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GEO explained

What is GEO? Find out everything about GEO including how it compares to SEO and how to utilise it in your digital marketing strategy with Visualsoft's latest guide.
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GEO explained

Author: Billy Kelly, Senior SEO Account Director

What is GEO?

GEO is known as “generative engine optimisation”. Essentially, this means optimising your website’s content to be shown in AI-driven search engines, such as Chat GPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. 

GEO helps your brand to appear in AI-generated results pages when someone searches for a query related to your products and services. The goal of GEO is to increase your visibility, be in front of engaged users and utilise targeted traffic. 

What is the difference between GEO and SEO?

Whilst both GEO and SEO share a lot of qualities and tactics, you should consider some key differences. Understanding these will help you when creating content for your site, and ensuring you understand the difference between content creation for traditional search engines and AI-driven models will be crucial moving forward. 

Similarities between GEO and SEO:

  • Authority building: Both GEO and SEO help you to build authority in your chosen field.
  • User experience: The experience of the user will always be paramount for GEO and SEO.
  • High-quality content & E-E-A-T: Both GEO and SEO reward high-quality content that has a focus on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
  • Continuous improvements: Improving and reviewing your content will always be important to stay relevant. 

Differences between GEO and SEO

  • User intent understanding: GEO uses advanced AI to interpret and, more importantly, anticipate the intent of the user's search. This allows GEO to deliver results and content that are more accurate and relevant for that specific user. 
  • Content formatting: GEO emphasises content creation that can be easily utilised by AI, including formats that are friendly to natural language processing rather than just optimising for search engine formats.
  • AI evolution: SEO focuses on algorithm updates, whereas GEO will focus on the capabilities and development of AI technologies. 
  • Response generation: You will have noticed a difference in the results generated by Google AI Overviews compared to generic results. They are comprehensive and delivered quickly; here is an example of the differences: 

GEO: “When was the first Olympics” - 

image3-Aug-23-2024-10-41-48-5465-AM

SEO: “When was the first Olympics” -

image1-Aug-23-2024-10-41-25-1775-AM

What are the benefits of GEO?

The rise of AI and Google’s continued development of the SERPs means that GEO is happening and is here to stay. What are the benefits for users and e-commerce? 

  • Increased reach 
  • Brand authority
  • Credibility for your brand 
  • Data-driven insights

What can I do to ensure my content is GEO-friendly?

As SEO and GEO share a lot of the same methodologies and philosophies, you may be surprised that you might not have to change the way you create content drastically. 

Here are some of our top tips at Visualsoft to ensure your content is GEO-friendly: 

  • Put an emphasis on flow and consistency: Make sure your content flows and is error-free.

  • Make the complex simple: If you are creating content that deals with complex subjects, simplify it for users. This doesn’t mean you should shy away from dealing with nuanced topics, in fact, you should embrace your niche and deliver content that showcases your expertise. You can do this by answering specific queries and using persuasive language to stamp your authority and credibility.

  • Semantically related keywords: Keyword research has always been important, but including keywords and semantically related keywords within your content in a natural way is important for GEO. Use keywords that are unique and relevant to your industry and niche with specific vocabulary. 

  • Give credit where it is due: To shine within the world of GEO, it is important to support your arguments with quantitative data in your content. You should cite sources with internal links to credible sources, and using quotations from reliable figures will also help you build authority. 

Find out more about SEO and GEO with Visualsoft today

If you have any questions about SEO or GEO, our experts at Visualsoft are here to help. Speak to the experienced team today, explore the full range of SEO resources and embrace GEO to position yourself as a market leader before your competitors today. 
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