Generative Engine Optimisation: The New Wave of Search Engine Marketing?

Let's say you're planning a trip to Tokyo packed with visiting heritage sites, eating cultural foods, shopping in the best markets and , and exploring hidden gems.

Would you use Google or ChatGPT to plan this trip?

Google would bombard you with countless open tabs, endless scrolling, and chasing numerous links.

On the other hand, ChatGPT will provide you with a tailored itinerary in an organised format with no ads to distract you.

The choice, in this case, is very clear: it's ChatGPT.

Worldwide, more and more users are abandoning traditional search engines like Google and Bing.

They are turning to AI-powered search engines and chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Perplexity.

As a result of this, businesses that rank higher in search engine results are experiencing a steady decline in organic search traffic.

To drive traffic in this new era of AI, marketers need to incorporate Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) into their digital marketing strategy.

When GEO is executed properly, your content will be cited and featured in AI-generated responses as sources, driving high-intent traffic to your business.

What Is GEO?

GEO is a new approach to content strategy, designed to get more traffic from generative search engines.

The primary goal is to get cited as a source for AI-generated responses, increasing the chances of getting more clicks to your website.

Being cited in AI responses also establishes your brand as a credible and trusted source.

The visitors referred from AI-driven search engines usually have a high buying intent, boosting your revenue and profits.

It is clear that GEO has many benefits, but how do you optimise your content for these AI search engines?

GEO is not about chasing keywords.

It is about understanding the needs of your customers and creating high-quality content that answers their queries in a clear, structured format that's ideal for users and AI algorithms.

What Are Generative Search Engines?

Generative search engines are AI-powered search tools that don't list a bunch of links.

They understand the user intent by analysing the query using Natural Language Processing (NLP).

Their search responses are delivered by scanning content from various sources and selecting the information from those most credible and authoritative.

Examples of generative AI engines include:

• ChatGPT & Gemini (chat-based answers)
• Perplexity & Google AI Overviews (instant summaries with sources)
• Voice assistants like Alexa & Siri (spoken responses)

Unlike traditional search engines, these tools pull key information from sources and display it upfront for the users, often reducing clicks to the actual sites.

How Is GEO Different From SEO?

While both SEO and GEO aim to get more visibility and organic traffic to your website, they target different platforms and audience types.

While SEO isn't going away, GEO is the next evolution in the search game, satisfying both human readers and AI algorithms.

We've listed the key differences between SEO and GEO.

Benefits of GEO

Here are some of the key benefits that you can take advantage of by making your website and content optimised for generative search engines.

Increased Visibility & Traffic

GEO helps your content appear in AI-generated answers, not just search results.

As more users adopt AI search tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, your brand will keep getting more traffic from these tools.

Even if you don't get click-throughs for some queries, your brand visibility still increases by being listed as a source for the AI response.

Creating Useful Content For Readers

To succeed with GEO, your content needs to be clear, concise, and accurate.

That means while creating content, you have to focus more on clarity, structure, and relevance.

As a result, the produced content will be highly valuable to your readers.

In short, by optimising your content for generative engines, you are automatically providing quality content to your readers.

More Authority & Citations

Generative engines pull content from trusted and authoritative websites only.

So when AI models consistently use information from your website, you become a trusted name to your target audience.

Competitive Edge

Most businesses are still solely focused on traditional SEO practices.

GEO is still a relatively newer space, and adopting it quickly into your content production process gives you more chances to outperform your competitors in AI search results, securing valuable visibility before they catch on.

Future-Proofing Your Content Strategy

As the adoption of generative engines grows, traditional SEO will no longer be enough.

GEO ensures that your content reaches the right audience, even when more users turn to AI for answers instead of search engines.

Better User Experience

GEO encourages you to create content that is more digestible to readers.

Content that uses headings, summaries, and Q&As are easier to scan and understand by users and AI algorithms alike.

This leads to a better experience for users, reduces bounce rate, and increases time on-page.

Understanding Generative Search Engines

AI search engines use advanced algorithms to interpret, analyse, generate, and personalise responses.

Knowing how these AI engines work gives you a better chance of creating content that aligns with their algorithms, increasing your chances of getting cited in AI responses to boost your brand visibility.

Here's what happens behind the scenes:

NLP Processes User Queries

Generative engines use NLP to interpret conversational queries just like a human would.

Unlike traditional keyword-based searches, they interpret the context, tone, and intent behind the user's query.

This enables them to provide accurate answers for follow-up questions as well.

Data Aggregation From Multiple Sources

Once the query is understood, the AI tool gathers information from a wide range of trusted sources like websites, articles, and forums.

The goal is to collect the most relevant data needed to answer the question accurately.

It cross-references multiple sources to ensure accuracy before generating an answer.

Content Selection & Summarisation

The next step is to identify the most relevant, verified, well-structured content and rewrite it into a concise, human-like response.

The sources used to generate the response are also cited for the user to verify the information.

Continuous Learning Through Feedback

The AI models learn through user feedback.

User interactions like thumbs up/down, follow-up questions, and clicking links help the model understand if the response was useful.

These user interactions help the model improve future responses and tweak content preferences.

Personalisation Based on User Behaviour

Generative engines tailor responses based on past interactions, location, and preferences.

This means the same query can yield different answers for different users.

Also, making the query more detailed and providing information about your background helps the AI models generate a more personalised response.

How To Implement GEO Successfully?

GEO takes more than just writing good content.

You need to have a strategic approach based on how AI consumes and delivers content so you can feed the AI models exactly what they want and gain more visibility and traffic for your business.

Here are a few strategies for your content to get picked up and featured in AI-generated responses:

Find Out What Your Target Users Ask Generative Engines

Similar to keyword research for SEO, you need to find common questions asked by your target audience to do GEO properly.

Use platforms like , and forums to find the exact questions that your target audiences want answers to.

The more aligned your content is with how people talk to AI chatbots, the more likely it is to be surfaced in responses.

Optimise Content To Meet User Intent

Structure your content to answer user queries in a clear, scannable format.

Using bullet points, headers, and concise paragraphs that can be easily summarised by AI optimises your content for generative search engines.

But only focusing on the formatting of your content is not enough.

Make sure your content is high-quality by diving into your reader's motivations, clarifying concepts, and completely answering the initial user query and relevant follow-ups so they don't need to look elsewhere afterwards.

Use Schema Markup & Data Structures

Implement structured data (FAQ, How-To, and Article schema) to help AI understand and properly categorise your content.

This is similar to making sure that your website is crawlable by search engine bots in SEO.

Use More Q&A Formats

AI tools love clear questions followed by straightforward answers.

Integrate Q&A sections in your blog posts, product pages, and other helpful content pages to increase the chances of your information being pulled into AI summaries.

Boost Content Authority With E-E-A-T

Trust and authority are crucial for GEO success.

Include author bios, link to credible sources, and showcase your experience in the topic by creating well-researched and useful content.

The more you keep boosting your authority, the more chances your content has of getting repeatedly used for generating AI responses.

Target Long-Tail Conversational Queries

Optimise for long-tailed queries like "What’s the best budget laptop for students in 2025?" rather than short keywords.

These queries are less competitive, more conversational, and more aligned with how users interact with AI platforms.

Post Your Content On Different Channels

Generative search engines pull content from websites, forums, social media, knowledge bases, and other sources.

Distributing your content across multiple platforms increases your content's visibility, reinforces your authority, and boosts the chance of it being referenced by AI search engines.

Update Content To Meet Regular Policy Changes

AI engines frequently change their policies.

Make sure to keep your content updated and aligned with changing guidelines, algorithm updates, or shifts to how generative AI prioritises processing information.

Fresh, accurate, and updated information is more likely to be picked up by AI models while generating responses.

Monitor & Optimise Performance

Use GA4, custom UTM parameters, and other plugins to track how much traffic you are getting from AI search engines.

We've created an informative guide on how to set up and monitor your AI traffic sources using Google Analytics.

Industry-Leading GEO With BFJ Digital

There is no doubt that GEO is a very effective content marketing strategy to get organic, high-intent traffic for your business.

But let's get real.

Keeping up with AI's rapid evolution while trying to optimise content for generative engines can feel overwhelming.

Daunting tasks like deciphering algorithm updates, structuring content for AI, and tracking your content performance make GEO sound almost impossible.

An easy solution to this problem is to outsource GEO to experts so you can focus on what you do best, which is growing your business.

That's where BFJ Digital comes in.

Our team specialises in GEO strategies that will get your content featured in AI-generated answers, helping you get more traffic and visibility for your business. We’ll:

• Analyse and optimise your content for generative search visibility.
• Implement structured data so that AI understands and cites your content.
• Track performance and refine your approach as algorithms evolve.

Alongside GEO, we also offer a full range of SEO services, including technical audits, on-page optimisation, content strategy, and more.

Book a free consultation call with one of our SEO experts, who will walk you through our GEO strategies and how we can implement them in your business to maximise your traffic and revenue growth.