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SEO vs GEO is not a choice between two channels: SEO gets you into the results of Google and Bing, GEO gets AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews to name you as a source, and the second builds on the first. ChatGPT takes most of the pages it cites from a search engine, and Google still sends far more visitors than ChatGPT. If you are not found yet, start with SEO; once you are, write your pages so a model can quote them.
This page puts the two side by side with the figures that exist, a budget split per situation and what to do tomorrow. What GEO means in short is in the glossary entry GEO; whether SEO still matters is answered in is SEO dead.
SEO vs GEO at a glance
Where you appear and what counts
- Where you appear
- SEOIn the list of results, with your own title and description
- GEOInside an answer a language model writes, as a source or a name
- What the reader does
- SEOClicks through to your site
- GEOReads the answer, sometimes clicks the source
- What counts most
- SEOA page per search question, sound technique, links from other sites
- GEOBeing found first, then facts with numbers and sources a model can lift
- How you measure it
- SEOImpressions, positions and clicks in Search Console
- GEOVisits referred by ChatGPT or Gemini, and what assistants say about you
GEO does not stand next to SEO but on top of it: what an assistant cannot find, it cannot cite.
One question, two routes: a click or a mention
"What does a bathroom renovation cost in Ghent?"
SEO: the search results
- Google shows pagesA title and description per result
- The searcher picksClicks the result that answers the question
- Your siteEnquiry, call, quote
GEO: the AI answer
- The assistant searches the web88 percent of what ChatGPT retrieves this way, it also cites
- It writes an answerWith facts, figures and sources it can take over
- A mention, sometimes a clickWith an AI summary 8 percent click through, without 15
Both routes start with a page that can be found, with the answer up front.
Figures from studies by Ahrefs (April 2026) and Pew (March 2025, United States), as discussed on this page. Direction, not a promise for your site.
Why SEO stays the base
For many questions, ChatGPT searches the web first and picks its sources from what it finds. If you do not show up in search, you rarely show up in the answer. And the traffic still sits mostly with Google. AI summaries do take clicks away, which makes it all the more important to be the source inside that summary. The measurements so far:
| What was measured | Result | Study |
|---|---|---|
| Pages ChatGPT retrieves through search that it also cites | 88 percent | Ahrefs, 1.4 million prompts, 2026 |
| Traffic from Google against ChatGPT | about 190 times as much from Google | Ahrefs, 76,000 sites, 2026 |
| Google searches showing an AI summary | 18 percent | Pew Research, United States, 2025 |
| Click on a regular result, with and without AI summary | 8 against 15 percent | Pew Research, same study |
| Effect of citations, statistics and quotes on AI visibility | up to 40 percent more | The paper that coined GEO |
| Effect of an llms.txt on AI citations | no measurable effect | 300,000 domains, 2025 |
The figures come from different studies and countries; read them as direction, not as a promise for your site.
What GEO adds on top
GEO mostly changes how you write. Citations, statistics and quotations make a text more visible in AI answers, as the paper that coined the term showed. That is work on your own pages: the answer in the first sentence, a price or lead time with a date, a table a model can take over. Technical tricks such as an llms.txt file help less than sellers claim; the table above shows why.
SEO vs AEO, and where the terms meet
AEO, answer engine optimisation, is the older term for the direct answer at the top of Google and in voice assistants. GEO is about being cited in an answer a language model writes itself. The work overlaps almost completely: clear questions, short answers, facts with a source.
Where your budget goes
If your site is not yet on page 1 for the questions your customers ask, almost everything goes to SEO: a page per search question, in every language you sell in, sound technique and internal links. For a client in Belgium, a payroll and HR office in Ghent, that work took the site from 220 to 10,200 impressions a day in Google within five weeks, with 1,593 search terms without the brand name on page 1, up from 13. Once you rank, part of the budget moves to GEO: rewriting the same pages with the facts up front, and tracking what assistants say about you.
| Where your site stands | SEO | GEO | First step |
|---|---|---|---|
| Few pages, not on page 1 | almost all | almost none | Pages per search question, technique in order; start with the SEO checker |
| On page 1 for part of your terms | most | some | Rewrite existing pages with the answer and facts up front |
| Strong in Google, not yet named by assistants | maintenance | more | Fact pages with figures and dates, a clear description of your business, tracking what assistants say |
This is our own rule of thumb, not a measurement. What SEO costs is in how much does SEO cost.
How to write a page Google and an assistant both read
- The answer in the first sentence, with the number or verdict in it.
- Facts with a date. A price, a deadline or a threshold, with the day you checked it.
- A table where things are compared. A model lifts a row from a table more easily than from a paragraph.
- Your business named clearly: what you do, where, for whom, with your name and city as on your Google Business Profile.
- One page per question, in every language you sell in.
How to measure what AI says about you
- Search ConsoleImpressions and clicks from Google remain the base; what it shows about AI features is in Search Console AI performance report.
- Your own analyticsCount visitors arriving with ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity as the source.
- The assistants themselvesAsk the five questions your customers ask each month and note whether you are named, and with which facts.
- Who may read your siteIf your site blocks AI crawlers, they cannot cite you; test with the AI crawler checker. To stay out of Google's AI Overviews, see opt out of Google AI Overviews.
Pitfalls in GEO offers
- A branded methodthat promises a place in ChatGPT. Nobody controls a model's answers.
- A monthly fee without a baselineIf a GEO seller does not show which questions they track and what assistants said about you before, they cannot prove anything afterwards.
- GEO without SEOWhat an assistant cannot find, it cannot cite.
- Text for machinesA page of bullet lists without a reader helps no customer and no model.
Before you pay for GEO
Does an llms.txt file help?
It does no harm, but a study of some 300,000 domains saw no clear effect on AI citations. Facts on your pages weigh more.
What does GEO cost?
GEO is not a separate product but work on your pages, on top of SEO. Count it in your SEO budget; what that costs is in our guide on SEO cost.
How do I know whether ChatGPT names my business?
Ask the same questions your customers ask, each month, in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and note whether you are named. Also check your analytics for visitors with an AI assistant as source.
Do I need separate pages for AI assistants?
No. Assistants read the same pages Google indexes. A separate set of pages written for machines splits your effort and can look like duplicate content to Google. Improve the pages you have.