If you've been doing SEO for any length of time, you already have most of what you need for GEO. You just don't know it yet.
Generative Engine Optimization, the practice of making your brand visible in AI-generated responses, isn't a replacement for SEO. It's an extension. Think of it less as a migration and more as an expansion. You're not tearing down what works. You're building a second floor.
Here's how to do it without blowing up your existing strategy.
What transfers directly from SEO
The good news is substantial. A lot of your SEO work carries over.
Quality content. The content you've created to rank in Google is also the content AI platforms scan when forming recommendations. If you've invested in genuinely useful, well-researched content, that asset doesn't lose value in a GEO context. It gains value because AI systems have something substantive to work with.
Domain authority and backlinks. The credibility signals you've built through link building and brand development don't disappear. AI platforms factor in domain authority and how widely your content is referenced across the web. Those 50 backlinks to your pillar content are still working for you.
Technical health. A well-structured site with clean architecture, fast load times, and proper markup is exactly what AI crawlers prefer. If your site is technically solid for Google, it's technically solid for AI platforms.
Topical authority. If you've built a content cluster around a specific topic, covering it from multiple angles with real depth, you've established the kind of authority that AI systems recognize and reward. Your blog archive isn't dead weight. It's training data.
What's genuinely new in GEO
The differences are real, even if the foundations overlap.
Multi-platform visibility. SEO optimizes primarily for Google (and maybe Bing). GEO means being visible across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, and Google's own AI features. Each platform has slightly different recommendation patterns, and you need to think about all of them.
Prompt-based discovery. Users don't type keywords into AI. They ask questions. "Best CRM for freelancers" as a search query and "I'm a freelancer who needs a CRM that handles invoicing and project tracking, what do you recommend?" as an AI prompt trigger different responses. GEO means understanding how people phrase questions to AI and making sure your content addresses those conversational queries.
Entity clarity. In SEO, you optimize pages for keywords. In GEO, you optimize your brand's entity. The AI needs to understand what your business is, who it serves, and what problems it solves, as a complete picture, not just page by page. Think of it as the AI building a mental model of your business. Your job is to make that model accurate and specific.
Third-party signals over self-promotion. SEO rewards on-site optimization and backlinks. GEO puts even more weight on what others say about you. Reviews, editorial mentions, community discussions, and comparison articles contribute heavily to whether AI platforms recommend you. What you say about yourself matters less than what the internet says about you.
Step-by-step: Adding GEO to your existing SEO
Step 1: Audit your AI visibility baseline
Before optimizing, you need to know where you stand. Run 15-20 relevant queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Use queries your ideal client would actually ask.
Record: Which platforms mention you? For which queries? Which competitors show up? What kind of content gets cited?
This baseline tells you where the gaps are. Maybe you're visible on Gemini but invisible on ChatGPT. Maybe competitors dominate one query category while you're strong in another. This data drives your priorities.
Step 2: Sharpen your entity positioning
Review your website's core messaging. Can an AI system reading your site quickly determine:
- What you do specifically
- Who you serve specifically
- What makes your approach different
- What outcomes you deliver
If any of these are vague, clarify them. Update your homepage, about page, and service pages with specific, unambiguous language. This isn't just for AI. It makes your site better for human visitors too.
Consistency matters. Make sure your LinkedIn, Google Business Profile, directory listings, and any other profiles all tell the same story. AI aggregates information from multiple sources, and conflicting signals reduce its confidence in recommending you.
Step 3: Upgrade your content for AI extractability
Look at your existing content through a new lens: can an AI easily extract specific, citable information from it?
Content that works well for GEO has clear, specific claims (not vague generalities), original data or unique insights, well-structured headings that signal what each section covers, and concrete examples that illustrate abstract points.
You don't need to rewrite everything. Start with your highest-value content, the pages that target your most important topics, and enhance them with more specificity. Add data points. Include concrete results from client work (anonymized if needed). Make every paragraph say something an AI could quote.
Step 4: Build your third-party presence
This is where GEO diverges most from traditional SEO.
In SEO, you build backlinks. In GEO, you build mentions, reviews, and editorial credibility. The tactics overlap but aren't identical.
Priority actions:
- Request reviews from satisfied clients on relevant platforms (G2, Trustpilot, Clutch, or industry-specific review sites)
- Pitch guest articles to publications your audience reads
- Pursue podcast interviews where you demonstrate expertise
- Contribute to comparison and "best of" articles in your niche
- Engage in community discussions (Reddit, industry forums) where your expertise is relevant
Each of these creates an independent signal that AI platforms pick up. One good feature article in a respected publication can shift your AI visibility meaningfully.
Step 5: Research and target AI-specific prompts
SEO has keyword research. GEO has prompt research.
Think about how your ideal clients phrase questions to AI. These prompts are typically longer and more conversational than search keywords. They often include context about the person's situation.
"What's the best email marketing platform for a solo consultant who sends a monthly newsletter and has about 2,000 subscribers?"
Your content needs to address these specific, contextual queries. Create content that answers the exact questions people ask AI, with the same level of specificity they use.
You can discover relevant prompts by surveying customers about how they found you, testing various query phrasings in AI platforms, and thinking about the specific situations your ideal clients face.
Step 6: Implement tracking and iterate
Once you've made initial optimizations, track the results. AI visibility changes gradually, not overnight, so set up regular monitoring.
Tools like Mentionable automate tracking across multiple AI platforms, showing you which queries trigger recommendations for your brand and how that changes over time. This lets you measure the impact of your GEO efforts and adjust your strategy based on data, not guesses.
Review monthly. Which optimizations moved the needle? Which platforms are responding to your changes? Where do competitors still have an edge? Use this data to prioritize your next round of improvements.
Timeline expectations
Be realistic about how long this takes.
Weeks 1-2: Audit and baseline. Understand where you stand.
Weeks 3-4: Entity positioning and content enhancement. Update your core pages and highest-value content.
Months 2-3: Third-party presence building. Start outreach for reviews, guest posts, and editorial mentions. This takes time to bear fruit.
Months 3-6: Monitor and iterate. Track changes in AI visibility, double down on what works, and address remaining gaps.
GEO isn't a one-time project. Like SEO, it's an ongoing practice. The difference is that you're starting from a strong foundation. Your SEO work wasn't wasted. It gave you the raw material that GEO needs.
The businesses that add GEO to their SEO strategy in 2026 will have a meaningful advantage over those who wait. Not because SEO is dying, but because the discovery landscape is expanding, and visibility in that expanded landscape is what drives growth.
