Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): The Next SEO Frontier in 2025

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In 2025, a structural shift in search is underway. Users increasingly receive synthesized, citation-backed answers instead of “10 blue links,” driven by Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT’s search experience. Google began rolling AI Overviews to U.S. users in May 2024 and expanded globally by October 2024, confirming that Overviews include source links for verification, as outlined in Google’s May 14, 2024 launch post and the October 28, 2024 global expansion update. OpenAI’s search-like experience followed suit, with ChatGPT Search made widely available and providing inline citations; OpenAI notes full availability by February 5, 2025 in “Introducing ChatGPT search”.

Why GEO matters right now

Two independent 2025 data points underscore why brands must adapt to GEO—optimizing for cited AI answers, not just rankings:

According to Ahrefs’ 2025 study on AI Overviews CTR impact, position-1 organic results on informational queries saw clicks drop by about 34.5% year-over-year (Mar 2024 vs. Mar 2025) when AI Overviews appeared.
Pew Research Center found in July 2025 that when an AI summary is present on a Google results page, users are less likely to click through to websites, as described in Pew’s July 22, 2025 analysis.

In short: visibility is increasingly measured by whether your brand is included and cited within AI-generated answers.

What GEO is—and how it differs from SEO

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the discipline of adapting content and brand presence to improve visibility within answers produced by generative AI engines (Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot). Unlike traditional SEO—which aims to rank pages on SERPs—GEO targets inclusion and accurate citation inside AI responses. See the broader definition in Wikipedia’s entry on Generative engine optimization, and a practitioner-focused overview in Search Engine Land’s GEO primer.

For a deeper primer aligned with measurement concepts used in this article, you can review Geneo’s GEO explainer.

From “rank” to “citation”: the measurement shift

GEO reframes success around four core KPIs:

Inclusion rate: How often your brand/content appears inside AI-generated answers across engines.
Citation share: The proportion of citations linking to your site versus competitors.
Sentiment: The polarity and tone associated with your brand when referenced by AI.
Platform coverage: Presence across Google AI Overviews/Mode, ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, and others, segmented by query class (definitions, comparisons, how-tos).

These are trackable and actionable. They connect directly to discoverability, trust, and downstream traffic—even when SERP clicks fall.

How to measure GEO performance (and build a monitoring workflow)

A practical baseline includes:

Query set selection: Start with 50–200 priority queries across informational, comparative, and branded intents. Update monthly.
Cross-engine inclusion checks: Document whether Google’s Overview cites you, whether ChatGPT Search includes your brand in the answer with a link, and whether Perplexity references your domain.
Citation source mapping: Record the domains cited alongside yours to understand competitor share. Note multimedia sources (e.g., YouTube) when relevant.
Sentiment evaluation: Label AI references as positive, neutral, or negative. Note any misattributions or hallucinations.
Issue remediation: Create a rapid loop for correcting outdated facts, strengthening source pages, and contacting publishers whose content is misrepresenting your brand.

When you need centralized tracking across engines with sentiment and historical query logs, Geneo can help consolidate this workflow. Disclosure: Geneo is our product.

To visualize what a citation/sentiment audit looks like, here’s an illustrative example of a monitored query report: “Authentic Belizean island vacation experience”.

Tactics that increase AI answer inclusion

1) Entity-first publishing

Strengthen your Organization, Product, and Author entities across your site and key profiles. Ensure consistent naming, canonical URLs, and cross-site references.
Publish expert bios, editorial standards, and update timestamps to improve source trust signals.

2) Schema and structured data

Implement Organization, Product, Author, Review, ImageObject, and VideoObject schema where appropriate. Clean internal linking helps LLMs navigate and attribute facts correctly.

3) Answer-ready content formatting

Provide concise, verifiable summaries: definitions, bullet facts with dates, FAQs, and compact tables.
Link to primary sources in-context to make verification easy for both users and engines.

4) Multimodal optimization—acknowledging YouTube’s advantage

In 2025, AI engines frequently cite YouTube. A recent analysis shows YouTube enjoys a substantial citation advantage across AI platforms; for example, Google AI Overviews often surface YouTube as a top-cited domain. See the data discussed in Search Engine Land’s October 1, 2025 reporting on YouTube’s citation dominance. Where appropriate, publish high-quality explainer videos and transcripts to increase your multimodal footprint.

Risk controls: reducing hallucinations and misattributions

Monitor continuously: Track how engines describe your brand and products. Flag anomalies.
Publish canonical facts: Maintain authoritative fact pages with clear dates, definitions, pricing, and specs—so engines can ground answers.
Feedback loops: Use available feedback mechanisms (e.g., “rate this answer” UIs), and reach out to publishers if third-party pages are propagating inaccuracies.
Rapid corrections: Update outdated pages, add schema, and clarify language to preempt misinterpretation.

Industry notes: SaaS/B2B vs. ecommerce

SaaS/B2B: Focus on entity clarity (product tiers, integrations, security/compliance claims), technical documentation, and comparison pages with transparent feature matrices.
Ecommerce: Strengthen product schema, reviews with verified sources, and multimedia assets (how-to videos, user guides). Prioritize category-level answer summaries for discovery.

What’s next: the evolving landscape

Trigger rates: In March 2025, AI Overviews appeared on about 13.14% of queries (up from 6.49% in January 2025), with informational intent dominating triggers, according to Semrush’s July 22, 2025 study.
Availability and citations: ChatGPT Search is broadly available with inline citations, per OpenAI’s 2024–2025 updates in “Introducing ChatGPT search”.
Behavioral shifts: Expect ongoing zero-click growth alongside AI summaries; Pew’s 2025 findings reinforce the trend.

Plan for monthly refreshes through H1 2026. Track notable changes in Overviews coverage, ChatGPT sourcing behavior, and any new CTR/citation studies.

Action checklist (and a soft CTA)

Audit 100 priority queries across engines; baseline your inclusion rate and citation share.
Update schema and entities; publish answer-ready summaries with dates and primary-source links.
Launch continuous monitoring and sentiment tracking; establish a correction workflow.
Expand multimodal assets (video + transcripts) where relevant.

If you want a consolidated monitor for AI search visibility and citations across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and Perplexity, Geneo can be used within this workflow.

Updated on 2025-10-02