Why is the new SEO now called GEO?

GEO is not a jargon; it is a real shift in how we plan content for AI-driven answers. I have watched this emerge since Princeton researchers introduced the term in 2023, and by 2025 brands treat GEO as a separate, measurable channel. The goal isn’t to rank in traditional search results anymore; it is to be cited and referenced in AI-generated responses across platforms like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity.

GEO means optimizing for what the model chooses to reference, not just whether you appear in traditional search.

GEO: The natural evolution of SEO in AI-powered search environments

From my point of view, GEO is the practical framework that fits how AI engines pull information. In 2025, we see structured content, schema markup, external brand mentions, and multi-channel presence driving AI visibility. The metrics have shifted. Instead of click-through rate or page rank, we track brand mention frequency and sentiment in AI responses. Mid-market brands typically allocate $75k-$150k annually for GEO initiatives; enterprises spend $250k+ covering tools, content, and analytics. AI engines cite only 2-7 domains per answer, compared with 10 blue links in traditional results, so competition for citations is tighter. They also say this fuels a new kind of efficiency in content investment.

What changed since 2023? GEO started as an academic concept at Princeton with Dr. Vishvak Murahari, Dr. Karthik Narasimhan, and Dr. Ameet Deshpande. The work hit the market in 2024 and accelerated through 2025. The core shift is from ranking pages to earning references. AI engines prefer sources that show ontology (structured, formal representation of domain concepts and relationships) and consistency across the enterprise. That means you need clear ownership of your content, strong schema, and verifiable brand mentions across multiple domains.

I would emphasize one thing: you shouldn’t brush it off as a trend. If you want long-term AI visibility, you build for citations now.

How GEO changes the playbook for brands

Teams that map content to AI use cases see faster value. The top engines, ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, favor sources with credibility and coverage signals. If you have 60% coverage in the top five results, it practically guarantees that you will have greater visibility in AIs, a trend that we are closely monitoring in the 2025 data. You must create comprehensive, structured content that is easy for AI to consult. That includes authoritativeness, consistent branding, and multi-channel presence. It also means evaluating brand mentions and sentiment, not just links or rankings.

A quick, practical path I’ve seen work

• Build a strong content foundation with schema.org markup and clear topic pages aligned with your product or service categories.

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• Create external citations from high-authority sites like Semrush, Clutch, and Yelp to support your claims.

• Maintain an active multi-channel footprint across own sites, press, investor pages, and partner systems to raise reference frequency.

• Track AI citations and sentiment, not just page views or keyword rankings.

• Budget: mid-market brands set aside $75k-$150k annually; bigger brands go $250k+ to cover tooling, content creation, and analytics.

What the data says about how GEO is used today

In 2025, GEO guides and frameworks solidified. August 2025 through October 2025 saw updated playbooks and practical frameworks. The last major industry explainer from FirstPageSage on October 3, 2025 kept pointing to citation-driven metrics as the core. The environment shows authors like Yogesh contributing to GEO guides, and a16z framing GEO as the natural evolution of SEO in an AI world. AI-generated answers replace long lists of URLs with synthesized, personalized responses, which means fewer citation slots but higher-value mentions. From my experience, this shifts how we design content transitions, short, crisp, referenceable blocks that a model can quote.

This shift emphasizes concise, referenceable blocks that can be quoted by AI systems while maintaining clarity for human readers.

What this means for you and your business

GEO is not a threat to traditional SEO. It complements it. If you apply GEO properly, you strengthen digital presence. The 2-7 domain citation reality means you must compete for credibility across fewer sources (but with higher impact). Brands that reach 60% coverage in top five results see meaningful boosts in AI visibility.

That means a disciplined, enterprise-grade approach to content ownership, schema, and external mentions pays off. If you’re mid-market, you can start with a lean plan and scale up to enterprise levels as results come in.

A few hard questions to keep you honest

• Do we have a single source of truth for each product or service page that AI can reference reliably?

• Are we actively building citations with high-authority domains in our niche?

• How is our sentiment and brand mention tracked across AI outputs, not just traditional analytics?

• Do we have a multi-channel content strategy that supports AI reference across channels?

What do you think?

Do you think GEO will outpace traditional SEO in your market? Comment below. I’d like to hear your plan and what you’re testing this quarter. Read more articles like this on The Ad Blog, and share what you find useful.

Juliana Moreau

Marketing Strategist & Brand Consultant. Juliana is recognized for her ability to decipher complex marketing strategies and predict emerging trends, making her analysis indispensable for industry professionals. Her writing cuts to the chase, offering clear, actionable analysis that challenges conventional wisdom and reveals what really drives consumer behavior.