (schema.org) are more likely to appear as featured snippets or cited by AI tools.
  • Sites with poor crawlability (due to broken links, slow load times, or blocked resources) may not even be indexed properly, let alone referenced in AI answers.
  • Low engagement metrics (e.g., high bounce rates or short session durations) signal to search engines that your content isn’t satisfying users, which can hurt both SEO and GEO.

According to a study by BrightEdge, 68% of online experiences still begin with search, but how those searches are answered is changing rapidly — and businesses that fail to adapt risk invisibility.

What action to take now:

  • Audit your technical SEO to ensure your site is crawlable, fast, and properly structured.
  • Add schema markup and ensure your business details are consistent across all platforms.
  • Publish authoritative, question-answering content that aligns with what customers and AI engines seek.
  • Monitor user engagement metrics (like bounce rate & dwell time) and improve where needed.
  • Partner with an expert who understands how to align SEO & GEO.

Start your GEO + SEO journey today — contact Salisbury SEO

Published by on |
Contact Us