How Search Is Changing: AI & Generative Engine Optimisation

Search is evolving very fast, faster now than in the last 20 years – a huge change has come and is rewriting the rule book for traditional SEO, now is the time to adapt.

GEO In Summary:

• AI-powered is the future
• Longer keyword search are now normal
• Generates human-like answers
• Continuous Learning and evolving
• Real time statistical results
• Create content that sounds natural
• Bullet point more information
• AI models prioritise authoritative brands

The deep dive GEO explanation…

The landscape of the digital world is evolving – Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming traditional search engines such as Google. In the past a list of links of websites could only be returned in search results but today AI models are applied to create direct answers and influencing google results to the user. This change has brought in another concept known as Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). GEO is an outreach in which AI-powered search engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and others are functioning. The article discusses what GEO and AI search are, the way it functions, the advantages and the disadvantages of using the technology, and the manner in which it is altering how information is researched online.

The AI Search Emergence

AI is transforming the way we search the Internet, conventional search engines present results by lists in rank determined by EAAT / Backlinks and Content and many other signals, GEO responds to the questions of users that are generated with the help of LLMs (Large language models) in AI search tools. They give fast, humanised responses, summarising the contents of several sources.

The transition is obvious. Liu, Zhang, and Liang (2023) noted that generative search engines are convenient and have the problem of hallucinated search results and poor citation habits. It is also being felt by businesses. Other companies, such as Mailchimp, record a decline in the number of visitors to their websites because they receive what they were seeking in AI summaries (The Wall Street Journal, 2025a).

Startups have begun to develop tools to optimise companies display in AI-generated responses (The Wall Street Journal, 2025b).

What are Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)?

GEO is a digital marketing technique that enhances more content visibility on the AI-generated results. The difference between GEO and SEO is that, unlike the former, the latter aims at ranking keywords only. It was proposed in Gao et al. (2023) in which GEO-Bench was introduced, consisting of 10,000 queries that are used to examine the way AI systems reference content.

It is about time content creators adjust policies. They should be able to write using clear facts, cite and organise the content well. GEO likes numbers, summaries and believability. It is done with the view of enhancing the frequency with which AI systems use content in their reply (Search Engine Land, 2024).

GEO contrasts with old fashioned or conventional SEO which is based on back links and keywords. GEO collaborates with the manner in which LLMs digest and abridged information. It needs content that is accurate, confirmable and well organised (Gao et al., 2023).

GEO versus SEO versus AEO

GEO tends to be equated to SEO and AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation). Whereas, SEO enhances search engine results page (SERPs) position in the web, AEO aims at providing hastier answers to queries by means of well-structured content such as frequently asked questions (FAQ). GEO concentrates about visibility of AI-generated responses.

SEO is aiming at clicks and traffic. AEO is aimed at voice and quick-answer systems.

GEO, nevertheless, attempts to make sure that your information should be cited or summarised by AI services, such as ChatGPT or Gemini (Wikipedia, 2024a; HubSpot, 2024). Applying all three-SEO, AEO, and GEO- may be considered to achieve the access to both conventional and artificial intelligence users.

ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI-powered search engines

ChatGPT is built by the OpenAI. It involves GPT-4 and prompts manipulation to achieve human-like responses. It is trained using a huge volume of internet information. It is also effective, but in some cases yields wrong or even old information.

Gemini is the AI model that Google is implementing in Search Generative Experience (SGE). It concentrates on source-based correct, answers. Gemini is meant to complement normal searching as it creates a summary.

Generative AI is also utilised by other tools such as Bing Chat and Perplexity to generate the result. As Liu et al. (2023) discovered, most AI-generated solutions were fluent; however, they did not fully support their claims with the mentioned arguments. This puts a question of trust.

Advantages of the AI Search and GEO

There is an enhanced speed of generating answers through the use of AI search. Users do not bother scrolling through links anymore. They are indirectly provided with summaries. This enhances user friendliness.

Smaller websites also gain recognition through GEO. In case of traditional SEO, bigger sites tend to take over. GEO enables the AI tools to use more accurate and well-organised material, which provides an opportunity to smaller creators (Search Engine Land, 2023).

The other advantage is the enhanced quality content. It is upon writers to be lucid, objective and systematic. This aids in clarity of content to the readers and AI tools (HubSpot, 2024).

Challenges and Limitations

In spite of the benefits, AI search has issues too. Hallucination is one of the key problems: wrong answers or imaginated answers provided by AI. According to Liu et al. (2023), the percentage of AI-based statements that were comprehensively cited was only 51.5.

The other obstacle is manipulation. The creators may attempt to get AI engines citing their posts, even when the material involved is low quality (The Guardian, 2024).

AI search can also decrease traffic to websites. Lots of people no longer visit original content since they receive all the answers through the AI. According to The Wall Street Journal (2025a), 40 percent of searches do not get clicks.

There is also the reliance on artificial intelligence platforms. In contrast to SEO, the elements of rank in GEO are not available publicly. The makers of content are not aware of how AI makes a choice of what it needs to cite (Gao et al., 2023).

Real Life Use of GEO

Content creators should be methodical and informed in order to succeed with GEO. It is imperative that they publish the best contents of expert quality with proper citations and statistics that can be verified. The layout of the information must be concise and logically laid out with applicable headings; bullet points and brief summaries to easily read by both an individual and AI. Also, the changes in AI tools and algorithms, which occur rather often, should be tracked so that they do not affect the content processing and presentation. These would also come in handy when using dedicated analytics tools to monitor the frequency of the content to be used in the AI generated answers to create and edit the content processes (HubSpot, 2024).

Future of Search

The search of the future is transforming. Search tools born of AI are also becoming prevalent. Instead of typing queries into Google, people turn to such tools as ChatGPT and Gemini to search.

Search behaviour is changing, and so content strategies are required to vary. GEO is not an option any more. Online presence requires it. Companies and authors will have to not only optimise their work to human readers, but also to the AI ones (Business Insider, 2025).

Instead of being a temporary fad, GEO signifies a significant and permanent motion towards changed information placement, acquisition, and sharing through digital media. The applicability of GEO is only set to be enhanced as generative AI becomes more implicated in search interface, transforming content strategies and user engagement models on the web.

Conclusion

A recent and necessary approach in the current AI-based environment is Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). It aims at featuring content in artificial intelligence search results. GEO becomes an ally of SEO or AEO to enhance visibility on the Internet. Such tools as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Bing AI dominate them. Although Ai search is faster and convenient, it comes with some risks such as misinformation and low traffic to the sites. In order to remain relevant, content creators have to modify their practices. GEO is not a fad; it is a way of the future in which information will be located and will be shared.

Want to optimise your business for AI / GEO? Contact us today – Ben Smith is a Web Designer in Bristol

References

Business Insider. (2025, May). Forget SEO. The hot new thing is ‘AEO.’ Here are the startups chasing this AI marketing phenomenon. https://www.businessinsider.com/seo-aeo-ai-chatbots-search-startups-chatgpt-openai-google-2025-5
Gao, Y., Liu, Z., Si, Y., Meng, Y., Xiong, C., & Lin, Y. (2023, November). GEO: Generative Engine Optimization. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735
HubSpot. (2024). Generative engine optimization: What we know so far. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/generative-engine-optimization
Liu, N. F., Zhang, T., & Liang, P. (2023, April). Evaluating verifiability in generative search engines. arXiv. https://arxiv.org/abs/2304.09848
Search Engine Land. (2023, December 4). What is generative engine optimization (GEO)? https://searchengineland.com/what-is-generative-engine-optimization-geo-444418
Search Engine Land. (2024, April 8). Generative engine optimization framework introduced in new research paper. https://searchengineland.com/generative-engine-optimization-framework-introduced-research-paper-435855
The Guardian. (2024, November 3). The chatbot optimisation game: can we trust AI web searches? https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/nov/03/the-chatbot-optimisation-game-can-we-trust-ai-web-searches
The Wall Street Journal. (2025a, May 8). AI has upended the search game. Marketers are scrambling to catch up. https://www.wsj.com/articles/ai-has-upended-the-search-game-marketers-are-scrambling-to-catch-up-84264b34
The Wall Street Journal. (2025b, July 5). The companies betting they can profit from Google Search’s demise. https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/ai-optimization-startups-google-search-ee4c561a
Wikipedia. (2024a). Generative engine optimization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_engine_optimization
Wikipedia. (2024b). Answer engine optimization. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Answer_engine_optimization