Generative Engine Optimisation will fundamentally change how we approach Search Engine Optimisation. The idea behind GEO is to combine traditional SEO with generative A.I models to output better quality search results and redefine content visibility in A.I generated search recommendations.
What is it?
The emergence of Generative engines is one of the most significant events in the SEO world since its inception. Unlike traditional Search Engines which provide a list of websites relevant to the users query, Generative engines go one step further by generating multimodal responses synthesised from multiple sources.
Overview
Concept
GEO refers to the optimisation of online content for better visibility in search engines powered by AI. This involves gaining an understanding of how AI models interpret and prioritise content and then tailoring that content to align with these parameters.
Applications
Optimising content to be easily summarised by A.I ensuring content is structured in a way that generative models can understand and prioritise or content is created in a way that answers questions more directly to be favoured by query driven responses.
Focus
The aim is to ensure content is ranked better in environments where search engines are employing A.I in serving results.
SEO vs GEO
While GEO is a natural progression of SEO and as such shares a lot of the core principals, its is different in a number of key ways.
- Optimisation Focus - Concentrates on content quality, relevance and ability to directly satisfy the query.
- Keyword Strategy - Uses natural language processing to understand context of query, reducing need for keywords.
- Content Creation - Focus is on creating comprehensive engaging content that answers a users query in a conventional manner.
- Utilisation - Uses machine learning to predict user intent and generate contextually relevant content.
- Experience - Prioritises delivering precise answers to directly address the users query, offering an optimised and efficient experience.
Optimising for ChatGPT and Bard
The key to enhancing your visibility on these platforms is to make content that is persuasive, authoritative and rich in relevant keywords. Winning over these Generative models can result in them recommending products you sell and services you offer leading to an increase in business much like traditional SEO. Research conducted by Np Digital found that relevancy is by far the biggest factor in recommending your content to users so an article talking about a the best laptop to buy in 2024 which mentions your brand would make it much more likely for your product to be recommended to the user.
Summary
It is clear that we are at the beginning of a huge change in the way we deliver and consume web content. As creators and SEO experts it is pertinent that we move to implement these changes to ensure content is served to our audience. However, this must not get away from the overall focus of creating quality content that not only resonates with our users but with generative engines too. Hopefully our little introduction to GEO serves as a base for further reading into this fascinating subject.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss the topic with us, please feel free to reach out!