In today’s digital landscape, simply having a website isn’t enough.
You need people to be able to find it — and increasingly, how people find information is changing.
Two major strategies in ensuring your visibility are SEO and GEO.
If you’ve heard both terms, wondered how they differ, or whether your business should be using one, the other, or both — keep reading…..
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization.
It’s a well-established discipline focused on improving your website so that it ranks higher in search engine result pages (SERPs) such as Google and Bing — when people search using relevant keywords.
Key elements of SEO:
- Keyword research: finding what terms people use when looking for your products, services or content.
- On-page optimisation: meta titles, meta descriptions, headers (H1, H2…), content quality, internal links.
- Technical SEO: site speed, mobile usability, URL structure, secure connections (HTTPS), site architecture.
- Off-page SEO: backlinks (links from other sites), social signals, reputation/authority.
- Local SEO (if applicable): Google Business Profile, local citations, local keywords, maps, reviews.
The goal of SEO is to drive organic traffic — people finding your site when they search — and for those visitors to stay and take action there (buy, enquire, read, etc.).
What is GEO?
GEO refers to Generative Engine Optimisation. It’s emerging with the rise of AI-driven search engines and tools (like ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s AI search features etc), where responses are often created from multiple sources, not just a list of web links. GEO is about optimising your content so AI systems will find, understand, cite, or integrate your content in their generated answers. Something we all want.
What GEO involves:
- Structuring content so that it’s easy for AI engines to read: clear headings, facts, statistics, well-organised layout.
- Providing accurate, up-to-date and trustworthy information; building authority, citations, using reputable sources.
- Anticipating the kind of questions people ask conversationally (as in voice search or when talking to an AI tool) and answering them clearly. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), structured content, lists, summaries.
- Using metadata, structured data/schema where possible, optimising readability so that AI systems can “know” what your content means, not just what it says.
How SEO & GEO Differ
Here are some of the main contrasts:
| Aspect | SEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|
| Primary output | Ranking in search engine results; traffic via clicks on search results. | Being included/cited/synthesised in AI-driven responses; zero-click answers. |
| What content looks like | Rich, well-optimised content; keyword focus; good internal & external linking; longer forms; optimised images etc. | More emphasis on clarity, facts, structure; answering questions directly; being trustworthy; structured data; often shorter snippets or summary boxes. |
| User experience goal | To get visitor to click through, engage, stay on site, convert. | To satisfy user intent immediately, often without requiring a click, to be a trusted source for AI. |
| Metrics of success | Rankings, organic traffic, bounce rate, dwell time, conversions. | Visibility in AI answers; citation frequency; how often content is used in summarised or generative responses; brand mention etc. |
| Where they overlap | Both benefit from quality content, trust / authority, technical soundness (speed, mobile), clear structure. They both want to satisfy user intent. |
Why GEO is Becoming More Important
Because of how users are changing their behaviour. More people use conversational tools or voice search; more often queries are not typed but spoken or asked as natural language. AI search features are growing — people often expect direct answers. So if your content isn’t optimised for being found by an AI and used by it, even if you rank well, you might miss out on visibility.
Also, AI tools often draw from content across many sources — so being well structured, authoritative, and easy to parse gives you a chance to be one of those sources.
How They Can Both Benefit Your Website
As a digital agency (and how we think about strategy at 291 Media), you want a combined approach — SEO and GEO complementing each other.
Here are ways each benefit you, and how to integrate them.
Benefits of SEO
- Steady organic traffic from people searching for your products / services.
- Credibility: ranking well signals trust.
- Long-term asset: good SEO means your site works well (technically/performance) which helps usability and conversions.
- Local reach: important for businesses serving physical locations. 291 Media helps can help you with that.
Benefits of GEO
- Visibility in the growing number of AI-driven searches / generative interfaces.
- Being included in “answer” boxes or summaries can build brand awareness even when users don’t click through.
- Responding to modern search behaviour; staying ahead of competitors who ignore AI visibility.
- Potentially increased trust/authority via being a reliable source in AI contexts.
Combining SEO + GEO: Best Practice Strategy
- Audit your existing content
Identify which pages are strong in SEO (traffic, rankings, backlinks) and which might be good candidates for GEO enhancement (e.g. pages that answer frequent user questions). - Improve structure and clarity
Add clear headings, FAQs, summaries, bulleted lists, schema markup. Make content scannable both for humans and machines. - Answer real questions
Think about what your audience might ask an AI: conversational queries, “how to”, “why”, “what is”. Build content around those. - Maintain high quality & authority
Use reputable sources, keep content accurate and updated. Encourage external mentions/citations (blogs, media, etc.). - Ensure technical foundations are solid
Website speed, mobile friendliness, clean code, good meta tags, structured data — all help both SEO and GEO. - Track the right metrics
For SEO: traffic, rankings, conversions. For GEO: try to track mentions in AI answers, how often content is used in summaries, voice search performance etc. As tools evolve, this will get easier.
Why 291 Media is Well-Positioned to Help
At 291 Media, we combine strong experience in SEO with awareness of evolving trends (including AI-driven search). Whether you’re selling thousands of products, running a service business, or launching something new, we can help:
- Audit your website and content to see where both SEO and GEO opportunities lie.
- Build or adjust your content strategy to deliver clear answers and structured information.
- Optimise your site technically (site speed, mobile, structured data) so both humans and AI systems can use you well.
- Help with local optimisations, Google Business Profile, etc., for immediate visibility.
Final Thoughts
The truth is, SEO and GEO are not competitors — they’re partners. Optimising for both ensures your website is visible not only in today’s search results but also in tomorrow’s AI-driven answers. By combining the proven strategies of SEO with the emerging opportunities of GEO, your business can secure stronger visibility, attract the right audience, and future-proof your digital presence.
At 291 Media, we help you strike that balance so your website works hard for you across every search channel.