What is GEO and how is it different from SEO?

GEO targets how AI systems cite and surface your content, not how Google ranks it. Traditional SEO optimizes for crawlers and backlink signals. GEO optimizes for how large language models extract answers: content structure, entity clarity, schema specificity, and whether third-party sources corroborate your claims. The techniques overlap in places but the execution is fundamentally different.

Which AI platforms does GEOhelp optimise for?

GEOhelp optimizes for the three major AI search platforms: ChatGPT (including Browse and SearchGPT), Perplexity AI, and Claude. We run test queries across all three to establish a baseline and measure improvement, since each platform has slightly different extraction and citation behaviors.

How long does it take to see results in AI search?

Structural and schema changes can start showing within 2–6 weeks. Citation frequency usually improves over a 2–3 month cycle. The timeline depends on the client's existing domain authority, how competitive the query space is, and whether the gaps are structural (fast to fix) or authority-based (slower, requires third-party citations).

Do my clients need to know GEOhelp is involved?

No. GEOhelp is fully white-label, so your client relationship stays yours.

What does a monthly GEO execution retainer include?

One client slot. Each month: we audit 15+ prompts across all three AI platforms, identify the top three fixes ranked by expected impact, implement those fixes (content rewrites, schema changes, citation outreach), retest the same query set, and deliver a summary your agency can send to the client as-is.

How do I know if my clients need GEO work?

The clearest signal: a competitor appears consistently in AI answers for industry queries and your client doesn't. If you're already tracking this in Otterly or Peec.ai and seeing low scores, GEO work is the execution layer that moves those numbers.

Comparison

GEO vs SEO: What's the Difference?

The short answer: SEO optimises for Google rankings. GEO optimises for AI-generated answers. They target different systems, require different techniques, and measure success differently. Applying SEO logic to GEO work produces no results.

Full comparison

Dimension

SEO

GEO

Target system

Google (and Bing) search crawlers and ranking algorithms

AI language models: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews

Success metric

Position in search results (rank 1–10), organic click-through rate

Frequency of citation in AI-generated answers across test query sets

Primary technique

Backlink acquisition, keyword optimisation, page speed, Core Web Vitals

Content restructuring, schema specificity, entity corroboration, citation building

Content format

Long-form content, keyword placement, heading hierarchy for crawlers

Short extractable answers, question-answer pairs, explicit definitions

Schema types

Product, LocalBusiness, Review — types that affect rich snippets

FAQPage, Article, HowTo, Organization — types that clarify entity context

Link signals

Backlinks from authoritative domains increase domain authority

Third-party citations (mentions, not necessarily links) increase entity trust

Timeline to results

3–6 months for competitive keywords, faster for low-competition terms

2–6 weeks for structural fixes; 2–3 months for citation-based improvements

Measurement tools

Google Search Console, Ahrefs, Semrush, Moz

Otterly.AI, Peec.ai, manual prompt testing across AI platforms

Can you do both SEO and GEO at the same time?

Yes — but they require separate workstreams. Some activities overlap (semantic content structure, for example, helps both crawlers and language models). But the majority of GEO work has no SEO equivalent, and vice versa.

A brand can rank on page one of Google and have zero AI citations. A brand with limited domain authority can appear frequently in AI answers if its content is well-structured and corroborated by third-party sources. The ranking signals are independent.

Why agencies need both

AI search usage is growing fast. ChatGPT now handles over a billion queries per week. Perplexity is growing as a default research tool. Google AI Overviews appear on a significant proportion of informational queries. Clients who are invisible in AI answers are losing discovery to competitors who are not.

Agencies that offer only SEO are leaving a measurable visibility gap uncovered. GEO fills that gap — and because few agencies currently offer it, early adoption creates a competitive differentiator for your agency before the market catches up.

“Measurement and improvement are different skills. Tracking AI visibility in Otterly is easy. Improving it requires a separate discipline.”

Next: How to Rank in AI Search →

GEO vs SEO: What's the Difference?

Full comparison

Can you do both SEO and GEO at the same time?

Why agencies need both

Ready to improve your AI search visibility?

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