GEO or SEO: differences and best practices to know

Between GEO and SEO, the boundaries are blurring. Search engines are evolving, generative content is needed, and businesses must adapt to maintain their visibility. If you have heard of GEO SEO without really understanding the difference, this article explains everything to you, simply and concretely.

GEO SEO: what is it exactly?

The term GEO SEO comes from the contraction of two concepts: GEO to Generative Engine Optimization and SEO to Search Engine Optimization.
The SEO Traditional involves optimizing a website so that it appears in the search results of google or other conventional engines. It is based on known criteria: content quality, page structure, backlinks, technical performance, and user experience.

The GEO, on the other hand, is aimed at generative engines, these new search engines like GPT chat, Perplexity, Gemini or Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE). These platforms no longer simply display a list of links, they directly write responses generated from several reliable sources.
In other words, GEO seeks to optimize how generative engines understand and cite your content in their responses. It is a natural evolution of SEO, adapted to an environment where users no longer necessarily click on sites, but directly read the information presented by an intelligent co-pilot.

In summary:

• The SEO optimizes your content for traditional search engines.
  
  
• The GEO optimizes your content for generative motors.
  
  
• One aims at ranking, the other at citation.
  
  

GEO SEO vs SEO: what are the concrete differences?

Targeted engines

The SEO focuses on traditional engines like Google, Bing, or Qwant. These engines rank web pages according to well-known optimization criteria: relevance, authority, reliability of sources and quality of content.

The GEO, on the other hand, targets generative engines. These tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or SGE analyze data to produce a synthetic answer, often without a direct link to the original sites.

These two approaches are not opposed. They complement each other.

SEO remains essential to attract traffic to your web pages, while GEO ensures visibility in the responses generated by the generative engines.

How do generative engines choose their sources?

Les generative motors suchlike Perplexity or Gemini are based on analysis models that favor trustworthiness And the clearness. They are looking for solid, well-structured, and up-to-date sources.

To appear in their answers, your content must meet several optimization criteria:

• One clear structure with consistent titles and subtitles.
  
  
• Of accurate information, verifiable and sourced.
  
  
• One smooth text and well organized to make it easier to understand the engine.
  
  
• One perceived authority : the more your company is cited, the more reliable it is considered.
  
  

These engines analyze how your content responds to a query. Text that is poorly organized or overly promotional will be ignored. On the other hand, a balanced and educational content, enriched with data reliable, will be more likely to be taken over.

How to optimize your content for GEO and SEO at the same time?

The secret is to think of double optimization: Search Engine Optimization and Generative Engine Optimization.

You need to make your content understandable for both traditional and generative engines. Here's how:

Hybrid optimization techniques

1. Take care of your SEO fundamentals :
   
   
   
   • Clear structure with tags Hn logics.
     
     
   • Of keywords accurate and well distributed in the text.
     
     
   • Of pages fast, secure and well-meshed.
     
     
2. Adapt your content to GEO :
   
   
   
   • Write explanatory paragraphs and complete.
     
     
   • Integrate springs reliable or encrypted data.
     
     
   • Give clear answers aux frequently asked questions of users.
     
     
   • Use an informative tone that is not too technical or too commercial.
     
     
3. Test your GEO SEO visibility :
   
   
   
   • Quiz ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity to see if your information shows up in the generated responses.
     
     
   • Use classic SEO tools (Ahrefs, Semrush, Google Search Console) to measure your web results.
     
     
   • Adjust your strategies according to the two types of engines.
     
     

Best practices and mistakes to avoid in GEO SEO

Best practices

• Produce quality, clear and useful content.
  
  
• Cite sources to reinforce perceived reliability.
  
  
• Structure information so that a generative engine can easily understand it.
  
  
• Update your pages and data regularly.
  
  
• Optimize text readability for users and engines.
  
  

Common mistakes

• Write only for engines and not for users.
  
  
• Forget sources and proofs of reliability.
  
  
• Ignore how generative engines build their responses.
  
  
• Neglecting the clarity and structure of the content.
  
  
• Reuse generated content without reworking it for the web.
  
  

What GEO SEO strategy should you adopt for your business?

For businesses, GEO SEO is not a choice but a logical evolution.

Generative engines and traditional engines coexist. To succeed, it is therefore necessary to adopt a hybrid strategy.

1. Start with a comprehensive SEO audit: identify the strengths and weaknesses of your web pages.
   
   
2. Improve the clarity and reliability of your content: structure, source, simplify.
   
   
3. Watch for quotes in generated responses: test your keywords on ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini.
   
   
4. Measure results in terms of visibility, traffic, and authority.
   
   

The right strategy is one that allows you to be visible in the SERPs while appearing in generative engines.

GEO and SEO: two complementary levers

GEO and SEO share the same objective: to make your visible, credible, and useful content.
The first acts in generative engines, the second in traditional engines.
Businesses that are able to work on these two levers will gain visibility, reliability and authority on the web.

Take action with a GEO SEO strategy

GEO SEO is already at the heart of modern search marketing. It combines the fundamentals of SEO and the new optimization criteria specific to generative engines.
Today, being visible is no longer limited to a good ranking on Google: you must also appear in the answers generated by ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini.

Chez Scroll, we help businesses anticipate these changes and deploy a effective and sustainable GEO SEO strategy. If you want to adapt your content to new engines, let's talk about it.