SEO vs. GEO – The truth about the new buzzword

What is GEO?

GEO—the new shiny buzzword in the SEO industry.

It sounds new and fancy, but in practice it is about optimizing your content so it is understood, selected, and used by the AI models that summarize search results. And here is the point: AI still primarily pulls its knowledge from the top results in Google.

So if you want to be in the game for AI visibility, you still need to have your SEO fundamentals in place. GEO is not a new discipline—it is SEO with new requirements.

You may already have heard someone say:
“GEO is the new SEO”
“You need to think in GEO strategies to be visible in AI Overviews”
Or the classic: “This isn’t SEO—it’s GEO.”

Let’s take a deep breath and look at the numbers.

What does the data show—and why are we even talking about GEO?

After a fairly simple LinkedIn post (which gained a bit more traction than expected), my inbox quickly filled up with questions. So I dug into the data—and yes, it confirmed my gut feeling:

Here is what the numbers show:

• 99.5% of AI Overviews use sources from the top 10 in the SERP
• 77% use only top 10 results
• 88% of AI Overviews are for informational searches
• Only 8.9% are about transactional keywords

So when someone says that GEO is something completely different from SEO, then no—it isn’t.
GEO is simply SEO + a few structural layers on top.

But that does not stop certain consultants from selling it as a new revolution—preferably with a 200–300% markup.

So what is GEO, really?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is about becoming visible in, for example, Google’s AI Overviews.
It sounds new—but it is built on the old.

Do you want to rank in AI?
Then start by ranking in organic search.

That is where the systems get their input. And they get it almost exclusively from the classic SERP landscape.

Why do 90% of GEO strategies fail?

Because they ignore the foundation.
They try to “hack” their way to visibility in AI without having the basics in place.

Here are some typical mistakes:

1. People do not understand tokenization—that is, how AI actually reads and understands content.
2. People prioritize AI visibility over SEO, even though AI is built on top of SEO.
3. People lack contextualization and intent mapping—and therefore cast the net too wide.
4. People underestimate query fan-out—that is, how a single search can trigger many different intents.
5. People write for the algorithm, not the user—and end up with content that does not convert.

What does this mean for you—right now?

👉 If you are already working seriously with SEO, you are ahead.
👉 If you are chasing AI visibility without ranking in the top 10, you are shooting in the dark.
👉 If your advisor says that “GEO isn’t SEO”—then you should ask about their incentives.

We are not saying that GEO is irrelevant.
We are simply saying:
“SEO is still the foundation.“
GEO strategies are only effective if the foundation is already built.

Conclusion: Buzzword or game changer?

GEO is not a revolution—it is an evolution.
And yes, you need to think in new ways about structuring and formatting content.

But you should not throw out the SEO toolbox.
On the contrary.

When you understand how AI builds on the SEO landscape, GEO suddenly becomes far less mysterious.
Then it is simply… good SEO that accounts for the next layer.

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Matti Ljungberg

AI & SEO Product Owner

[email protected]

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