Introduction
“Generative Engine Optimization” (GEO) refers to adapting digital content for AI-driven search engines and assistants. The term was popularized by a January 2025 Forbes Agency Council article touting GEO as “the future of search”, envisioning a world where users receive rich, AI-generated answers (with text, images, etc.) instead of traditional link lists[1]. In essence, GEO is positioned as the next evolution of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) in response to tools like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), Bing Chat/Copilot, and ChatGPT’s browsing or plugins. This report examines three key aspects of GEO: (1) whether GEO is widely accepted in the search marketing industry as the future of search, (2) if GEO practices are currently effective for boosting visibility in generative AI search results, and (3) how credible the GEO concept is according to experts, trend forecasts, and analyses.
GEO as the Future of Search: Industry Recognition and Adoption
There is growing recognition in the digital marketing community that generative AI is reshaping search, but acceptance of “GEO” as the future paradigm is cautious rather than uniform. The Forbes piece and similar thought leadership articles argue that traditional SEO must give way to GEO for brands to remain visible in AI-generated answers[1]. They claim the search industry has been “turned on its head” by AI, implying old tactics “just don’t work anymore” in an answer-driven search landscape[1]. While such bold claims are debated (as discussed later), many industry players do see some shift underway.
Notably, surveys and forecasts indicate significant adoption of GEO-oriented strategy. A June 2025 BrightEdge survey of 750 search and content marketers found 68% of organizations are already adjusting their search strategies in response to AI – with SEO teams “leading the charge” in this transition[2][3]. BrightEdge even refers to the emerging era as “the era of generative engine optimization (GEO)”[4]. Likewise, Gartner analysts project that by 2028 roughly 50% of all search traffic will come from generative AI engines, underscoring why businesses are starting to prepare for an AI-centric search future[5]. Major SEO publications have created dedicated GEO topic sections, and leading marketing firms are publishing guides on GEO, signaling that the concept has entered the SEO mainstream in 2024–2025.
That said, GEO is not yet a universally embraced standard. A large portion (57%) of marketers in the BrightEdge study are still “cautiously optimistic” or taking a “wait and see” approach[2]. There is recognition that Google and Bing are experimenting (e.g. Google’s SGE is still in labs), so many practitioners are watching how much AI search actually changes user behavior before overhauling their SEO playbooks. Google’s dominance in search isn’t gone overnight – for now, AI answers often appear alongside the traditional results rather than fully replacing them. Even proponents acknowledge GEO is an evolution of SEO, not a total replacement. As Christina Adame of Search Engine Land put it, “GEO is SEO’s next evolution — where your content is the answer, not just a link.”[6]. In practice, many see GEO as building on core SEO principles (quality content, authority, technical optimization) and extending them to new platforms and AI-driven contexts, rather than discarding SEO altogether.
In summary, GEO is gaining traction as a concept: industry leaders, tool-makers, and analysts are discussing it as a likely direction for search’s future, and a majority of organizations have at least started adapting strategy for AI-driven search results. However, it’s also clear that traditional SEO remains highly relevant today – GEO is viewed as an addition to the SEO toolkit prompted by new AI capabilities, more so than a completely new, universally accepted doctrine. The phrase “the future of search” may be a bit bullish, but few deny that generative AI in search is an important part of the future, requiring SEOs to broaden how they think about visibility.
Effectiveness of GEO Practices in Generative AI Search
Effectiveness of GEO Practices in Generative AI Search
With generative AI search experiences (Google SGE, Bing’s AI chat/Copilot, ChatGPT’s search plugins, etc.) now live, practitioners have begun testing what optimizations actually help content get featured in AI-generated answers. The practices described under GEO generally aim to make your content more likely to be selected, cited, or synthesized by AI models. Many recommended GEO tactics overlap with well-known SEO and content marketing best practices, with some new twists reflecting how large language models work. Common GEO strategies include:
- Creating clear, factual, and well-structured content:
Write content in a way that directly answers questions and can be easily parsed. This means using concise statements, definitions, and summaries that an AI could quote, and organizing text with descriptive headings, bullet points, and tables[7][8]. For example, instead of a verbose, fluffy paragraph, a GEO-minded writer might provide a quick answer or stat up front (e.g. “Yes – 96% of buyers reported they are happy with this product.”) which an AI could lift as a snippet[9]. Dense with meaning is the goal – one investor notes LLMs “prioritize content that is well-organized, easy to parse, and dense with meaning (not just keywords)”, as opposed to the old emphasis on repetitive keyword use[10].
- Using schema markup and structured data:
Incorporating structured data (Schema.org markup for FAQ, How-To,organization info, etc.) is believed to help AI systems understand and trust your content’s context. Google itself advises that structured data can make your content eligible for rich results and is useful for machine-readability, as long as the schema matches the visible content[11]. Bing’s team has explicitly confirmed that schema markup “helps LLMs to understand your content.”[12] This means adding schema for things like FAQs, reviews, products, and authors can potentially increase the likelihood that an AI overview picks up those facts or figures from your page.
- Ensuring content is crawlable and machine-accessible:
Technical SEO basics take on even more importance in GEO. For instance, minimizing heavy JavaScript or dynamic content that might block crawler access is crucial, since many AI crawlers (and the underlying web indexes like Bing’s) cannot execute complex JS[13]. If the AI can’t see your content due to technical barriers, it certainly won’t include it in answers. Page load speed and mobile-friendliness (part of a good page experience) also matter for both user experience and crawl efficiency[14]. In short, strong technical SEO (accessible, fast, indexable content) is a prerequisite for GEO.
- Building credibility and references (E-E-A-T principles):
Because generative AI likes to assemble answers from trusted sources, content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) has a better shot at being used. This can involve citing authoritative sources within your content, adding current facts, statistics, and quotes (with references) that the AI might incorporate[15][16], and providing author bios or dates to signal reliability[17]. The idea is to make your content “answer-worthy” in the eyes of an AI – factual, up-to-date, and attributable. One academic study found that adding relevant citations to content significantly improved its inclusion in AI answers for factual queries[18][19]. Likewise, adding direct quotations from experts or quantitative stats can boost an AI’s confidence in using that content. These findings echo traditional SEO’s emphasis on authoritative content, but now the “audience” includes AI models evaluating sources.
- Expanding brand presence across the web:
GEO isn’t confined to on-page factors. It also means influencing the data landscape that AI systems draw from. LLMs are trained on vast swaths of the internet, so ensuring your brand and content are mentioned in those datasets is key. Experts point to Wikipedia, Reddit, Quora, YouTube, news sites, and other moderated platforms as common sources AIs rely on[20][21]. That suggests digital PR and content distribution are integral to GEO – getting your brand cited on high-authority domains and communities increases the chance an AI “knows” about you. For example, being listed in a respected industry roundup or getting a mention in a .edu study could mean your brand surfaces in model training data or real-time search snippets. One SEO practitioner noted that consistent descriptions across profiles and good PR coverage led to ChatGPT and Google’s AI overview “parroting” those descriptions back inanswers[22][23]. In essence, brand mentions = fuel for AI memory. Companies are now tracking their AI mentions and citations much like they track search rankings – tools like Ahrefs’ Brand Radar and others can report if your domain was cited in Google’s AI answers, ChatGPT, or Perplexity[24][25]. Growing those citations is becoming an SEO/KPI in the GEO world.
So, are these GEO practices effective so far? Early evidence is mixed but promising. On one hand, academic research and experiments support the idea that certain optimizations can improve content visibility in AI-generated results. A November 2023 research paper introduced a “GEO benchmark” and tested nine tactics (e.g. adding keywords, adding stats, adding citations, simplifying language, etc.) across 10,000 queries in a Bing Chat-like environment[26]. The results showed that different tactics worked better for different query types – adding citations yielded big gains for factual queries, while an “authoritative” tone improved answers in history or debate topics[18]. Crucially, the researchers found smaller or lower-ranked sites could leapfrog in AI results by optimizing in these ways. For instance, “the Cite Sources method led to a 115.1% increase in visibility for websites ranked fifth in SERP,” whereas the top-ranked sites sometimes saw diminished presence[27]. In other words, an AI answer might pull a well-cited, niche article that wasn’t #1 in Google, thereby “leveling the playing field” in a manner traditional SERP rankings wouldn’t[28][29]. This is an encouraging sign that smart GEO tactics (like including sources or unique info) can help content punch above its weight in generative results.
On the other hand, real-world generative search is still evolving, and effectiveness is not guaranteed. The same study cautioned that these were simulated results – “following the paper’s framework won’t guarantee success” in Google’s actual SGE or Bing’s live chat[30]. AI models are black boxes to a degree, and they vary by platform. As marketing analyst Christopher Penn notes, asking an LLM a question twice can produce wildly different answers if wording changes, and each AI (Gemini vs. GPT-4 vs. Claude) may favor different sources[31][32]. This variability makes it hard to pin down one-size-fits-all rules. Some strategies might even backfire in certain contexts – for example, one SEO experimenter found that while adding a list of pros/cons or extra unique words helped on some queries, it was “counterproductive” on others[33][34]. The prudent approach now is a lot of testing and monitoring: SEO teams are advised to “do what is good for users and run experiments” until more stable best practices emerge[35].
We also have to consider Google’s own guidance. Google has been relatively quiet about specific “GEO” tactics, but in May 2025 it reassured site owners that the fundamentals of good content remain the key. Google’s Search Central blog states that “the underpinnings of what Google has long advised carries across to these new [AI] experiences. Focus on your visitors and provide them with unique, satisfying content. Then you should be well positioned as Search evolves”[36][37]. In other words, content that genuinely helps users (original, people-first, high E-E-A-T) is likely to be favored by AI summaries as well. Google also emphasized technical best practices – making sure your content can becrawled and indexed, using nosnippet or noindex if you don’t want your content showing in AI snippets, and ensuring a good page experience for any clicks you do get[38][39]. One notable point: Google highlighted multimodal capabilities, encouraging use of images and videos alongside text so that if users do a visual search or ask about a photo, your content is robust enough to appear[40].
In summary, early results indicate GEO practices can be effective – content tweaks like adding schema, facts, and clear structure have shown positive impacts on whether AI chooses to reference a page[18][9]. Brands that seed their information across the web (through PR, social, and authoritative links) are indeed seeing more frequent mentions in tools like SGE and ChatGPT[41][24]. However, this is a nascent field, and what works in one generative AI search might not in another. The core principle is consistent with long-standing SEO wisdom: create quality content and a strong web presence, and you’ll increase your odds of being featured anywhere – whether in a top 3 organic result or an AI-generated answer box. GEO simply adds new layers (like optimizing for citations or conversational queries) to that foundation. As one SEO put it, the most important GEO tactic is still “do traditional SEO” – rank well on the sources that AIs draw from[42], since even the fanciest AI summary often starts by retrieving content from high-ranking pages.
Expert Opinions on GEO’s Credibility and Future
Is GEO a genuinely transformative concept or just marketing hype? Opinions among experts and analysts vary, but most agree on a middle ground: generative AI is changing search and SEO, but not by completely discarding what we know. Below is a summary of perspectives from authoritative sources on GEO adoption and effectiveness:
Table: Expert Perspectives on GEO Adoption and Effectiveness
Expert/Source
1. Forbes (Agency Council, Jan 2025)
Portrayed GEO as “the future of search” and urged businesses to optimize for AI-driven answers to stay visible. Suggested that traditional SEO tactics are no longer sufficient, as AI will deliver answers directly in lieu of links[1]. This enthusiastic view set the tone for GEO as a necessary shift, though its claim that old SEO “just doesn’t work anymore” has been challenged by others.
2. BrightEdge (Survey Report, 2025)
Found that 68% of organizations were already making strategic changes for AI search, indicating rapid adoption of GEO principles[3]. SEO teams are leading AI initiatives in most companies, reflecting belief that SEO skills can pivot to GEO[2][3]. However, BrightEdge noted many marketers remain uncertain and “cautiously optimistic” – GEO is recognized as important, but there’s still learning in progress[2]. The report frames GEO as an emerging reality and advises cross-team collaboration (SEO, content, PR) to succeed[43][44].
3. Google (John Mueller, May 2025)
Emphasizes that core SEO best practices carry over to AI search. Google’s guidance is to focus on unique, people-first content and a good user experience, which will naturally position sites well in AI overview results[36][37]. Google has not officially endorsed the term “GEO,” implicitly downplaying any notion of a radical new optimization formula. Instead, they stress continuity: if you produce outstanding, original content that meets users’ needs, Google’s AI (and classic) rankings will reward it[37]. Technical soundness (crawlability, structured data, etc.) remains essential[38][11]. In short, Google’s stance lends credibility to GEO’s goals, but frames them as an extension of regular SEO, not a replacement.
4. Academic Research (Princeton/IBM, 2023)
Gave GEO academic legitimacy by defining it as a “novel paradigm” for optimizing content visibility in generative engines[45]. The researchers demonstrated some tangible benefits to GEO tactics in controlled tests – e.g., adding citations, statistics, or expert quotes to content often increased the likelihood of being included in an AI’s answer[16][18]. Interestingly, the study suggested GEO could help smaller sites compete, as those ranked lower in traditional SERPs saw the greatest visibility gains from tactics like citing sources[27]. However, the authors caution that these results were in a simulated environment (using a model akin to Bing Chat), not Google’s live system[30]. They conclude that GEO holds promise for leveling the playing field, but needs further real-world validation. The academic view is that GEO is credible as an idea, and worthy of new benchmarks (they released a “GEO-Bench”), but it’s still early days to claim definitive best practices[30].
5. Andreessen Horowitz (Tech Investors, 2025)
Describes GEO as nothing short of a paradigm shift – “Act II of search” now driven by language models rather than link-based algorithms[46]. A16Z analysts argue the $80B SEO industry is being disrupted by LLM-based search interfaces (citing examples like Apple integrating AI search into devices) and that marketers must optimize for models’ reference patterns, not just user clicks[47][48]. They point to the rise of GEO tools and startups (e.g. Profound, Goodwrite, Daydream) that help brands track and influence how AI models mention them[49][50]. The investor perspective highly credits GEO’s importance – viewing it as an opportunity, even a potential new market for software and services. This view lends GEO strong credibility, as venture capital is betting on GEO-focused platforms and expecting companies to invest in “being remembered by the model.” That said, it’s a forward-looking stance that assumes AI-centric search will indeed become dominant.
6. SEO Practitioners (e.g. Search Engine Journal contributors, 2024–2025)
In practice, many SEO experts view GEO as evolutionary, not revolutionary. Guides published on Search Engine Journal and Search Engine Land recommend combining traditional SEO fundamentals with new GEO tactics. For example, SEO consultant Stephan Walcher notes the “most important GEO tactic is simple: do traditional SEO – rank well in Google and Bing, which feed the AI models.” At the same time, practitioners stress making content AI-friendly by using declarative, fact-rich language, adding schema markup, and providing succinct answers that an AI can easily quote[9][12]. There is anecdotal evidence from practitioners of GEO’s effectiveness: some have reported quick wins like getting their content featured in Google’s AI snapshots after ensuring their on-page content matched the AI’s query intent and formatting[51][52]. Experts also advise leveraging digital PR and social channels (e.g. getting content on Reddit, Wikipedia, or high-authority news sites) to boost an entity’s prominence in AI training data[20][41]. Overall, the practitioner community treats GEO as a credible extension of SEO – worth investing effort, but approached with the same rigor (technical SEO, content quality, link building) as classic SEO. They acknowledge it’s early – “no one has figured this out perfectly yet”[53] – yet are actively experimenting to find what moves the needle for AI visibility.
7. Skeptics / Realists (Tom Pick, Christopher Penn, etc.)
A contingent of SEO veterans urges caution against GEO “snake oil.” Analyst Tom Pick, for instance, argues that proclamations of SEO’s death are overblown: “solid SEO still works… even if AI answers grow, traditional SEO is still required as the basis for AI search optimization. It’s not sufficient, but it is essential.”[54][55]. Skeptics note that AI platforms are rapidly evolving and highly variable – what tricks your way into one model’s answers today might not work tomorrow or on a different platform[31][32]. They also point out that major SEO tool vendors (Semrush, Ahrefs, etc.) are simply adding AI tracking features to their suites[56], suggesting GEO is more a natural progression of SEO tooling than a mysterious new art. In terms of credibility, these experts believe GEO has merit as a concept, but no magical shortcuts. The key ingredients for success in AI search are, in their view: “Traditional SEO, Branding, Content creation & amplification, and PR”[57] – essentially the same multifaceted approach good marketers have always used. In sum, the realist camp sees GEO as part of a continuum: an important shift to address, but not a total reset of the search marketing game. They advise focusing on fundamentals (great content, site, and reputation), which will naturally translate into AI visibility, rather than chasing hypothetical algorithm hacks.
As the table shows, there’s a range of viewpoints. Enthusiastic voices (Forbes, a16z, some tool vendors) herald GEO as a fundamental change demanding immediate action. More measured experts (Google, many SEO practitioners) emphasize continuity and caution – they validate the importance of optimizing for AI, but within the framework of established SEO principles. And a few skeptics remind us that we’ve seen “the death of SEO” predicted before, and yet SEO adapts rather than disappears.
Conclusion
Generative Engine Optimization is emerging as a key consideration for the future of search, reflecting the rise of AI-driven results that synthesize content instead of just ranking links. The concept is gaining recognition – many companies are experimenting with GEO tactics, and industry surveys show a majority of search marketers are beginning to adapt. Early evidence and expert analyses suggest that GEO-oriented practices can improve visibility in generative search experiences, especially when those practices reinforce what makes content genuinely useful and authoritative. However, GEO is not a magic wand or a wholesale replacement for SEO. Rather, it is best viewed as an extension of SEO into new territory: the core goals of delivering valuable, findable content and building online authority remain unchanged, even as the mechanisms of discovery evolve.
The credibility of GEO as “the future of search” is bolstered by serious research and industry investment, but also tempered by healthy skepticism. We can conclude that GEO is a credible and likely enduring trend, but one that will evolve in tandem with AI technology. The smartest approach for organizations now is to stay informed, test what works for AI visibility, and integrate those lessons into a holistic search strategy. In practical terms: keep making excellent content and ensure your brand’s presence wherever answers are being generated. If SEO was about winning the top spot on a SERP, GEO is about becoming the trusted source an AI will choose to quote. That is a future of search that is already starting to unfold – and those who optimize effectively for it, without abandoning foundational SEO, will be best positioned to thrive in both worlds[37][55].
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