SEO in the Age of AI

💡 TOP STORIES

FROM SEO TO GEO: Why Your Content and Packaging Needs to Evolve Now

Want to get discovered by the AI search engines and agents that are quickly supplanting search? It’s all about GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization.

If you’re dialed in on SEO, it’s time to start changing. If you never considered SEO, that’s OK – but leaning into search results via AI is the smart way to grow and stay relevant. GEO is the new game for content creators, brands, and publishers who want to get picked up by the next wave of AI-driven search engines - think ChatGPT, Meta’s Llama, Perplexity, Claude from Anthropic and yes Google’s AI modes too.

This newsletter covers mostly text-based content – next week’s Thursday newsletter will lean in to Video specific SEO issues.

The Big Picture: SEO vs GEO

Here’s the simple version: SEO is about being found by humans searching on Google or Bing. GEO is about being found by the AIs that are now handling more and more of those searches. This means your content needs to shift from just being click-friendly to being quote-friendly. This is a fundamental difference that could make or break your visibility in the near future.

KEY DIFFERENCES

Algorithms and Targets

• SEO: Focuses on search engines that crawl and rank pages based on keywords, backlinks, and user signals. It’s about hitting that top 10 on the SERP (Search Engine Results Page). The goal is to appear in the top results to capture clicks.

• GEO: Focuses on large language models (LLMs) that pull from multiple sources to synthesize direct answers. It’s less about being #1 in a list and more about being a trusted source the AI pulls from to generate a response.  In other words, it’s about influencing the AI’s training set and retrieval algorithms so that your content gets pulled into its outputs.

Content Format and Structure

• SEO: Short, punchy, keyword-packed, and often designed to snag a featured snippet. This means short paragraphs, clear headings, and structured data (e.g., schema markup) to boost visibility in rich snippets and featured results.

• GEO: Context-rich, citation-heavy, and comprehensive. It’s about giving the AI enough depth to feel confident quoting you as a trusted source. This means going beyond keywords to include structured data, credible sources, and clear context.  Use citations, structured facts, and clearly defined sections that provide more than just surface-level information.

Distribution and User Experience

• SEO: The goal is a click. You want people to visit your site, watch your videos, browse around, and hopefully stick around.

• GEO: The goal is to be quoted. Your traffic might not even hit your site if the AI answer is good enough, which means the value is in the mention, not just the visit. This shifts the metric from pageviews to citation frequency.  This means your brand may gain visibility without a corresponding spike in web traffic, as the AI may answer the user’s question without directing them to your site.

WHY THIS MATTERS

If you’re ignoring GEO, you’re effectively closing the door on a rapidly growing chunk of search traffic. Some sites have already seen a 25% drop in organic clicks as AI engines serve up direct answers instead. And while this might seem like a niche concern, it’s actually a fundamental shift in how content is discovered and consumed online.

GEO PLAYBOOK - How to Get Your Content AI-Ready

1. Think Like a Machine: Use clear, logical formatting, including descriptive headings and subheadings (proper H2, H3 hierarchy). Modularize your content so that sections can stand alone, making it easier for AI to extract and reuse specific points.

2. Be the Expert: Include credible statistics, quotes from experts, and outbound links to reputable sources. This not only boosts human trust but also signals to the AI that your content is reliable.

3. Use Metadata and Structured Data: Implement schema.org structured data (e.g., FAQ, HowTo, Article) to provide explicit context for the AI. This can significantly improve your content’s likelihood of being cited in responses.

4. Stay Current: Update your content regularly to reflect the latest trends and data. AI systems often favor recent, authoritative sources for fast-evolving topics.

5. Write for Two Audiences  - Yes, you’re still writing and/or making video for humans, but also for the super-literal, context-hungry AI that might be quoting you.

6. Tone and Clarity: Write or speak in an authoritative yet conversational style. AIs prefer clear, human-like language over dense, technical jargon.

7. Optimize for Multiple Platforms:  Remember that different AI platforms may use different algorithms. Test your content across multiple AI tools to ensure broad coverage.

TOOLS, PLATFORMS AND PLUG-INS

GEO is a rapidly evolving space, and a range of tools are emerging to help you stay ahead. Key platforms include:

• AI Visibility: Mangools AI Search Grader and HubSpot’s AI Search Grader provide insights into how often your content appears in AI results.

• SEO Platforms with GEO Features:  BrightEdge Generative Parser tracks how your content is being cited by AI engines.  Other SEO suites (Semrush, Moz, Conductor, etc.) are beginning to integrate AI-driven search data as well, such as identifying keywords that trigger AI answers or tracking your content’s presence in Google’s AI Snapshot/Overview results.

• AI Content Assistants:  Yes, you can use AI to serve AI!  Take a look at AI writing tools, including ChatGPT itself, Jasper, Writesonic, Every) and SEO-focused AI assistants that can help optimize content for GEO principles. This post from Surfer SEO, for instance, helps with “LLM Optimization” – analyzing top content and suggesting ways to make it more likely to be picked by LLMs (like ensuring contextually relevant terms are included).

• Schema Markup Plugins: Tools like Yoast, RankMath, and All in One SEO help you implement the structured data that AIs prefer.  SEO still has benefits for GEO as well.   Additionally, consider AI-powered analytics like Google’s Search Console (with SGE insights) as they roll out, or Bing Webmaster Tools – Microsoft has hinted at providing data on content performance in Bing Chat. Such integrations will likely expand, so stay tuned to announcements from the major search engines.

To stay visible in an AI-driven world, you’ll need a mix of old-school SEO tools and shiny new GEO features. Treat it like the early days of SEO. Constantly tweak, test and learn. The key is to understand how AI sees your content, identify where you’re falling short (like missing citations or weak structured data), and stay sharp as the landscape shifts. If you’re not adapting, you’re just another forgotten link.

THOUGHT LEADERS, SITES AND COMMUNITIES FOR INSIGHT

Leading voices in GEO include Jason Barnard (Kalicube), Michael King (iPullRank), Lily Ray (Amsive Digital), Aleyda Solis (Orainti), and Marie Haynes (Marie Haynes Consulting). These experts regularly share insights on LinkedIn, Twitter, and in industry conferences.

Online communities like Reddit’s r/SEO, r/TechSEO, and private Slack groups like Traffic Think Tank are also great places to keep up with the latest tactics.

Key Sources for Tips and More

To stay ahead of the curve, subscribe/bookmark:

• Search Engine Land – Industry news and best practices.

• SEOFOMO – Weekly updates on SEO and GEO trends.

• TL;DR Marketing – Curated marketing news with a focus on search.

• Search Engine Journal – analysis on Google and more

Communities to Join

On Reddit, the r/SEO and r/TechSEO communities have active discussions on GEO Slack or Discord groups exist (such as Traffic Think Tank, which now discusses AI search alongside SEO). On platforms like LinkedIn, many marketers share case studies or observations about AI-driven search – searching for hashtags like #GenerativeAI #SEO can surface useful posts.

Even the Google Search Central Blog and Bing Webmaster Blog are worth watching; while they primarily address web search, they occasionally touch on AI (Google has begun issuing guidelines, for instance, on experience content which indirectly ties into how AI might evaluate content).

Key Experts to Watch

• Jason Barnard –(Kalicube)

• Michael King (iPullRank)

• Lily Ray (Amsive Digital)

• Aleyda Solis (Orainti)

• Marie Haynes (Marie Haynes Consulting)

FINAL THOUGHTS

Like the early days of mobile optimization, GEO isn’t a fad, it’s the next phase. Get ahead now or risk being the digital equivalent of the fax machine: technically still functional, but hopelessly out of touch.

Next Thursday I’ll publish part 2 - focused specifically on how to ensure your VIDEOS can rise to the top of impactful sources for generative AI search results. Again, this will ONLY be available for my Beehiiv subscribers!

Want an in-depth 12-page expanded version of this newsletter? Download here!

Hopefully this was helpful! Stay sharp, stay relevant, and don’t get left behind.

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