GEO is the new SEO: Make your content discoverable by machines, not just humans
In 2010, it was keywords. In 2020, it was pillar pages. In 2025, it’s prompts. The harsh reality is that in today’s hyper-competitive landscape, your beautiful blog might never be seen. In this piece, our Head of Biddable Media, Alex Beddoe breaks down how to start writing for the machines.
The B2B customer isn’t starting with search engines anymore. They’re choosing to go straight to ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. And as for your beautifully optimized blog post? Well, it might never be seen, unless it’s optimized for how AI discovers and summarizes content.
Welcome to the new SEO, or Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). A content strategy that realizes that first, it has to grab the attention of AI.
From SEO to GEO, how you’re discovered has changed
Traditional SEO focused on crawling, indexing, and ranking. GEO is different. It’s about teaching Large Language Models (LLMs) to understand, trust, and recommend your brand above others.
These AI systems don’t simply return a list of 10 blue links; they generate curated responses. And to put it bluntly, if at this stage your brand doesn’t feature – well, no matter how good your content is, it won’t be seen.
So, while SEO might help you rank in search engines, GEO helps you get chosen.
It’s a fundamental shift and one that’s already reshaping digital strategies everywhere.
What we’re seeing: Real client impact
One of our B2B clients, let’s call them Client B, recently saw a 38% increase in AI referral traffic, alongside a 16% lift in branded search impressions. Why?
Because their content was designed not just to rank, but to be understood by AI.
This entailed:
- Review-rich presence on third-party platforms
- A structured Q&A with a Help section
- Data-driven comparison pages
- Content which was both visually appealing and easy for the search engines and assistive technologies to read and navigate
The result? AI assistants did the shortlisting, and Client B made the cut.
How AI ‘reads’ content, and what it ignores
LLMs don’t crawl content the way Google’s bot does. Instead, they parse, summarize, and reference. That means:
- Clear structure matters more than clever copy
- Bullet points, TLDRs, and FAQs outperform dense prose
- Source-backed claims and citations increase trust
- Consistency across platforms (your site, reviews, forums) improves inclusion
So, it’s time to change how you think: i.e., less like a blogger and more like a center of knowledge.
Prompt-optimized content outperforms keyword-stuffed pages
Search has become conversational. Buyers no longer search for “best CRM tools.” They ask: “What are the top CRM platforms for enterprise teams that need GDPR compliance?”
If your content isn’t designed to answer prompts like these, you won’t be included by LLMs. This is where GEO steps in by:
- Pre-empting prompts
- Framing content around intent-rich queries
- Creating content that will be quoted, not just clicked
How discovery is being transformed, or put another way, the organic search revolution
Organic isn’t dead, it’s just changed. Search now and ~42.5% of search results will be Google’s AI Overviews, which is why Search has seen a 30% fall in clicks since last year.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Branded search is actually seeing an uptick thanks to AI-curated shortlists. In short, AI ensures you get the first mention. Buyers then use Google to validate what they’ve already learned. GEO doesn’t replace SEO, it’s upgrading it.
What this means for paid search
In light of what’s happening with organic search, paid strategies must evolve as well if they’re to keep pace with change. Here’s how:
1. Branded search becomes the battleground
Buyers click to confirm what AI tells them. And 90% of B2B buyers click on the citations generated by Google’s AI Overviews.
2. New paid environments are emerging
OpenAI and Perplexity are already testing sponsored prompts. Expect ad units inside LLM interfaces – where prompts replace keywords.
3. Metrics are changing
Performance won’t just be about CTR. It’ll be about AI-influenced discovery, brand search lift, and inclusion in machine-generated recommendations.
Your role therefore will be to protect branded terms, optimize for validation searches, and to prepare to advertise in generative engines, not only search engines.
The GEO checklist: How to build content that machines trust
To become referenceable, your content strategy needs a shift in mindset. Now, you need to focus on:
✅ 1. Content designed for prompts
Create comparison guides, ‘vs.’ pages, integration overviews, and FAQs. Structure them like answers – not thought pieces.
✅ 2. Presence beyond your site
AI learns from the whole web:
- Review platforms
- Analyst sites
- Community forums
- Wikipedia
So make sure that you’re wherever AI is looking.
✅ 3. Semantic structure + source backing
Use:
- Clear H1s and H2s
- Bullet points
- Cited data
- Schema markup
- Consistent branding
✅ 4. Monitor your mentions in AI
Prompt ChatGPT or Perplexity:
- “What are the best tools for X?”
- “How does [Your Brand] compare to [Competitor]?”
Document where you appear, and where you don’t, then update your content accordingly.
From page one to prompt one
Search has shifted from clicks to citations. From pages to prompts. From SEO to GEO.
If your brand isn’t discoverable in LLMs, you’re not just missing traffic, you’re missing from even being on the list. Which is why you’ve got to start changing your thinking and start realizing it’s not just people you’ve got to appeal to, you’ve also got to be trusted by the machines.
Find out what your brand looks like to generative engines.
Our dynamic content engine helps B2B marketers optimize their content for AI discovery. Building visibility that works for humans and machines.
👉 Learn more about our Dynamic Content Engine or get in touch for an audit of how your content performs.