Search has changed more in the last 10 months than it did in the last 10 years, and at a pace we’ve never seen before. People still use Google, but more of them are also getting answers directly from AI – through AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and similar tools. That shift changes how your brand is found and how the pipeline is created.
And as for the SEO vs GEO debate, we take a clear stance: it’s not a competition, and GEO isn’t strong enough yet to replace or outperform SEO, especially on its own.
You’ll see plenty of “GEO-specific” advice out there, but most of it is just SEO strategies dressed up in new language.
So in this guide, we cut through that noise and share what GEO really is, based on firsthand experiments, and the kind of nuanced insights that only come from doing the work.
SEO vs GEO – Core Differences
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is optimizing your site and content to earn prominent rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) based on relevance, authority, and technical performance. For SaaS brands, this involves:
- Keyword research. SEO starts with mapping your target topics and keywords to the questions and problems your audience searches for, informed by competitive analysis, market gaps, and real customer language.
- On-page optimization makes those pages easy for search engines to interpret and rank: targeted keyword placement in titles, headings, and metadata. Then there are internal links that connect related content, and clean, descriptive URLs that mirror your topic hierarchy.
- Technical SEO – so nothing blocks crawlers from understanding your site. That means fast load times, mobile-friendly layouts, logical site architecture, XML sitemaps, and structured data that reinforces what each page is about.
- Content depth and topical authority are built by creating clusters of high-quality, interlinked resources around your core topics, such as long-form guides, comparison pages, and integration explainers.
- Off-page signals like backlinks, earned media, and digital PR add to that authority beyond your own site, while ongoing measurement of rankings, organic traffic, and conversions keeps the strategy adaptable to algorithm shifts.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) addresses the new AI-powered search that provides users with synthesized answers instead of (or before) a list of blue links. Big examples of this include the Google AI Overviews (which are now showing up for more than 13% queries), ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and similar platforms.
GEO involves:
- Placing your brand where LLMs learn (Also called LLM seeding). It’s making sure your brand is mentioned and linked in the kinds of trusted sources these systems draw from. That can be authoritative blogs, trade publications, analyst reports, partner directories, review platforms, developer docs, or even well-maintained, well-moderated Q&A threads (eg, Reddit). The more consistently you show up in those datasets, the more likely you are to be included when answers are generated.
- Ensuring your site is easy for LLM crawlers to read, because right now, mostly they retrieve content via simple, non-JavaScript crawlers. So if key details about your product (like product descriptions, pricing details, feature lists) only appear in images, PDFs, or JavaScript-rendered sections, they may never find it. GEO work here is to ensure that these core facts live in plain HTML text.
- Consistency in how you name and describe things. This means using the same language for your products, features, and use cases across your site, documentation, and third-party mentions helps models form a reliable association between those entities and your brand.
- Content creation and updates are focused on building clarity and brand association. Older pages are reworked to make important facts easy to spot (by moving critical facts out of images, tightening definitions, etc) while new content is written with those same patterns in mind.
- Tracking how you’re being mentioned inside AI answers and across the web, noting both frequency and sentiment. This can tell how you’re being seen, if sentiment or phrasing is what you want or not. Then, improving reviews based on that, publishing stronger case studies, and collaborating with those who describe your product accurately.
What Kind Of KPI’s Should You Consider
With SEO, you can monitor the full funnel: rankings on priority keywords, organic traffic, CTR, engagement metrics, assisted conversions, and revenue. Search consoles and analytics platforms give you all the top, middle, and bottom-of-funnel data, so you can see exactly how users move from search to click to conversion.
BUT with GEO, many of those metrics just don’t exist yet (especially for mid-funnel). AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, or Google’s AI Overviews don’t report impressions, CTR, or position the way Google Search Console does. That means the focus shifts to the ends of the funnel:
- Top of funnel: Are we being seen or cited in AI-generated answers? You can track this through share-of-voice studies, manual spot-checks, or emerging AI rank-tracking tools.
- Bottom of funnel: Are those AI mentions leading to customers, signups, or revenue? Here, tools like Google Analytics can capture referrals from AI platforms and attribute them to conversions.
So until AI platforms open up more native reporting, GEO success is measured by visibility at the top and measurable conversions at the bottom, and less by the optimization-friendly middle-funnel metrics we use in SEO.
Does GEO Replace SEO?
No, GEO doesn’t replace SEO. It builds on it.
SEO is still the foundation for how your brand gets found. It’s what makes your site easy for search engines to crawl, helps you earn credibility on important topics, and gives you the rankings that drive steady traffic. Without that structure, GEO has nothing to stand on.
It takes that foundation and extends it to AI-powered search, making sure the authority you’ve earned through SEO is also visible to systems like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, and Perplexity, so when people ask for recommendations, your brand is part of the answer.
For example, ranking for “CRM for startups” on Google, that’s SEO. Being named as one of the top CRMs for startups inside ChatGPT’s or Perplexity’s answer, that’s GEO. And when you’re doing both, you’re winning in both places people are looking.
When to Prioritize GEO, SEO, or Both
Right now, a pure GEO strategy just doesn’t make sense. Even with the growth of ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews, combined AI-driven searches are estimated at only around 10% of Google’s search volume. That number will grow, possibly fast over the next couple of years, but right now, SEO still has the largest share of discoverability and traffic.
So when you’re starting from scratch with no content or a minimal SEO foundation, your best move is to lean on SEO and build the body of work that will both rank in Google and give LLMs something solid to reference. Without that base, there’s nothing for AI to “learn” from about your brand, and your GEO efforts won’t have anything to stand on.
There’s no real-world case right now where GEO alone is the right call, but we can imagine one in the future – where AI search volume rises significantly and your audience is highly tech-literate (developers, marketers, or researchers who already live inside AI tools). In that scenario, a GEO-first approach might work. And it would look a lot like SEO today, publishing deep, detailed content on and off your site, securing mentions in authoritative publications, and feeding the right facts into AI-visible sources.
But for now, the smart play is a dual approach:
- Cover your SEO basics: Create high-quality, intent-matched content, secure mentions and links from relevant industry sites, get listed in trusted directories (for SaaS, think Capterra, G2), and make sure your technical setup is solid.
- Layer on GEO: Place your brand in the kinds of sources LLMs pull from, and create content formats that AI is more likely to extract from, like detailed comparison guides, feature breakdowns, and “best for X” resources.
To sum it up: if you already have traction from SEO, start adding GEO into your process so you can be visible in both Google and AI-generated answers. But if you don’t have that foundation yet, build it first, because GEO without SEO is like trying to win a citation without ever publishing the paper.
How Do You Optimize for Generative AI Search Engines?
A lot of the advice you’ll see for “AI-citable” content is just good old SEO hygiene you should already be doing, like clean headings, scannable sections, clear claims, schema, and tight copy. And while all of that is 100% helpful, none of it is uniquely GEO-related. So we frame it like this:
Start with the basics you already know. Use clear H2/H3s, short paragraphs when it serves clarity, cite your sources, and keep the structure tidy. That makes content easier for people and machines. But don’t think of them for a GEO strategy on their own.
Then add the parts that actually matter for GEO right now:
- Be readable without JavaScript. Worth mentioning again – A lot of AI systems rely on simple crawlers. If critical details only live in images, PDFs, or JS-only blocks (product descriptions, pricing, feature lists), they’re invisible to those crawlers. So make sure core facts about your product are stated in plain HTML.
Can JavaScript rendering be of use against major AI scrapers since they don’t mostly don’t render JS?
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- Engineer mentions where models learn. GEO goes far beyond your site. Big part of it is about getting your brand into the sources these systems pull from, and quote – such as high authority blogs, review sites (G2, Capterra), docs/READMEs for dev-focused tools, etc. The more consistently you show up there, the more likely you are to be included when answers are generated. (This is where digital PR and partnerships pay off.)
- Keep high-value pages fresh. Early analyses of Perplexity’s behavior suggest freshness can influence visibility, so regular updates to important pages (new stats, renewed references, clarified sections) are very important. Independent researchers have documented ranking patterns and reranking logic in Perplexity that point to evolving signals beyond classic SEO, and freshness is one of them.
- Sanity-check how AI is using you. Run your key queries in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews, log the outputs, note who’s being cited, and compare against your own pages. Use that feedback to decide where you need more third-party mentions, clearer on-page facts, or consistency in naming and descriptions.
How To Update Existing SEO Content for GEO
Start with your highest-traffic blog posts, your conversion workhorses, maybe a few integration or comparison pages that consistently bring in sign-ups. They already have authority, they’ve earned backlinks, and they’re trusted sources in your niche. Now you want to make sure AI-powered search engines see that too, and actually cite you.
Here’s how to approach it:
1. Add quick, scannable summaries.
AI models work by lifting clear, self-contained chunks of information. So, by adding short section summaries or “Key Takeaways” under each major H2, you make it easy for both humans and AI to pull the right answer, without having to piece it together from multiple paragraphs.
2. Strengthen trust with fresh, credible data.
Generative engines are built to surface sources they can verify, which is why having outdated or vague claims can cost you citations. So add at least one authoritative stat, definition, or study per key section. It will not only make your content A LOT more likely to be referenced by AI systems but also build trust with readers.
3. Support text with strong visuals.
As AI search becomes more multimodal, high-quality images and videos can boost your chances of appearing. As a SaaS brand, product UI screenshots, workflow diagrams, or explainer videos can give both people and AI a richer context to work with.
4. Tighten your headings for intent.
A heading like “Next Steps” tells Google and ChatGPT nothing about what’s inside. But when you add a heading like “Steps to Automate Onboarding for SaaS Users,” it gives context, matches intent, and improves your chances of being matched to a relevant AI query.
5. Adjust for where models pull from.
ChatGPT still relies heavily on web content, but other LLMs like Grok draw more from X, and Reddit’s AI surfaces results from within its own platform. From that lens, “updating” your content could mean tightening your web pages one month and repurposing key sections into a platform-native format the next, depending on where MOST of your audience’s AI searches are happening.
6. Help AI understand your terms.
If your SaaS uses niche terminology, product names, or acronyms, define them in a quick glossary. This reinforces entity recognition for AI models and ensures you’re associated with the right topics.
How To Create New Content For SEO and GEO
All the fresh content you create should IDEALLY build authority in both worlds – the traditional SERPs that still drive valuable traffic and the AI-generated answers that are shaping buyer decisions.
Here’s how to go about it:
1. Build comprehensive pillar-cluster hubs
Choose a core topic, one that is directly tied to your product’s positioning, and create a deep, authoritative pillar page supported by clusters that drill into subtopics, questions, and use cases. This structure signals authority to search engines while giving AI models a clear, connected knowledge map to pull from.
2. Create comparison and buyer guides
Both humans and AI love clarity. So when you write these guides, format them with side-by-side matrices, pros and cons lists, and decision criteria. These layouts naturally feed SERP features like comparison tables and also make it easy for AI to synthesize and cite your data directly.
3. Optimize product and integration pages for facts.
AI is more likely to recommend your product if it can verify your claims. So add exact specs, clear use-case breakdowns, and back up your big claims with proof. For products, that might be customer data, case studies, or third-party reviews. For integrations, link to the partner’s official docs, show screenshots in action, and make sure both sides are talking about it.
4. Thought leadership with evidence
If you’re putting out an opinion, back it up. Share real numbers from your own product, lessons from a campaign that worked, or solid third-party stats. The more grounded your take, the more likely AI will trust and quote you.
How To Measure SEO vs GEO
Key SEO Metrics To Track (your baseline)
These tell you if your existing search performance is holding steady or improving while you layer on GEO.
- Rankings for priority keywords
- Organic sessions
- Click-through rates (CTR)
- Engagement metrics (time on page, bounce rate)
- Assisted conversions from organic search
- Revenue from Organic Search
Key GEO Metrics
These focus on visibility inside AI-generated results and if those mentions lead to real business value.
- Visibility: Are you appearing in AI-generated answers at all?
- Consistency: Are you showing up reliably for the same queries over time?
- Citation frequency: How often your brand is cited in AI responses.
- Referral traffic from LLMs: Visits coming directly from AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
- Referral conversions from LLMs: Any tracked conversion (e.g., form fill, resource download) originating from AI-driven traffic.
- Referral sign-ups/demos from LLMs: For SaaS, this is one of your clearest bottom-of-funnel signals.
- Revenue from LLM traffic: If you have backend tracking set up via GA4 or Amplitude you should be able to connect the dots between traffic, sign ups and upgrades for B2C SaaS or for B2B from demos to signed customers.
Tools That Help Track Both
- Google Analytics: Track traffic, conversions, and engagement from GEO vs. SEO sources.
- Amplitude: Especially useful for SaaS or B2C to see if a sign-up later becomes a paying customer.
- Peec.ai, Ahrefs, Semrush: Monitor AI citation frequency, share of voice, and competitive positioning in AI-generated results.
How to Prove ROI
- Compare updated GEO-optimized pages against similar untouched pages to isolate impact.
- Track changes in bottom-of-funnel metrics (sign-ups, demos, purchases) over 4-8 weeks after updates.
- Layer in top-of-funnel tracking (visibility, citation frequency) to spot early momentum before conversions show up.
Operational Playbook for Lean B2B SaaS Teams
You don’t need a 20-person content team to pull off GEO. You just need clear ownership and a process that keeps things moving without dropping quality.
Here’s how we set it up for lean SaaS teams:
Assign clear roles from the start
Decide who’s updating content, who’s handling schema markup, who’s fact-checking, and who’s tracking results. In a 5–15 person team, the same person might wear more than one hat, and that’s fine, as long as everyone knows their piece of the puzzle.
Put guardrails in place
GEO lives and dies on accuracy. That means having sourcing rules, keeping your stats fresh with review deadlines, and running a quick audit checklist before anything goes live. It’s how you avoid old numbers or shaky claims sneaking into content that AI systems will happily repeat.
Bake GEO into your editorial workflow
The checks shouldn’t be an afterthought; they should live in your briefs, your outlines, and your final QA. That way, every piece of content gets optimized for both SEO and AI from day one, instead of you having to circle back later.
Use automations, but keep humans in charge
AI can speed up outlines, schema drafts, and stat sourcing. But every fact still needs a human eye before it hits publish. It’s faster, but still safe, and keeps your authority intact.
Final Thoughts
In a nutshell, GEO and SEO working together is the ONLY most promising way to make sure your brand shows up everywhere people are looking for answers and solutions.
The key is to start soon. Most teams are only just beginning to pay attention to this shift, which means there’s still A LOT of room to gain ground fast.
When you’re ready to take the first step, book a GEO strategy call with us. We’ll help you map out the exact steps to take ASAP.
