SEO Is Changing, and Businesses Must Act Now

Once upon a time, SEO was simple. Get some decent content up, sprinkle in a few backlinks, and boom—you were ranking. But if you think that same old playbook will carry you through to the future, we’ve got bad news: SEO is evolving faster than ever, and you need to keep up or get left behind.

AI Search Is Disrupting Everything

For the first time, Google isn’t the only search player in town. AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s own AI Overviews are fundamentally shifting how people find information. And guess what? That means businesses, both B2B and B2C, need to adapt to new ways customers are searching.

Your products and services need to be found wherever people are searching—and that increasingly includes AI-powered recommendations. If your brand isn’t surfacing in these AI-generated answers, your competitors will take that traffic (and those customers) instead.

Two SEO Strategies, Not One

Traditionally, SEO was a single strategy. Not anymore.?The most successful businesses are now running two separate SEO strategies:

1. Top-of-Funnel SEO: Getting your brand featured in AI-generated answers, summaries, and knowledge-based content to increase visibility and discovery.
2. Bottom-of-Funnel SEO: Capturing traffic from high-intent buyers who are ready to purchase and ensuring they land on your site instead of a competitor’s.

Welcome to GEO!

The biggest shift in SEO is something everyone’s calling?Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). This is about?optimising for AI-generated search results?rather than just traditional blue links on Google.

Take Google’s AI Overviews, for example. You might have a top-ranking position in organic search, but if you’re not appearing in the AI Overview above it, your traffic is going to drop. The techniques to get featured in AI results are subtly different from traditional SEO—and if you don’t learn them now, your competitors will.

How Businesses Can Optimise for AI Search

So, how do you actually?optimise for GEO??Here are the key steps?tailored for both B2B and B2C businesses:

1. Make Sure You Rank in Traditional Search

AI tools pull data from?existing search rankings. If your brand isn’t ranking well organically, your chances of appearing in AI summaries are slim. This means?classic SEO still matters, but with new rules.

2. Structure Content for AI Discovery

AI tools love structured, easy-to-digest content. That means:

• Providing?concise answers?at the top of product pages, blogs, and industry content.
• Using?bullet points and key takeaways?for easy AI extraction.
• Creating deep, well-researched content that an AI would want to reference.

3. Optimise for AI-Driven Discovery

Brands need to think beyond just ranking and focus on being?recommended?by AI-powered assistants.

• Instead of a consumer Googling “best running shoes for beginners” or a business searching for “best CRM for startups,” they’ll?ask an AI tool for recommendations.
• If your product descriptions, case studies, and customer reviews aren’t optimised for AI, your brand won’t appear in those results.

4. Demonstrate Experience and Authority

AI search tools favour brands that show firsthand experience. To build authority:

• Include expert authorship?in blog content, whitepapers, and product pages.
• Showcase?case studies, industry insights, and customer testimonials.
• Provide insights that go beyond just surface-level product or service descriptions.

5. Get Featured on Third-Party Authoritative Websites

Many AI search tools pull data from?trusted third-party sources, not just brand websites. That means digital PR and partnerships are more important than ever.

• Get your brand mentioned in?industry reports, reviews, and influencer blogs.
• Encourage?customer and client reviews on high-authority platforms?(e.g., Trustpilot, Google Reviews, industry-specific forums, LinkedIn articles, etc.).

6. Adapt to Longer-Tail, Specific Queries

AI tools encourage users to ask detailed, specific questions. If you’re only targeting broad, generic keywords, you’re missing the boat.

• Focus on?hyper-specific, long-tail content?(e.g., “best cruelty-free sunscreen for sensitive skin” for B2C or “best ERP solution for manufacturing companies” for B2B).

What’s Next?

Moving forward, we’re going to see an even bigger shift in search behaviour. AI search tools will become the go-to for?both product and service research, meaning fewer people will visit your website for general info. Instead, they’ll rely on AI-generated recommendations.

That’s why your SEO strategy needs to split into two parts:

• Top-of-funnel: Focus on getting your brand mentioned and recommended by AI tools.
• Bottom-of-funnel: Optimise for conversions and ensure that when people are ready to buy, they land on your site—not someone else’s.

If your SEO strategy doesn’t include?Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), you’re already behind. This is the present of search, not some distant future.?It’s happening right this minute. The brands that learn how to optimise for AI search today will have a massive first-mover advantage.

Want to stay ahead of the game??Start implementing these strategies now—before your competitors do.

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