First, examine what they're doing - content depth, backlinks, topical authority, etc. Then create better content. If they have an 800-word guide on a topic, create a 3,000-word definitive guide. Earn more backlinks. Build deeper topical authority. AI systems generally prefer the most comprehensive, authoritative source.
Not a complete overhaul, but refinement. Going forward, prioritize depth over breadth. Create comprehensive guides instead of surface-level posts. Include author credentials and citations. Use question-based formats (FAQs, HowTos). Improve technical SEO. These adjustments work for both traditional SEO and GEO.
No. Service businesses, SaaS companies, e-commerce sites, and local businesses all benefit from GEO. When people ask "How do I hire a web designer?" or "What's involved in a WordPress website redesign?", your content can be cited. The key is creating content that answers the questions your ideal customers are asking.
There's no guaranteed timeline, but most websites see first citations within 2–6 months of implementing GEO strategies, assuming they already have some authority and backlinks. If you're starting from zero authority, plan for 6–12 months. The more established your site is, the faster results appear.
Start with ChatGPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), and Google's AI Overview (Google's answer engine). These three dominate the AI search space. Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and other platforms also cite websites, but these three are highest-priority. The good news: strategies that work for one usually work for all of them.
No. In fact, most GEO strategies improve your Google rankings too. Creating comprehensive content, earning backlinks, and improving site speed all help both SEO and GEO. The strategies are complementary, not competing.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) focuses on ranking your website in Google's search results - the list of blue links users click on. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) focuses on getting your website cited as a source within AI-generated answers. You need both, but they require slightly different approaches. SEO rewards pages that rank on search keywords; GEO rewards comprehensive, authoritative sources.
During the planning stage, avoid the risk of disorganization. Site architecture example. During the design stage, be ambitious but remember the user experience and search engine crawlers could use some help too. Post-launch, don’t blind yourself to performance–make sure you look at metrics like traffic.
If you don’t consider SEO as part of your website redesign process, you could at the extreme lose so much traffic that the business never recovers. This has happened before. At the same time, a website redesign is a cost effective time to not just minimize SEO risk, but improve SEO rankings.
Website redesigns, when done well, improve the experience of visitors through better navigation and visuals. In turn potential customers will see your website more often in search engine results, visit more often, stay longer, and seek your services. Website design is not a static profession, it is creative and technical, meaning that your competitors will serve up a better experience with their own website redesign. After enough time has passed, a [...]