G
GEO
Google's AI surfaces
AI Overviews and Gemini. Still inside Google, so backlinks, technical health and traditional authority carry weight; alongside answer-first structure and schema.
GEO is Generative Engine Optimisation; the practice of getting your brand surfaced and cited inside Google's AI-generated answers. Specifically AI Overviews and Gemini. It sits inside Google's ecosystem, which means it still rewards some classic ranking signals; with a generative twist.
When you Google a question in 2026, you often get an AI-generated summary at the top; before the blue links. That is an AI Overview. GEO is the work that gets your page cited inside that summary, and gets your brand mentioned by Gemini. Because it lives inside Google, GEO blends traditional SEO strength with answer-engine tactics.
AI Overviews and Gemini. Still inside Google, so backlinks, technical health and traditional authority carry weight; alongside answer-first structure and schema.
ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot. Driven more by brand mentions across the web and presence in training data than by your backlink profile. AEO guide →
In practice, the line is blurry and the two overlap heavily. Many agencies (and Google itself) use "GEO" as the umbrella for all generative search. We split them because the tactics differ: GEO leans on your existing Google authority; AEO leans on your brand's wider footprint.
AI Overviews can answer the question so completely that the user never clicks. This is the "zero-click" problem. The win is no longer always a visit; sometimes it is the brand impression of being the cited source. GEO strategy has to account for that; you optimise for citation and brand recall, not just clicks, and you make sure the queries that do still drive clicks (high-intent, transactional) are locked down.
Any brand that already gets meaningful Google traffic and is watching AI Overviews eat their click-through rate. If you have seen impressions hold steady but clicks drop, AI Overviews are likely the cause; and GEO is how you respond. Ecommerce and DTC brands at $1M+, B2B brands with informational content, and local or multi-location businesses are the most exposed, and have the most to gain.
Our free audit shows which of your queries are triggering AI Overviews, whether you are cited, and what it would take to win them back.
See GEO Service