Guest Blog Post by Director of Growth at TBDC, Shaunik Sachdev.
Let me start with something honest: I’ve always appreciated what SEO can do, but I’ve never been the type to obsess over keyword density or technical audits.
I’ve leaned more into brand building, growth and connecting the dots across channels. But even then — when I looked around at how I personally was searching for answers or discovering brands, I noticed a shift.
I wasn’t Googling things the same way anymore. I was asking ChatGPT for ideas. I was using Perplexity for research. I’d type a question into Google and just… read the AI summary and move on.
And that’s when it hit me:
We’re not just searching differently.
We’re trusting differently.
Welcome to the era of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) — where you’re not just ranking on a page. You’re trying to earn a place inside a machine’s answer.
What is GEO, really?
In the old world of SEO, the goal was simple: show up high on Google so users clicked on your website.
But GEO? It’s a whole different game. Now, AI tools — ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude — are reading through the internet, understanding what’s out there, and crafting their own responses. They’re not sending people to 10 links anymore — they’re summarizing the answer for them.
And if your content isn’t part of what the AI reads, understands, and trusts?
You’re invisible. Even if you’re ranking #1 on Google.
I learned this the hard way.
Last year, we published a beautiful long-form blog post for a client in the fertility tech space. It was technically perfect — optimized, backlinked, all green lights on Yoast.
But when I asked ChatGPT a related question just out of curiosity, it didn’t mention the brand at all.
Meanwhile, a smaller brand with way fewer resources was being referenced — because their content was structured better for AI to read. It was written in a more conversational tone, included direct Q&A formats, and even had clear authorship with expert quotes.
That was my “aha” moment. GEO isn’t about showing up to the algorithm anymore. It’s about showing up to the conversation. GEO is the art (and increasingly the science) of making sure AI models pick up, trust, and feature your content when they’re crafting those answers.
What should companies actually focus on?
Most brands are still treating SEO like it’s 2018. But if you’re serious about building real visibility today — and staying visible tomorrow — your marketing mix has to evolve.
Here’s the new checklist:
- Content that’s truly useful, not just “optimized.”
Think deep answers, clear explanations, highly contextual help. AI models prioritize content that feels “complete” and “trustworthy” over keyword-stuffed blogs. - Structured Data & Schema Markup.
Don’t just write well — tag your content properly. FAQ sections, How-to guides, Review schemas — all of these help AI engines understand and reuse your content better. - Build authority like your brand depends on it. (Because it does.)
Quotes from experts, credible citations, data-backed insights — these aren’t nice-to-haves anymore. AI trusts authority signals to decide what to surface. - Think beyond Google.
YouTube, Amazon, TikTok, and new AI-first platforms are becoming discovery engines too. GEO isn’t just about web articles. It’s about being everywhere AI is learning from. - Adapt content formats for conversational search.
People are asking complete questions now, not typing “best shoes 2025” — they’re asking “what are the best running shoes for flat feet in 2025?”
Your content needs to match that energy.
What a GEO-savvy marketing mix should look like
If I were building a marketing engine today, I’d structure it around three pillars:
- Foundational SEO — still optimize technical SEO basics: site speed, mobile optimization, clean structure.
- GEO-first Content Strategy — create resource-style content, structured in ways that AI can easily parse and cite.
- Visibility Beyond Search — podcasts, YouTube shorts, TikTok explainers, LinkedIn articles — because discovery happens everywhere now.
GEO and SEO aren’t mutually exclusive — they’re complementary. I’ll say this: GEO isn’t here to replace SEO — it’s here to sit beside it. SEO helps you stay visible for human searches. GEO helps you stay relevant when AI is the one answering.
You need both.
What's Next?
The marketing world has spent 20+ years learning how to optimize for algorithms.
Now, it’s time to learn how to optimize for AI brains.
We used to say “content is king.”
In the GEO era, I’d say clarity is king — and trust is queen.
Marketing today isn’t just about visibility. It’s about presence. It’s about showing up in the moments people ask for help — not as a pop-up ad, but as part of the answer.
And the best part?
You don’t need to outspend the competition. You just need to out-help them.
Be useful. Be cited. Be findable — even when there’s no click involved.
In the end, I think that’s what most get into marketing for anyway:
To be helpful. To be remembered. To be worth showing up for.
