R.I.P. SEO?

R.I.P. SEO? What you need to know about GEO. 

Hard to believe, but for quarter of a century Google has dominated the traditional search engine marketplace. By one survey, Google owned more than 89 percent of search engine share at the end of 2024. But as generative AI transforms the way consumers surf the internet and brands optimize their websites, 2025 might just be the year new search players finally knock the Big G off its throne, or at least chink its armor.  

Say hello to GEO 

Generative engine optimization (GEO) accounts for the new and fast-growing trend in queries coming from generative AI search engines. Think ChatGPT, Copilot (from Bing/Microsoft), Overviews (Google), and Perplexity. There are others. More are coming.  

Unlike the ranked search results and links that users get from traditional search engines, generative AI engines use large language models (LLMs) to analyze vast amounts of data in an instant and serve it up as comprehensive and “ready-to-eat” content. Full query answers. Instant value. No further clicking required.  

Generative AI search, therefore, is less about finding key words and more about matching nuanced content with the intent behind the query. Therein lies the work of GEO. With solid generative engine optimization, relevant information about your brand or content from your site will, hopefully, be nestled among the results.  

But wait, you say 

While generative AI search may be a boon for users, doesn’t that create the potential for less traffic coming to my website via search?  

You’re not alone in that thought. It’s a concern among many publishers.   

“From a measurement perspective, we can expect to see a dip in traffic attributed to organic search,” said DCG ONE director of analytics, Kristen Crandall. “What we don't know yet is if we'll see a dip in overall website traffic, or if once Google, Adobe, and friends figure out how to credit AI-driven traffic, we'll just see it attributed differently.” 

On the other hand, it could also be argued that users who do click the links that are provided represent leads that are more qualified or users who are more likely to buy. You had them at “Hello.” Theoretically.  

Okay, sure but… 

Now you’re thinking, asking, I just SEO-ed the heck out of my website and now I must update it again with GEO?  

Well, yes, no, maybe.  

First, note that generative AI search is in its infancy. Google is even footnoting its generative AI tool as experimental. So a drop-everything-and-revise-my-site moment this is not.  

Second, if you’ve followed best practices for SEO on your current site, it’s likely to perform well enough for now within generative AI search tools.  

But this is technology that will grow fast. Users’ insatiable thirst for immediacy will find generative AI search tools as quenching as short video. Adoption is coming. So, yes, you will have to consider GEO sooner or later.  

And then there’s the question about the future of websites. Will users need them at all in two or three years?  

“Perhaps it becomes a lower funnel tool,” said Crandall. “A lot of analysts think this will be the evolution, but there’s not enough data on that yet.”  

DCG ONE SVP of creative experience, Andy Lueck also has an interesting take on how websites themselves might evolve with generative AI driving internal site search. Safe to say, AI is driving changes in user experiences just about everywhere in the funnel.  

How to GEO 

At this point, even the understanding of what makes for good, generative-AI-worthy content is a bit unpolished. However, a few best practices are understood.  

For one thing, you should already know what questions—or intent—your customers have about your product or service. Write them out using natural language—plain speak. Then see if your site has the answers written with easily understood meaning, and again, using natural-sounding language. Another exercise: test those questions in Overview, Copilot, or ChatGPT and see what shows up. Generative AI engines may or may not pull up your content word for word. 

Generative AI search tools also respond well to stats, quotes, and citations, all of which fuel a sense of brand authority and trustworthiness. AI crawlers like that. But hey, you can say the same about traditional search engines. 

“Brands will eventually have to make sure that they are present in AI responses,” said Crandall. “Meanwhile, analysts will have to learn how to measure website performance as both the experience of a user on the website as well as the experience of a user in an AI space who is only seeing a snapshot of your content and maybe never the full website.” 

So what have we learned?  

For the short term, it’s not about dumping SEO in favor of GEO. Think of GEO as an enhancement to your already-tight content strategy. As AI-driven search continues to evolve, my guess is that in a few months or perhaps a year, SEO and GEO strategies will merge (call it, SAGEO—search and generative engine optimization); a strategy that makes everybody happy.  

Except Google, which may soon own only a “paltry” 70 percent of the market instead of almost 90 percent.  

How will they ever survive.