If you've spent five minutes on LinkedIn lately, you'd think SEO is dead, buried, and replaced by AI. It isn't.
However, it has been joined by something new: Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO), also known as AI search optimisation or AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation). There are some slight differences between GEO and AEO, but at their core, they are the same.
Here's what the data actually shows: SEO still drives 53% of all website traffic and accounts for 54% of AI citations. But 60% of US searches now end without clicks, up from 26% in 2022. That's the shift.
Back to SEO. Here's what most of the online literature you see gets wrong: SEO and GEO aren't competing for the same job. They optimise for different moments in how people now search, research, and decide. (For a deeper dive into the nuances, see AI search optimisation vs SEO: Key differences you should know about.)
At decipher., we see this constantly: brands pouring budget into one while ignoring the other, then wondering why visibility feels broken. This guide cuts through it properly.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of optimising websites to rank in traditional search engines like Google and Bing. Its goal is to:
Improve visibility in search results
Attract clicks
Drive traffic to your website
SEO focuses on rankings, keywords, links, and technical performance, all with the aim of getting users to visit your site.
The reality check: SEO remains the foundation. But when AI Overviews now appear in 13-47% of searches and reduce click-through rates by 32-61%, optimising only for rankings misses half the picture.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the practice of optimising content and brand signals so generative AI systems can understand, trust, and cite them when producing answers.
Instead of ranking pages, GEO focuses on:
Being referenced
Being quoted
Being included in AI-generated responses
If SEO is about being found, GEO is about being used.
The numbers back this up: brands cited in AI responses gain 35% more visibility.
In a nutshell, here's a comparison of the key aspects that make them different:
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No. And anyone telling you otherwise is selling something.
GEO complements SEO by solving a different problem. SEO is still essential for transactional searches ("buy", "hire", "near me"), driving conversions, and building long-term authority.
GEO exists because not all searches end in clicks anymore. Gartner predicts a 25% drop in traditional search volume by end of 2026, driven by AI answer engines. SEO brings people to your site. GEO puts your brand inside the answer itself.
You'll often see AIO (AI optimisation) mentioned alongside GEO. In practice:
SEO optimises for search engines that rank pages
AIO / GEO optimises for AI systems that generate answers
AIO is the umbrella term. GEO is more precise, it refers specifically to generative engines and how they select and cite sources. Different labels, same shift in behaviour.
This isn't an either-or decision, and treating it like one is how brands end up invisible in half the places their audience is looking.
Strong SEO builds authority, earns backlinks, and produces high-quality content. All of that feeds GEO. GEO then adapts those signals for how AI systems interpret, evaluate, and reuse information.
Think of it this way:
SEO builds the library. GEO tells AI which books to quote.
The smartest brands don't choose sides. They design content to work in both environments and they start before their competitors do.
Key tactics that bridge both
Structured data and schema markup improve both traditional search snippets and AI parsing. Want the full tactical breakdown? Here's how to optimise content for AI search.
Clear, quotable language performs well in featured snippets and AI citations
Authority signals (backlinks, E-E-A-T) matter to Google's algorithm and AI trust models
Topic depth satisfies search intent and gives AI systems more to reference
