Why GEO Matters More Than You Think

What is GEO, how it differs from SEO, and where LLMO fits in.

If you spend any time on LinkedIn or in marketing newsletters right now, you’d think GEO is either: the next evolution of SEO, or the thing that will quietly destroy your business if you ignore it.

The reality is far less dramatic. GEO isn’t a new channel, a replacement for SEO, or a sudden land grab for early adopters. It’s a shift in how visibility and authority are interpreted, not how content is created. And for most businesses, it builds directly on work they’re already doing. 

Where it becomes strategically important is for companies aiming to own a category, not just rank within one.

Let’s start with the basics and then move quickly to what actually matters.

 
 

What is GEO?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization.

It’s the practice of ensuring your brand, products, and expertise are discoverable and accurately represented inside AI-generated answers, not just ranked in traditional search results.

When people talk about Google’s “blue links,” they’re referring to the familiar organic search results: clickable titles and URLs that appear in response to a query. That’s where traditional SEO shows up. GEO operates before that click ever happens.

Instead of asking yourself, “How do I rank?” (that’s SEO) ask yourself, “When an AI answers a question in my category, does it mention me… and does it describe me correctly?” (that’s GEO).

That distinction is the entire point.

How GEO differs from SEO (without overcomplicating it)

SEO and GEO aren’t competing disciplines. They solve different problems at different moments.

SEO optimizes for links - The goal is to rank pages so users click through to your site and take an action such as purchasing a product, requesting a demo, booking an appointment, etc.

GEO optimizes for answers - The goal is to be cited, referenced, or recommended inside an AI-generated response. This often occurs before a user ever visits a website.

This difference becomes clearer when you look at how people now interact with AI tools.

A useful way to think about it:

  • SEO controls distribution

  • GEO controls interpretation

Or put another way:

  • SEO determines where you show up

  • GEO determines how you’re described when you do

This is why GEO often results in “zero-click” or “zero-visit” experiences. Users aren’t being driven away, they’re making decisions earlier, based on synthesized answers.

Why GEO exists at all

At its core, GEO exists because people now ask AI systems questions that they used to ask search engines.

As tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and AI Overviews become embedded in everyday workflows, answers are replacing clicks. Users increasingly stop, proceed, or make decisions based on what an AI tells them, not what ranks first.

Just as importantly, AI systems don’t retrieve information the way search engines do. They synthesize it.

Large language models decide:

  • What to include

  • Who to trust

  • How to frame the response

Being #1 in Google no longer guarantees inclusion or accurate positioning inside an AI-generated answer.

This shift matters because AI isn’t just changing how answers are delivered; it’s changing which brands enter consideration at all. And that has real implications for growth, especially for businesses that believe their SEO is already “done.”

 
 

How SEO discovers content vs how GEO surfaces it

Traditional SEO relies on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) where crawlers index pages, evaluate relevance, and rank links based on signals like keywords, backlinks, and site structure.

GEO works differently. Generative systems don’t just look for pages; they look for patterns of authority across:

  • Your website

  • Structured content

  • Repeated explanations of what you do

  • Third-party references and citations

  • Consistency across trusted sources

In short:

  • SEO answers, “Which page should rank?”

  • GEO answers, “Which sources should be trusted when summarizing this topic?”

The difference is subtle but critical.

Authority now outweighs optimization

Traditional SEO rewarded technical precision: keywords, backlinks, page structure.

GEO rewards clarity, consistency, and credibility.

AI systems tend to favor:

  • Clear topical ownership

  • Consistent language across channels

  • Credible third-party validation

  • Structured, unambiguous content

This doesn’t mean optimization no longer matters. It means credibility beats cleverness.

Thin content, vague positioning, or purely keyword-driven pages may still rank — but they’re far less likely to be selected or emphasized inside AI answers.

What this means if your SEO is already solid

This is where things get interesting. Strong SEO is no longer the finish line; it’s the first step. Search engines crawl and rank pages. Generative systems interpret and summarize them.

That means your content can rank well and still be:

  • Omitted from AI answers

  • Oversimplified

  • Grouped incorrectly with competitors

  • Framed in a way that weakens your differentiation

GEO doesn’t replace SEO; it exposes the gaps and its limits.

 
 

Where LLMO fits into all of this

You’ll often hear GEO discussed alongside LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) and the distinction matters.

If GEO is about how your brand shows up in AI-generated answers, LLMO is about whether those systems can reliably ingest, retrieve, and trust your information in the first place.

The parallel to SEO is direct:

  • Technical SEO ensures search engines can crawl and index your site

  • LLMO ensures generative systems can consume, contextualize, and ground your content consistently

Without that foundation, GEO has nothing to work with.

LLMs don’t rely on SERPs alone. They surface information based on:

  • Machine-readable structure

  • Clear entity definitions

  • Repeated, consistent explanations

  • Credible third-party reinforcement

LLMO makes you legible to AI. GEO determines how you’re represented once you are.

In practice, SEO often determines whether your information is discovered, LLMO determines whether it can be reliably interpreted, and GEO determines how prominently and accurately it’s presented in AI-generated answers.

How do you know if you’re getting LLMO right or wrong?

This is where intuition breaks down. When LLMO isn’t working, it’s rarely obvious. Failures tend to show up as absence or distortion:

  • Your brand doesn’t appear in AI answers

  • It’s mentioned, but framed generically

  • It’s grouped alongside competitors you don’t align with

Most businesses don’t realize or measurably feel this is happening until they look at themselves through the lens of a generative system.

That’s where measurement and review come in.

A useful way to think about LLMO measurement

For marketers familiar with social listening, this shift may feel familiar.

Before social listening tools existed, brands assumed they understood how they were being discussed. In reality, conversations were already happening often in ways that didn’t match internal narratives.

LLMO measurement works the same way.

It doesn’t tell you what to say. It shows you how you’re already being interpreted inside AI-generated answers. Once that gap is visible, optimization becomes possible. Until then, you’re operating in the dark.

Increasingly, SEO platforms and AI-native tools are surfacing these signals, tracking mentions, citations, and framing inside AI answers, making the invisible visible.

Why does this matter before GEO can work

This is where LLMO and GEO intersect.

LLMO ensures your information is ingested and interpreted correctly. GEO determines whether that information is selected and emphasized in AI answers.

Without visibility into how you’re currently being interpreted, GEO becomes guesswork. With it, optimization becomes deliberate.

The bottom line

GEO isn’t something to fear, chase, or over-engineer.

It’s a natural outcome of how AI systems interpret authority and trust, and it rewards brands that communicate clearly and consistently.

SEO helps people find your site. GEO helps AI determine how prominently and accurately your brand appears in AI-generated answers.

And increasingly, that decision happens first, before a click ever exists and often before a brand even knows it’s being evaluated.

Kent Mora is a growth and marketing leader with over 25 years of experience across DTC, brand, and performance marketing. He works with founders and leadership teams to help companies grow and scale with modern strategies, particularly where new technology changes how discovery, trust, and conversion drive the business.

Kent Mora