SEO: 6 Signs It’s Time to Internalize
SEO: 6 Signs It’s Time to Internalize
To accelerate on multiple marketing channels simultaneously, outsourcing your SEO to an agency is a common
Kevin Coppens
July 18, 2024
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12:46 pm
And here we are! OpenAI announced on October 8 that it would be releasing its Search application before the end of the year. As is often the case, they surprise us by releasing their feature even earlier than expected. Perhaps this is a reaction to Google’s recent announcement that it is opening up its AI overview functionality to 100 new countries (but still not to Europe…)? In any case, the acceleration in the world of search continues and intensifies. Faced with these developments, the question is no longer optional: How can we optimize our visibility in this new conversational era?
The news broke this Thursday evening, October 31. Open AI is introducing SearchGPT for all users with Plus and Team subscriptions, as well as for beta testers who had early access to the function. Business and EDU accounts will have to wait just a few more weeks.
Generative engines make you lazy. For the sake of convenience, I asked ChatGPT itself to describe its own SearchGPT functionality.
It correctly replied that it was “an AI-powered search engine developed by OpenAI, designed to enhance the traditional search experience by providing direct, conversational answers to user queries. Unlike conventional search engines that present a list of links, SearchGPT delivers concise responses with clear citations and links to relevant sources.” based on its own site (OpenAI).
But but still talks about a prototype and doesn’t give me the key hot news of the day, namely its large-scale release on the 31st of October.
This simple question already shows us the limits still present in these generative models: accuracy and hot news aren’t always there.
In its defense, Google isn’t doing much better this morning, since you have to activate the “news” module to get up-to-date information too.
Below is a video from the OpenAI website showing how the new SearchGPT works.
GEO stands for “Generative Engine Optimization”, the process of optimizing your website content to increase its visibility in AI-driven search engines such as ChatGPT (now SearchGPT), Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews. Some call it AISO for AI Search Optimization. We’re talking about the same thing.
The aim, as with SEO, is to increase your brand’s visibility and make it appear in AI-generated results when potential prospects perform searches related to your products, services or areas of expertise.
Generative Engines (GEO) operate differently from traditional Search Engines (SEO) by offering a more conversational, synthesized, and contextually adaptive approach to answering queries.
Before we even get into the question of optimizing for these new search engine models, a few reminders are in order. At the time of writing, Google still accounts for 90% of the global search market. “Traditional” search engines remain, and will doubtless remain for a long time to come, major commercial levers for any brand seeking to make a name for itself and acquire new customers.
There are still many unknowns about the evolution of these generative models, and in particular their respective business models: subscription? commission-based? advertising-based?
At present, we seem to be sticking with the first two models, but all these factors – not forgetting the factor of AI-related regulations – are influencing and will continue to influence the search engine landscape considerably in the coming years.
But it’s true that these generative engines, such as SearchGPT, Perplexity or Claude, have shown impressive growth rates in recent months, which the SEO’s world simply can’t snub any longer.
The question has been on everyone’s lips for some time now, and will undoubtedly be at the heart of many debates with the release of SearchGPT: how can you take advantage of these generative engines and optimize your online presence to appear in the responses generated by AI-driven search engines?
Well, first we need to understand how these engines work. As seen above, we’ve gone from a search engine delivering a list of links, potentially accompanied by rich snippets, to a direct response, which can give rise to a conversational sequence.
The diagram below clearly illustrates the differences in principle between traditional search engines (whose optimization is based on SEO factors) and AI-driven search engines (whose optimization is/will be based on a deeper knowledge of GEO).
Now that we’ve seen how these AI engines work, let’s look at how they can be optimized. We’re still at the “test and learn” stage, and that in itself is the perpetual stage of SEO if you think about it. But a study carried out by international researchers has confirmed a number of small-scale hypotheses.
The study was based on more than 10,000 queries, and highlights factors that seem – at present anyway – to have a significant influence on these generative search engines. We’ve drawn on this – and on our own ongoing tests – to summarize a GEO-friendly 6-step approach:
Focus on rich, relevant & contextualized content that provides deep insights and value, rather than just matching keywords.
Cover user intent hollistically and pay attention to structure (e.g., product features, reviews, comparisons) to help AI models extract relevant information
Summarize key points at the top of long-form content, add executive summaries and closing summaries to facilitate digestion by LLMs (Large Language Models at the heart of AI-based search engines).
Ensure consistent and accurate brand representation across the web, as generative engines draw their data from multiple platforms. Brand authoritativeness and “though leadership” take on even greater importance. Stronger links with PR and influencer marketing are recommended
Ensure consistent and accurate brand representation across the web, as generative engines draw their data from multiple platforms. Brand authoritativeness and “though leadership” take on even greater importance. Stronger links with PR and influencer marketing are recommended
Demonstrate your expertise with precise, rich & (when possible) technical terms, while maintaining a natural, fluid flow. Avoid figures of speech or humor, which are difficult to interpret for generative AIs. Be precise, comprehensive and clear.
AI models prefer rich content formats, including videos, images, and interactive elements, to enhance and personnalize user experience
With the emergence of artificial intelligence-based search engines such as SearchGPT, Perplexity, or AI Overview, Generative Search Engine Optimization (GEO) is becoming an essential element of any digital strategy in 2025. These engines are revolutionizing the way information is delivered to users, favoring direct, conversational responses. But GEO doesn’t replace SEO – it complements it. With Google’s models also relying increasingly on LLMs, it’s clear that SEO and GEO strategies will increasingly overlap. Successful brands will be those that know how to optimize simultaneously for traditional search engines and AI engines, identifying opportunities where GEO impact can make the difference. By playing both sides intelligently, they can maximize their visibility and effectiveness.
StrategySEO action planGEO action planKeyword researchKeyword research based on classic SEO metricsFocus on conversational phrases, long-tail, related questions & semantic fieldHigh-quality contentUnique content demonstrating E.E.A.TContent designed to address AI answers, including data, statistics & quotesAuthoritySharing your content and develop a netlinking strategyEncourage UGC, brand mentions, reviews, and presence on forums, Wikipedia, etc.Technical & UXChecking and solving classic technical SEO problemsPaying specific attention to UX, page structure, metadataData-driven decisionsMonitor your classic SEO KPIsMonitor AI-response patterns & referral traffic from GE
Here’s an example of content that’s eligible for both AI-driven engines and traditional search engines. We show you how Otovo’s page on heat pumps incorporates best practices that make it a strong contender for visibility across both types of search platforms.
The content on Otovo’s webpage embodies best practices that enhance both SEO and GEO performance, effectively boosting visibility on traditional search engines and AI-driven platforms:
These practices simultaneously optimize for SEO and GEO, ensuring the content reaches a broad audience, fulfills users’ informational needs, and maintains a strong presence in search results, whether they’re traditional or AI-powered.
Did you enjoy this article?👉 Download our full presentation on GEO (no information required – just click) and share it on your networks, it encourages us to write more content of this type.👉 Register for our webinar on 14/11, which will delve into the tests carried out with Daikin Belgium on the GEO: ”SEO vs GEO: How Daikin is Combining Traditional SEO with Generative Search