Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Harnessing AI for Smarter Content Strategy

But how do AI search engines decide what content to serve to users? That question is the basis of generative engine optimization (GEO).

by Joe Kovacs, APR

Looking ahead to content marketing trends in 2025, brands including the Content Marketing Institute, Salesforce and HubSpot have already published their forecasts.

This week’s issue of Marketing Strategies 4 Growth will cover an increasingly critical topic for brands: generative engine optimization.

Unless you’ve been asleep for the last few years, content marketers should know by now that AI offers an efficient way to help get their work done. Well-known tactical enhancers such as ChatGPT, Open AI's DALL-E and Google's Imagen and ImageFX tools produce knowledge-based text and stunning visuals easier than anyone could have imagined just a few years ago.

But AI also provides content professionals with the chance to consider the type of responses potential clients receive when they head online to get answers to their problems and challenges. Business owners and marketers in late 2024 and 2025 will find it worthwhile to discuss how the evolving online exchange of problems and solutions could impact their marketing strategy.

A Very Brief History of SEO and Where We Are Today

For more than two decades (since 1997, according to some digital archivists), marketers have concerned themselves with wrestling search engine attention away from competitors by investing in website and digital platform optimization. Understanding the role of keywords, internal and external linking, title tags, meta descriptions and an array of other search engine optimization (SEO) strategies has kept countless professionals busy investigating the best way to provide their companies or clients with the highest possible organic listing in search engine results (SERPs). The game—if I might call it that—never has a dull moment as Google continues to update its search algorithms in a never-ending quest to serve the best results to users in the name of quality customer service.

Enter AI search engines, which provide a new dimension of thinking about digital optimization. While the goal of AI-generated responses is like what has driven Google and reputable SEO strategists – providing valued responses to user queries—the responses of these new tools depends on a number of factors beyond simple keywords and securing visibility for high-ranking web pages.

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Google’s Gemini and Microsoft Copilot represent well-known AI search engines that have increasingly come to rely on advanced algorithms and machine learning to deliver valued results. Meta announced this week that it is developing an AI Search engine as well. Users should already be well acquainted with AI-generated results in their search queries (which appear above organic search results). Many AI outputs, such as the AI Insights box which appears in the top right corner of Google’s SERPs, provide source citations for responses.

Enter AI search engines, which provide a new dimension of thinking about digital optimization.

But how do AI search engines decide what content to serve to users? That question is the basis of generative engine optimization (GEO), a strategy that some marketers are coming to adopt, which is aligned with the intent of SEO but which now focuses on developing a more strategic understanding of the language more likely to engage AI‘s search engines.

What is Generative Engine Optimization?

For purposes of providing a definition of generative engine optimization, I’ll share this proposal by Search Engine Land: ??

“GEO stands for ‘generative engine optimization’ which means the process of optimizing your website’s content to boost its visibility in AI-driven search engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews.?

GEO positions your brand to appear in AI-generated results when users search for queries related to your products, services or areas of expertise."

It’s important to point out that, for GEO purposes, traditional go-to search engines such as Google may not remain "king" forever. The consultancy Gartner caused a stir in February by suggesting that search engine volume may drop by as much as 25% by 2026 due to increased usage of generative AI tools.

SEO pros and content marketing strategists striving for enhanced visibility for clients or employers should recognize GEO strategies may differ from what they prioritized in the past though there remains some overlap. Natural language usage, for example, will be increasingly important in the latest generation of user search results. ?

From the Kovacs Communications blog: How Long Should a Blog Post Be to Rank Competitively with Google?

It’s also important to note that much of what has been published about GEO seems exploratory in nature more than trying to establish a solid business case. Though some guiding principles exist for content creation that is more likely to attract AI search engines, a comprehensive use case for GEO may still be on the horizon. Here are a few articles, for example, that showcase the current treatment of GEO by well-known brands:

• “Generative Engine Optimization: What We Know So Far (HubSpot)” (Updated 10/7/24)
• “How to Implement Generative Engine Optimization Strategies (Search Engine Land)” (9/19/24)
• “The Rise of Generative Search Optimization in SEO (Mailchimp)” (Date Unknown)

Much still needs to be explored about GEO.

In next week’s issue of Marketing Strategies 4 Growth, I will cover similarities and differences between SEO and GEO, and approaches content marketers can take to optimize their content for AI search engines.

Are you a solo practitioner, a small accounting firm or the division leader at a larger firm struggling with your content to drive growth strategies? The Marketing Strategies 4 Growth newsletter offers weekly insights generated from nearly 20 years of professional services marketing experience. Subscribe here or visit the Kovacs Communications website for additional insights. I specialize in delivering content marketing solutions to help professional services firms get unstuck and back on course for growth.

Joe Kovacs, APR ([email protected])

www.kovacscommunications.com

#contentmarketing #contentplanning #digitalmarketing #growthstrategies #contentcreation

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