The moniker ‘fast lane’ no longer suits the digital innovation domain. It has become a hyper-fast lane now, with newer and more advanced technology replacing what was, till yesterday, a cutting-edge innovation, every other day. SEO is evolving rapidly too, with search engines like Google pivoting to accommodate AI. Generative Engine Optimization or GEO is the new buzzword now, and expert SEO service providers are already into it. But is GEO just a hype, destined to die out soon? Or is it here to stay? Let’s get under the skin of the topic and understand it in more detail.
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What is GEO?
Well, in layman’s terms, GEO means optimizing for AI. In more detail, it means prepping your SEO strategy so that web crawlers pick your website as a source of information for AI-driven answers.
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Why the Sudden Buzz About GEO?
The answer lies in how netizens are consuming information today. Back when the World Wide Web was still stretching out, web searches involved keying in search queries in the browser window and waiting for it to spew out a long list of hyperlinks. Unless you have been living under a rock all these years, you know there has been a sea change in web searches! Now, search engine result pages feature AI-generated answers before website listings. Besides, more and more users are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini for answers.
A recent survey reveals that no less than 71.5% of global users are already using AI tools for web searches. (Source: Search Engine Land)
Google, with its 79.8% share in the search engine market, is heavily into AI and has locked horns with its competitors for a bigger share of the pie (read AI dominance). Bing has its Copilot to ‘help’ you because Microsoft doesn’t want to lose out on the AI-based search engine market either. You get the picture, right?
So, GEO is basically about optimizing your content, not just to feature in the first list of those blue hyperlinks. Being quoted in the AI-generated answers right atop the first SERP is the Holy Grail now. So, yes, the buzz is justified. More and more users are trusting AI to guide them through the information jungle that is the World Wide Web, and SEO strategists must fall in line or become obsolete.
Trend-conscious brands looking to hire SEO experts in India are looking for GEO knowledge as a qualifying parameter. Businesses now want to hire digital marketing specialists who know how LLM works at least on a superficial level.
If you ask us, that’s a pretty big shift!
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GEO vs. SEO: What’s so different now?
So, how is GEO different from SEO beneath the skin? Imagine GEO as SEO 2.0.
Here’s the overlap and the twist:
- Keyword research: It’s still relevant, but now you have to think more in terms of conversational queries and not just search terms.
- Content structure: More crucial than ever. AI will pick your content if it’s well-structured, information-rich, and sounds unique. How it understands these qualities in a write-up is a discussion for another day.
- E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trust): It was never optional, and now, with AI in the picture, E-E-A-T has become even more relevant. If it assumes your content to be trustworthy, AI will pick you over others as a source of legitimate information.
So what’s the twist? Well, now, you are generating content more for machine learning than human eyes…sort of.
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How to GEO?
Let’s break the whole thing down into simple steps for everyone to understand (it wasn’t meant to be rocket science in the first place!):
4.1. Double Down on Authority Content: Become THE expert. Publish deep-dives, how-tos, and thought leadership pieces. The more useful and original your content is, the more likely AI is to pick it up.
4.2. Answer Questions Clearly: Think FAQ style. Break down complex topics. Use headers. AI loves structured, easy-to-digest formats.
4.3. Add Schema Markup: Speak the AI’s language. Schema helps machines understand your content in a richer way. It’s not new, but it’s more important than ever.
4.4. Keep It Updated: AI models don’t want stale info. Update your cornerstone content regularly so it stays relevant and accurate.
4.5. Brand Mentions & Citations Matter: The more your brand is mentioned across trusted sources, the more visible you become to generative engines. Brand authority helps you become part of the AI training diet.
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Is GEO a Passing Trend?
Some might dismiss GEO as a rebranded version of SEO—more like an evolved version of the latter. But that’s not 100% true. The fact that expert SEO service providers are pivoting to accommodate this new concept speaks volumes about its relevance as a new idea—a new tech, if you will. User behavior has changed and it only makes sense to package search results as definitive answers: relevant, informative, authoritative. Needless to say, if you want AI crawlers to select your webpage as a source of valid information, you better prep it for GEO.
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Hire SEO Experts in India: ‘Cause You Can’t Do Everything Yourself!
Here’s a million-dollar question: Why are brands looking to hire SEO experts in India? To put it another way, why is it that when brands talk about expert SEO services, they look at India as a source of talent? Well, India has a bottomless talent pool—that’s why!
Business owners can’t do everything themselves. Imagine lugging the weight of marketing campaigns, operations, and whatnot, and then trying to squeeze time for SEO and stuff. That’s a raw deal for mere mortals anywhere on the planet. That’s why hiring SEO experts in India makes sense because they are always at the forefront of innovative ideas, updating their knowledge bank with everything new. When you hire a digital marketing specialist from a staff augmentation company in India, you get a bona fide GEO expert to work as part of your core team. Ain’t that exciting?
Long Story Short
GEO isn’t a passing phase—a hyped-up fad destined to be blown over by some new trend. It’s going to make its presence felt in every aspect of web search in the coming days, assuming it isn’t doing that already. And here’s where we ask you: Are you prepared?
