If I had to rethink SEO and visibility from scratch today knowing what I know after speaking with dozens of GEO founders and companies as a VC, I would stop optimizing only for Google and start optimizing for AI engines.

This article is for founders, marketers, and operators who feel that their organic traffic is shrinking, their SEO ROI is dropping, or that more and more answers are happening inside ChatGPT instead of on their websites.

Below, you’ll learn what actually works in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), what no longer does, and which tools are worth paying attention to - including the ones I personally use.

Let’s start with some context and dive in!

In 1876, Western Union dismissed the telephone as an “inherently useless device.”Seven years later, more than 150,000 people owned one.

In 1998, Yahoo waved off Google’s PageRank as “too academic.”Five years later, Google reshaped how billions find information.

Every major shift in how humans search looks insignificant at first.And then, almost overnight, it becomes the new default.

Today, we are standing at the edge of the next one.

Google has already confirmed that AI Overviews drive significantly higher engagement than classic search results. And at the same time, generative engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity are becoming the first place millions of users turn to for answers.

And this is not a future trend. It is already happening:

👉 Translation: You can rank #1 on Google and still get zero traffic.

Example: This website saw a 71% decrease in informational query ranking from December 2023 to April 2024. The impacted pages were listicles, category pages, glossaries and top-of-funnel education-style content.

This may sound unsatisfying, and honestly, it is.But here’s the good thing → if SEO is collapsing, something else is replacing it.

And that “something” is GEO, Generative Engine Optimization.It’s the playbook for visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and every new AI-driven search interface.

In this post, you’ll learn:

✅ What GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) actually is and how it differs from classic SEO✅ How AI search (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews) is reshaping visibility✅ Why content alone fails, and how distribution & multichannel signals decide if LLMs “see” you✅ How to make your brand “token-friendly” to AI models so you get cited and ranked✅ A market overview of the GEO landscape: players, trends, and the ultimate GEO tool comparison

If you’re building a startup today, don’t just fight for Google rankings.👉 Build the authority to rank everywhere.

Let’s jump in!

GEO = Generative Engine Optimization.

It’s the process of making your brand visible across generative engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews.

The logic is simple:👉 If these engines don’t mention you, you don’t exist anymore.

GEO ensures your content is understood, cited, and surfaced in answers: not just indexed in Google.

Both aim for visibility. Both reward relevance, authority & trust. But the mechanics are different:

SEO asks: How do I rank higher?In comparison to that; GEO asks: How do I get included in the conversation?

Like I wrote in the beginning of the article, more than 60% of searches end in 0 website clicks. Which means that even IF you manage to rank against the huge competition in Google search, you still won’t get many views on your website.

Meanwhile:

👉 This means, traditional SEO metrics (CTR, traffic) are collapsing.The new currency is being cited inside AI generated answers.

If you’re not mentioned → you’re invisible.

Now, that you understand the issue and the idea behind GEO, here’s the exact playbook how to really perform in GEO - without paying tens of thousands to random agencies.

Old SEO = keyword lists.GEO = Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) as the foundation.

LLMs don’t pull random keywords. They look for entities, expertise, and context that align with user intent.

What to do:

Classic SEO = one website.GEO = everywhere your buyers look.

LLMs weigh brands statistically. The more your name appears across channels → the more likely you get cited.

👉 One clear, widely shared LinkedIn post can get cited by ChatGPT, Google, and Perplexity in less than 24h. Same for Reddit → They just give your content a high trust level.

Machines still crawl websites. If your content is invisible to crawlers, you’re invisible to AI.

Core actions:

And because I was just writing about trust, here’s how to create the most trust (AI engines LOVE trusted content).

How to build authority:

If AI cites you, users assume you’re credible, which means it’s the ultimate circular growth. Trust → AI engine mentions → more Trust → More AI engine mentions…

AI retrieves chunks, not pages.

Rules:

Reddit, Quora, and forums dominate AI scraping.

👉 Start or own a community. Seed conversations that position you. Let crawlers do the rest.

Old world: Traffic, CTR, impressions.New world:

✅ AI Mentions: citations in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI Overviews✅ Share of Voice: % of AI answers you appear in vs. competitors✅ Authority Signals: EEAT, brand mentions, digital footprint✅ Lead Flow: mentions → pipeline → revenue

The GEO stack is growing super fast right now. In just 1 year over 200 new GEO companies were created (It feels like I spoke to 100 of them - but I guess it was more like 10. But still: most of them are doing exactly the same thing…). Here are the most important ones:

And this is just the beginning. Expect a wave (if not a tsunami) of GEO SaaS companies; the same way SEO tools exploded after Google’s rise.

All of this looks incredibly bullish on the surface. A growing category, rapid fundraising, new players appearing every month. But GEO is not going to become the next AI mega–market. Even in classic SEO, the biggest tools in the world struggle to reach 400 million dollars in ARR. GEO will not exceed that ceiling.Most VCs see the space as crowded, noisy, and ultimately capped in size. In our own pipeline, we passed on multiple GEO startups for exactly that reason: limited differentiation and a market that can only support one or two true category winners.I also know from first hand conversations that some of the big GEO companies tried to raise significantly more but simply couldn’t. Not because the technology lacked quality, but because investors were simply unwilling to underwrite the category risk.

SEO is no longer just “Search Engine Optimization.”It’s becoming Search Everywhere Optimization.

Your buyers don’t just Google it. They:

If your brand isn’t mentioned here, you’re kind of invisible.But if you move now, you can win with less traffic and more authority, while competitors fight for blue links that nobody clicks.

GEO won’t kill SEO. It will absorb it. The future is hybrid: machine-first distribution with human-first content.

I’d love to hear your experience with GEO so far.

What’s working for you — and what isn’t?

Drop a comment and let’s learn from each other.

Cheers 🥂