GEO vs SEO: Why Generative Engine Optimization Is Replacing Traditional SEO

Fifteen years ago, ecommerce was still a side bet for many companies. Most brands were content to let stores and distributors carry the load. A few forward-thinking players leaned in early; building online storefronts, investing in data infrastructure, and learning how to convert attention into transactions.

Those early bets paid off. Some of the same companies that took ecommerce seriously before it was “obvious” are now the ones with enduring digital moats.

Today, we may be standing at the edge of a similar transformation. Only this time, it’s not about whether you sell online. It’s about whether you understand how AI is rewriting the rules of search itself.

From “searching” to “asking”

For decades, Google was the gateway to the internet. We searched, we browsed, we compared. But that model is shifting. Increasingly, people don’t want ten blue links, they want an answer.

And that’s what AI does so well. It doesn’t give you a list of possibilities. It gives you the response, instantly, in natural language.

This change is already showing up in the data. A Semrush analysis of over 10 million keywords found that AI overviews appeared in 13.14% of queries by March 2025, up from 6.49% just two months earlier. That’s exponential growth in real time.

Meanwhile, OpenAI.com is now drawing 1.2 billion monthly visits, and ChatGPT more than 5 billion. A global survey from Melbourne Business School found 66% of young adults describe themselves as confident AI users. In other words, a generation is building habits around asking AI, not searching Google.

This isn’t just a UX shift. It’s a behavioural one. And for brands, it’s a strategic one.

Why Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is replacing SEO

Here’s the key point: AI answers reward specificity. The more precise, contextual, and locally relevant the data, the more likely it is to surface in responses.

Think of a consumer asking: “Where can I find the best running shoes near me?” Google would traditionally return pages of results. AI wants to give a single, authoritative answer.

That’s where GEO, location-bound & ultra-specific content, becomes the new SEO.

Generic ecommerce content and broad SEO strategies, which worked when ranking was about keyword density and backlinks, risk becoming invisible. Instead, brands need to provide:

• Local availability signals (is it in stock, here, now?).

• Hyper-specific content (not just “best running shoes,” but “best cushioned running shoes for Lisbon hills”).

• Contextual authority (real reviews, local proof, data that feels personalised).

Consumers are already warming up to this. The 2024 Constructor report found 23% of shoppers are “very comfortable” and 29% “somewhat comfortable” using retailer AI tools to find products. We’re entering a world where the “answer layer” is the battleground, not the search results page.

The ripple effects for marketers

If GEO is replacing SEO, the implications cascade through every corner of marketing.

1. Budgets and ROI Traditional paid search spend becomes harder to justify if clicks never happen. If AI gives the answer directly, then money needs to shift towards the inputs that feed those answers: structured content, local signals, data integrations, and contextual storytelling.

2. Performance measurement What happens to CTRs, impressions, or last-click attribution in a zero-click world? Marketers will need new KPIs: “answers served,” incremental lift from AI integrations, or revenue attributed to localised content. Early movers in measurement will have an advantage in proving ROI.

3. Data and personalisation Here’s the kicker: most brands aren’t ready. Salesforce found that only 31% of marketers are satisfied with their ability to unify customer data sources. Yet first-party data is the raw material for relevance. Without it, there’s no way to power personalisation, local offers, or loyalty.

4. Teams and processes SurveyMonkey found marketers are already leaning on AI: 50% for content creation, 45% for brainstorming, 43% for automation, 43% for social, 41% for insights. But that’s just scratching the surface. To compete on GEO, brands will need new skills (geo-content specialists, conversational UX designers), new processes (faster local landing page builds), and new incentives (rewarding answer-driven outcomes, not clicks).

Lessons from ecommerce’s early days

If all this feels overwhelming, it’s worth remembering: we’ve been here before.

In 2010, ecommerce wasn’t evenly distributed. Early adopters built lasting competitive advantage by capturing demand before the rest of the market shifted. The same opportunity exists today with Generative Engine Optimization.

The HubSpot AI Trends report found AI adoption in marketing surged from 21% in 2022 to 74% in 2023. That kind of jump suggests this isn’t a niche, it’s a wave. The question is whether you’re surfing it, or waiting on the beach.

Because the flip side is stark: for brands that stay generic, the risk isn’t underperformance, it’s irrelevance. In a world where AI delivers one answer, you either are the answer, or you’re invisible.

The open question

We’re moving fast into a future where SEO gives way to GEO, where zero-click becomes the norm, and where AI - not humans - decides what gets surfaced as the “best” or “most relevant” response.

For marketers, that’s daunting. But it’s also an opening. Just like ecommerce, those who adapt early will reap compounding advantages.

The big question is this: as AI reshapes how people search and buy, how many brands will seize the GEO opportunity and how many will be caught flat-footed?