SEO and GEO: differences, common ground and how to do both
Two different results, the same groundwork. What to change, and what you must not abandon.
The question comes up in almost every meeting: should we now do GEO instead of SEO? The short answer is no. Answer engines rely on existing search indexes, and a page invisible on Google or Bing has little chance of being cited by ChatGPT or Gemini. The long answer lies in the real differences between the two disciplines, and in what they share.
This article compares SEO and GEO point by point, then proposes a single roadmap for companies that want both results without doubling the work.
Contents
What differs
The optimized unit: SEO ranks pages; GEO gets passages cited. A self-contained paragraph that answers a precise question is the basic unit of GEO.
The result: a position in a list on one side, a mention or citation in a written answer on the other. There is no “position 3” in an AI answer; you are cited or you are not.
The signals: SEO weighs inbound links and query matching heavily; GEO adds factual clarity, entity consistency across the whole web and third-party corroboration.
The measurement: average position, impressions and clicks for SEO; share of voice, citation rate and dominant sources for GEO, engine by engine.
Traffic: SEO produces clicks; GEO often produces an answer without a click, but with a named recommendation. Measurement then goes through awareness and inbound requests, not analytics alone.
What does not change
A fast, indexable site with clear titles, a logical architecture and pages that answer an intent: this has been the foundation of SEO for fifteen years, and it is exactly what an answer engine reads first. Structured data, internal linking, authority earned through quality links and the identifiable expertise of authors serve both goals.
In other words, everything done well in SEO stays acquired. GEO cancels nothing; it adds a requirement of precision and corroboration.
The most frequent traps
Producing pages “for the AI” with no search intent: they are neither ranked nor cited.
Multiplying artificial FAQs and hollow definition blocks, which engines and readers alike ignore.
Blocking answer engine robots in robots.txt by protective reflex, then being surprised not to be cited.
Describing the company differently depending on the medium: site, LinkedIn, directories, press releases. Models cross these sources and punish inconsistency with silence.
Not measuring, or measuring only once: AI answers vary from one session to the next, only repeated measurement is reliable.
A common roadmap
Here is the order we apply to obtain both results with a single project.
- Technical foundation: performance, indexing, robots.txt open to answer engines, Organization, Service, Article and FAQPage structured data, llms.txt file.
- Question mapping: Google queries and questions asked to AI engines, grouped by intent and by target page.
- Pillar and satellite pages: one page per business topic, articles that each answer one question, linked together.
- Direct answers: every section starts with the answer, then develops. Dated facts, figures with their basis, sources.
- Corroboration: directories, press, partners, reviews, business profiles. The same facts, written the same way.
- Monthly measurement: positions and clicks on one side, share of voice and citations on the other, with a revised action plan.
Measuring both without getting it wrong
For SEO, Search Console and rank tracking are enough. For GEO, you need a fixed question set, tested on each engine and repeated, with a grid that records the mention, the citation and the competitors cited. We detail this method in the article on the AI visibility audit. The two series of indicators must be read together: a page that rises on Google generally ends up being cited, with a lag of a few weeks.
Going further
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between SEO and GEO?
SEO targets a position in search results; GEO targets a mention or a citation in the answer written by an AI. SEO ranks pages, GEO gets passages cited, and it adds factual clarity and third-party corroboration to the classic signals.
Do you need a different provider for SEO and GEO?
No, and it would even be counterproductive: both rest on the same technical and editorial foundation. You do, however, need a GEO-specific measurement method, engine by engine, on top of the usual SEO tools.
Does GEO reduce SEO traffic?
Generated answers reduce part of the informational clicks, but they do not remove the search for providers. A company named in the answer receives more qualified requests, even with fewer visits.
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