SEO & GEO: Ranking in Search Engines and Generative AI Engines
The way people find information is splitting in two.
Traditional search engines still matter. Google processes billions of queries daily, and for most businesses, organic search remains the primary driver of discovery and revenue. But a growing segment of users now bypass the blue links entirely, turning instead to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and other AI assistants for answers. These generative engines don't return a list of websites to explore. They synthesize information from multiple sources and deliver direct answers, often mentioning specific brands and products by name.
For ecommerce businesses, this shift creates both challenge and opportunity. You need to rank in traditional search results while simultaneously positioning your brand to be cited by generative AI engines. The strategies for achieving both overlap significantly, but they aren't identical. This guide covers how to win in both channels, providing a comprehensive framework for modern search visibility.
The New Search Landscape
Traditional Search: Still Dominant, Still Essential
Google, Bing, and other traditional search engines remain the primary discovery channel for most consumers. The fundamental mechanics haven't changed in two decades. Users enter queries, algorithms evaluate pages based on relevance, authority, and quality signals, results pages display ranked listings, and users click through to websites where they consume content and potentially convert.
For ecommerce specifically, traditional search drives significant revenue because it captures users at moments of high purchase intent. When someone searches for a product name, a category term, or a brand they're considering, they're actively looking to buy. Ranking well for these queries means capturing demand that already exists, making traditional SEO an essential component of any ecommerce growth strategy.
Generative Engines: The Emerging Channel
AI-powered search operates on fundamentally different principles. Rather than typing keywords and scanning results, users ask questions in natural language, much like they would ask a knowledgeable friend. The AI synthesizes information from its training data and real-time web access, then provides a direct answer, often with citations to the sources it drew from.
The major generative engines each bring something different to the table. ChatGPT, OpenAI's conversational AI, now includes web browsing capabilities that allow it to access current information. Perplexity positions itself as an AI search engine designed specifically for research, providing detailed answers with inline citations. Google's AI Overviews appear directly in search results, synthesizing information before users even click a link. Claude, developed by Anthropic, offers sophisticated reasoning with web search integration. Microsoft's Bing Chat combines traditional search with conversational AI capabilities.
When users ask these engines a question like "what's the best running shoe for flat feet," they don't receive a list of links to evaluate. Instead, they get a synthesized recommendation that often mentions specific brands and products by name. If your brand isn't part of that answer, you're invisible to these users entirely.
Why Both Channels Matter
Some businesses dismiss AI search as representing only a small percentage of their current traffic. This perspective is shortsighted for several important reasons.
The growth trajectory of AI search is steep and accelerating. Users who discover the convenience of AI-powered answers rarely return to traditional search for informational queries. Early optimization for generative engines establishes competitive advantage before the space becomes crowded with optimization efforts.
User behavior is shifting rapidly, particularly among younger demographics who increasingly prefer AI-first search experiences. As these users age into higher purchasing power, businesses that haven't established AI visibility will struggle to reach them through their preferred discovery channels.
There's also a reinforcing relationship between the two channels. When generative engines cite your content, it often strengthens traditional SEO signals as well. The authority and credibility that make you citable also make you rankable, creating a virtuous cycle of visibility.
Perhaps most significantly, the rise of zero-click answers threatens traditional organic traffic models. As AI provides more direct answers, users have less reason to click through to websites. Being the cited source in these answers becomes critical for maintaining brand visibility even when click-through rates decline.
The businesses that win in 2025 and beyond will be those that rank in traditional search while simultaneously earning citations from generative AI engines. This isn't an either-or choice; it's a both-and imperative.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content to be selected and cited by AI-powered generative engines. While traditional SEO focuses on achieving high rankings in search results pages, GEO focuses on becoming the source that AI engines pull information from when generating their answers.
How GEO Differs from SEO
The distinction between these disciplines becomes clearer when examining their core differences across several dimensions.
| Aspect | Traditional SEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank in search results | Get cited in AI answers |
| Format | Optimized for clicks | Optimized for extraction |
| Authority signals | Links, domain strength | Expertise, clarity, citations |
| Content structure | Keywords, headers, meta | Clear statements, structured data |
| Success metric | Rankings, traffic | AI mentions, citations |
Traditional SEO optimizes content to appear prominently in search results and attract clicks. The content format focuses on compelling titles and meta descriptions that encourage click-through, with page structure designed around keyword placement and header hierarchy. Success is measured through ranking positions and organic traffic numbers.
GEO takes a different approach. The goal is to have your information included in AI-generated answers, which means optimizing for extraction rather than clicks. Authority signals shift from backlink profiles to demonstrated expertise and factual accuracy. Content structure emphasizes clear, citable statements and structured data that AI can easily parse and reference.
The Overlap
Despite these differences, GEO and SEO share substantial common ground. Both disciplines reward high-quality, accurate content that genuinely serves user needs. Both benefit from clear structure and formatting that makes information easy to understand and navigate. Both require established authority and demonstrated expertise in your subject matter. Both depend on technical accessibility that allows search engines and AI systems to discover and process your content. And both ultimately succeed by matching user intent with relevant, helpful information.
This overlap means that content ranking well in traditional search often gets cited by generative engines without additional optimization. However, specific GEO-focused optimizations can significantly increase your probability of AI citation, making it worthwhile to layer these tactics onto a strong SEO foundation.
For a detailed comparison of these disciplines, see our SEO vs GEO guide.
How Generative Engines Select Sources
Understanding how AI search engines choose sources provides the foundation for effective optimization. The selection process involves multiple factors working together to determine which sources earn citations.
Training Data Influence
Large language models are trained on massive datasets encompassing significant portions of the public internet. Content that appears frequently and authoritatively within this training data shapes the baseline knowledge that models carry into every conversation.
This training data influence has several important implications for your optimization strategy. Established sources that have been frequently cited across the web carry inherent advantages because the model has encountered their information repeatedly during training. Content published before training data cutoffs shapes the foundational knowledge that models reference even without real-time search. Sources like Wikipedia, major publications, and high-authority industry sites carry particular weight because they appear prominently throughout training datasets.
Real-Time Search Integration
Modern generative engines supplement their training knowledge with real-time web search capabilities. When generating answers about current topics or specific queries, these systems may query traditional search engines for fresh information, pull content from top-ranking pages, synthesize multiple sources into coherent answers, and include citations with links to the sources they referenced.
This real-time search integration creates direct connections between traditional SEO performance and AI visibility. Your rankings in traditional search influence whether AI systems encounter your content during real-time queries. Fresh content can earn citations if it ranks well for relevant queries. Building multiple strong pages across related topics reinforces your topical authority in ways that both traditional and AI search recognize.
Content Quality Signals
Generative engines evaluate content quality through a lens that differs somewhat from traditional search algorithms. They prioritize clarity and directness of answers, favoring content that states information plainly rather than burying it in narrative. They look for expertise signals and author credentials that establish credibility on the topic. They assess accuracy and factual consistency, cross-referencing claims against other sources. They prefer structured formatting that's easy to parse and extract information from. And they give weight to content that cites authoritative sources, demonstrating research rigor.
For tactical guidance on optimizing your content for these quality signals, see our guide on content formatting for AI.
The E-E-A-T Foundation
Google's E-E-A-T framework stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Originally developed as quality guidelines for traditional search, this framework applies equally to GEO because both channels reward genuine authority and credibility.
Experience
Experience asks whether your content demonstrates first-hand involvement with the topic at hand. Search engines and AI systems alike recognize the difference between theoretical knowledge and practical experience.
For ecommerce businesses, experience manifests in several important ways. Product reviews from actual users who have purchased and tested items carry more weight than generic descriptions. Behind-the-scenes content about manufacturing, sourcing, or development demonstrates intimate knowledge of your products. Customer stories and testimonials show real-world applications and outcomes. Hands-on product demonstrations, whether through video, detailed photography, or step-by-step guides, prove direct experience with what you're selling.
Expertise
Expertise concerns whether your content demonstrates deep knowledge of the subject matter. Surface-level information that anyone could compile from basic research doesn't establish expertise, while detailed, nuanced coverage signals genuine authority.
Ecommerce sites demonstrate expertise through technical product specifications that go beyond manufacturer marketing materials. Expert buying guides that help customers navigate complex purchase decisions showcase deep category knowledge. Correct use of industry-specific terminology signals insider familiarity with the space. Problem-solution content that addresses common customer challenges with authoritative recommendations proves you understand both the products and the people who use them.
Authoritativeness
Authoritativeness measures whether your brand is recognized as a leader within your space. This recognition comes from external validation rather than self-proclamation.
Building authority requires earning mentions and citations from industry publications that cover your sector. Developing relationships with expert contributors who lend their credibility to your content strengthens your authoritative positioning. Pursuing relevant awards and recognition programs creates third-party validation. Cultivating a strong backlink profile from relevant, reputable sources demonstrates that others in your industry consider you a credible reference.
Trustworthiness
Trustworthiness addresses whether users can trust both your information and your business operations. Trust encompasses factual accuracy, business legitimacy, and user safety.
Trust signals include clear business information and accessible contact details that prove you're a real operation. Customer reviews and ratings provide social proof of satisfactory transactions. Security certifications demonstrate commitment to protecting customer data. Transparent policies around shipping, returns, and privacy show you operate in good faith.
For ecommerce-specific implementation strategies across all four E-E-A-T pillars, see our E-E-A-T for ecommerce guide.
Technical SEO Fundamentals
Technical SEO ensures that search engines can discover, crawl, index, and understand your content. Without a solid technical foundation, even the best content may never reach its ranking potential or become visible to AI systems conducting real-time searches.
Site Architecture
Effective site architecture begins with establishing a logical hierarchy that both users and search engines can navigate intuitively. Your category and subcategory structure should reflect how customers think about your products, creating clear pathways from broad topics to specific items. Internal linking should follow consistent patterns that distribute authority throughout your site and help search engines understand content relationships. Page depth matters as well, with most important pages accessible within three clicks of your homepage to ensure they receive adequate crawl attention. Comprehensive XML sitemaps covering all significant pages provide search engines with a complete map of your content.
URL structure reinforces this architecture through descriptive, keyword-inclusive addresses that communicate page content at a glance. Patterns should remain consistent across the site, making URL behavior predictable for both users and crawlers. Proper canonicalization prevents duplicate content issues by clearly designating preferred versions of pages that might be accessible through multiple URLs.
Crawlability
Ensuring search engines can access your content requires attention to several technical factors. Server response times must be fast enough that crawlers don't time out or skip pages. Your robots.txt file needs careful review to prevent accidental blocking of important content. JavaScript-rendered content requires proper handling to ensure search engines can access the fully-rendered page. Mobile-friendly rendering is essential since Google now primarily uses mobile versions of pages for indexing.
Indexability
Beyond crawlability, you need control over what actually gets indexed. Noindex tags should appear on thin or duplicate content that might dilute your site's quality signals. Canonical tags help manage similar pages by pointing to preferred versions. Pagination requires careful handling to ensure search engines understand relationships between paginated content. Faceted navigation, common on ecommerce sites, needs management to prevent creation of thousands of thin, duplicate pages from filter combinations.
For platform-specific guidance on these technical fundamentals, see our Technical SEO Checklist for Shopify.
Schema Markup for Ecommerce
Schema markup provides structured data that helps search engines understand your content at a granular level. Beyond improving traditional search visibility, schema also influences how generative engines parse and cite your information, making it doubly valuable for modern optimization.
Essential Ecommerce Schema
Product schema forms the foundation of ecommerce structured data. This markup communicates essential product information including name, description, and images in machine-readable format. It specifies current price and availability status that can appear in rich search results. Brand and manufacturer information helps establish product authenticity. Aggregate reviews and ratings provide social proof directly in search listings.
Organization schema establishes your business identity for search engines. This includes your business name and description, contact information for customer service, and links to your social media profiles that reinforce brand identity across platforms.
Breadcrumb schema communicates your site's navigational structure. It shows the path users would take to reach any given page and reinforces your category hierarchy in search engine understanding.
FAQ schema marks up question-and-answer content that appears on your pages. This structured format increases eligibility for featured snippets in traditional search while making your Q&A content easily extractable for AI citation.
Schema and AI Citation
Structured data helps generative engines extract specific information with confidence and accuracy. When AI systems need product specifications for comparison queries, properly implemented schema provides that data in unambiguous format. Pricing information marked up with schema can be referenced accurately in shopping-related AI responses. Rating data enables AI engines to make informed recommendations. FAQ content structured with schema maps directly to question-answer queries that users pose to AI assistants.
Clear, comprehensive schema markup increases both the likelihood and accuracy of AI citation, ensuring that when generative engines reference your content, they do so correctly.
Content Optimization for Both Channels
Creating content that performs well in both traditional search and generative AI requires understanding what both systems reward, then crafting content that delivers on those shared and distinct requirements.
Writing for Humans and AI
Content that works effectively for both channels shares several characteristics. It answers questions directly and clearly, providing the information users seek without forcing them to dig through tangential content. It uses clear structure with descriptive headings that signal what each section contains. It includes specific facts and figures rather than vague generalizations that could apply to anything. It cites authoritative sources to support claims and demonstrate research rigor. And it demonstrates genuine expertise through depth, nuance, and insider knowledge that surface-level content lacks.
These qualities satisfy human readers looking for helpful information, traditional search algorithms evaluating content quality, and AI systems seeking reliable sources to cite.
Format for Extraction
Generative engines extract information most effectively from well-structured content designed with extraction in mind. Leading with key information follows the inverted pyramid principle, putting the most important facts at the beginning of sections where AI systems are most likely to capture them. Clear, specific statements that can stand alone as complete thoughts are more citable than information buried within complex sentences. Lists and tables work well for structured data that benefits from visual organization. Complete answers within sections ensure that AI systems can extract comprehensive responses without needing to piece together information from multiple locations.
For detailed tactics on formatting content for optimal AI extraction, see our content formatting for AI guide.
Brand Visibility Strategy
Getting your brand mentioned by AI requires deliberate strategy beyond general content optimization. You need to position yourself as the authoritative source on topics relevant to your business, creating content comprehensive enough that AI systems naturally reference it when those topics arise. Your content must demonstrate the credibility markers that generative engines use to evaluate source reliability. Building external citations and mentions reinforces your authority in ways that AI training data captures. And optimizing specifically for brand-related queries ensures that when users ask about your products or company by name, AI systems have accurate information to provide.
Building Authority and Links
Authority signals influence both traditional search rankings and the probability that AI systems will cite your content. Building genuine authority therefore delivers compounding returns across both visibility channels.
Link Building for Ecommerce
Ecommerce link building requires tactics suited to online retail rather than service businesses. Product-based digital PR campaigns can earn coverage when you have genuinely newsworthy products, launches, or data to share. Manufacturer and supplier relationships sometimes yield links from authoritative industry players. Features in industry publications build both links and brand awareness. Resource page targeting identifies existing pages linking to helpful resources in your category where your content might earn inclusion. Broken link opportunities, where you find outdated links on authoritative sites and offer your content as a replacement, can yield high-quality links with relatively low competition.
Digital PR
Earning mentions in publications builds authority across multiple dimensions simultaneously. Quality backlinks directly improve your domain authority and ranking potential. Brand awareness increases as readers encounter your name in trusted publications. AI training data increasingly includes your brand as these mentions accumulate. Citation credibility strengthens as AI systems recognize your brand appearing in authoritative contexts.
Local SEO Considerations
For businesses with physical locations, local SEO remains an important component of comprehensive search visibility. Google Business Profile optimization ensures you appear in local search results and map listings. Consistent local citations across directories reinforce your business information accuracy. Review management builds social proof while improving local ranking factors. Local content strategy helps capture searches with geographic intent relevant to your service areas.
Measuring Success
Effective optimization requires measurement frameworks that capture performance across both traditional and AI-powered search channels.
Traditional SEO Metrics
Ranking performance provides the most direct measure of SEO success. Tracking keyword positions over time shows whether optimization efforts are moving the needle. Visibility scores aggregate ranking data into overall measures of search presence. SERP feature capture indicates whether you're winning featured snippets, image packs, and other enhanced results.
Traffic metrics translate rankings into business value. Organic sessions measure actual visitors arriving through search. Click-through rates reveal whether your titles and descriptions compel searchers to choose your results over competitors. Landing page performance shows how effectively your pages convert search visitors into engaged users.
Business outcomes tie SEO to revenue. Organic revenue tracks purchases attributable to search traffic. Conversion rates measure the percentage of organic visitors who complete desired actions. Cost per acquisition allows comparison against paid channels to demonstrate SEO's efficiency.
AI Visibility Metrics
Measuring AI citation is a newer discipline with less standardized approaches, but several methods provide useful visibility into your generative engine performance.
Direct monitoring involves regularly querying common questions in major generative engines to observe whether your brand appears in responses. Tracking brand mentions in AI-generated answers over time reveals trends in your citation frequency. Documenting which specific queries trigger mentions helps identify optimization opportunities.
Proxy metrics offer indirect evidence of AI visibility when direct measurement proves difficult. Changes in brand search volume may indicate increased awareness driven by AI mentions. Referral traffic from AI platforms shows users clicking through from citations. Social media mentions of AI recommendations can reveal when people share or discuss AI-generated suggestions featuring your brand.
Emerging tools are beginning to address this measurement gap, with AI visibility tracking platforms, brand mention monitoring services, and citation tracking tools entering the market.
The Future of Search
Search visibility strategy must account not only for current realities but also for where the landscape is heading. Understanding emerging trends helps you position for continued success as the search environment evolves.
Trends to Watch
AI integration into search is accelerating across all major platforms. Google's AI Overviews are expanding to more queries and more markets. User behavior is shifting toward AI-first search, particularly for informational and research queries. Voice assistants are gaining AI capabilities that make them more useful for complex queries, expanding conversational search beyond simple commands.
Zero-click answers are becoming more prevalent as AI provides direct responses that satisfy user queries without requiring website visits. This trend increases the importance of citation visibility since brand mentions in answers may become more valuable than clicks. Positioning your brand within AI-generated answers becomes critical for maintaining visibility even as traditional click-through opportunities decline.
Source verification is emerging as a priority for generative engine developers. As concerns about AI accuracy grow, engines are adding fact-checking capabilities and source quality evaluation. Authority signals will likely become even more important as these systems prioritize verified, credible sources. Misinformation penalties may emerge to demote or exclude unreliable sources from citation.
Preparing for Change
Building resilience against future changes requires foundational investments that remain valuable regardless of how algorithms and AI systems evolve. Genuine authority and expertise cannot be faked or manufactured at scale, making these investments defensible long-term. High-quality, accurate content serves users well and satisfies both current and future quality evaluations. Technical excellence ensures your content remains accessible as indexing and retrieval systems evolve. Developing multiple visibility channels reduces dependence on any single discovery mechanism.
Adaptive strategies help you respond effectively as the landscape shifts. Monitoring AI engine behavior changes alerts you to algorithm updates that might affect your visibility. Testing new optimization approaches keeps you ahead of competitors still using outdated tactics. Balancing short-term tactics with long-term authority building ensures sustainable visibility rather than temporary gains that fade with the next algorithm change.
Implementation Priorities
The specific actions you should prioritize depend on your current state of search optimization. Businesses just beginning their SEO and GEO journey need different starting points than established operations looking to expand their visibility.
For Businesses Starting Out
If you're early in your search optimization journey, begin by fixing your technical foundations. Ensure your site is fully crawlable, that important pages are being indexed, and that site speed meets modern performance standards. Technical issues blocking search engine access will undermine every other optimization effort.
Next, establish E-E-A-T by creating content that demonstrates your expertise and authority. Identify the topics most central to your business and develop comprehensive resources that showcase deep knowledge. Simultaneously begin building authority signals through industry participation, quality link acquisition, and professional content development.
With foundations in place, optimize your existing content by adding clear structure, improving the directness and clarity of your writing, and implementing relevant schema markup. These improvements help both traditional search engines and AI systems understand and value your content.
Finally, focus on building authority through quality link acquisition and brand mention generation. Authority takes time to develop but compounds in value as your reputation grows.
For Established Businesses
If you already have traditional SEO in place, begin your GEO expansion by auditing your current AI visibility. Query major generative engines with questions relevant to your business to observe whether you're being cited and how accurately. This baseline reveals optimization opportunities.
Next, optimize for extraction by restructuring content to be more AI-friendly. Apply formatting principles that make information easy to parse and cite. Ensure key facts appear prominently and clearly.
Expand your topical coverage by building comprehensive content clusters that establish deep authority across your subject matter areas. AI systems recognize and reward thorough coverage that positions you as the definitive source on topics.
Finally, establish ongoing monitoring across both channels. Track performance in traditional search alongside AI citation frequency. Use insights from this monitoring to iterate and improve your optimization approach continuously.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GEO replacing SEO?
No. GEO represents an additional channel rather than a replacement for traditional search optimization. SEO remains important for driving traffic and conversions through traditional search, which still accounts for the majority of search activity. GEO captures users who prefer AI-first search experiences, a segment that's growing but hasn't displaced traditional search behavior. The most effective strategy optimizes for both channels simultaneously, recognizing that the foundational principles overlap significantly.
How quickly can I rank in generative engines?
Timeline depends heavily on your current authority and content quality. Sites with established expertise and comprehensive, high-quality content may see AI citations relatively quickly, sometimes within weeks of optimization efforts. Building authority from scratch takes longer, typically months to years for competitive topics. Unlike traditional SEO where you can track ranking progress incrementally, AI citation tends to appear more suddenly once you cross authority thresholds that make you citable.
Should I optimize differently for each AI engine?
Currently, the fundamentals apply consistently across major generative engines. Quality content, clear structure, and demonstrated expertise matter whether you're targeting ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google's AI features. As the space matures, engine-specific tactics may emerge, similar to how SEO developed platform-specific best practices over time. For now, focus on universal optimization principles that position you well across all AI systems rather than trying to game individual engines.
Does AI search affect ecommerce differently?
Yes. Ecommerce businesses face unique dynamics in AI search because product recommendations in AI answers directly influence purchase decisions. When a user asks an AI assistant for product suggestions and your brand appears in the response, that carries significant conversion potential. Being cited as a recommended product or brand creates direct business value beyond the visibility itself. Ecommerce sites should therefore prioritize optimization of product and category content, buying guides, and comparison resources that are likely to be referenced in shopping-related AI queries.
The Bottom Line
Search is evolving into a dual-channel system that requires dual-channel optimization. Traditional search engines continue to drive significant traffic and revenue, representing the primary discovery mechanism for most users and most queries. Generative AI engines represent growing influence on how consumers discover products and make decisions, particularly for informational and research queries that precede purchase decisions.
Winning in this landscape requires strong technical SEO foundations that ensure your content is discoverable and indexable. It demands an E-E-A-T-focused content strategy that establishes genuine authority and expertise. It benefits from AI-friendly content formatting that makes your information easy to extract and cite. It depends on consistent authority building that strengthens your position in both traditional and AI-powered search. And it requires measurement across both channels to track progress and identify opportunities.
The businesses that thrive in this evolving landscape will be those that view SEO and GEO not as separate disciplines competing for attention but as complementary components of comprehensive search visibility. The foundational work overlaps significantly, and excelling at the shared fundamentals positions you for success across both channels simultaneously.
Want a professional assessment of your search visibility across both traditional and AI channels? Book a free CRO audit and we'll analyze your current SEO performance, evaluate your AI citation potential, and recommend specific improvements to capture traffic from both sources.
