For over two decades, search engines shaped how users discovered information online. SEO emerged as a powerful framework for visibility, combining keyword targeting, backlink strategies, and algorithmic insights. But that era is fading fast.
In 2025, large language models (LLMs) are becoming the default interface between users and information. Whether embedded into smartphones, browsers, e-commerce platforms, or smart devices, generative AI systems now mediate how people ask questions and receive answers.
This shift is ushering in a new discipline: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Unlike SEO, which focuses on appearing high in search rankings, GEO is about becoming part of the AI’s answer—being cited, summarized, or recommended within the model’s output.
And as LLMs become the gateway to commerce, education, decision-making, and product discovery, the stakes for brands have never been higher.
Table of Contents
What’s Driving the Change: Why SEO No Longer Works Alone
Classic SEO relied on a predictable set of principles: choose the right keywords, earn backlinks, publish regularly, and monitor technical health. Success was often about gaming the algorithm—figuring out what Google wanted and building content accordingly.
But LLMs don’t work that way. They don’t display ranked results; they generate synthesized responses.
In this model:
- Relevance replaces rankings
- Citations replace clicks
- Contextual memory replaces static indexing
This shift is visible across platforms:
- Apple has announced AI-native search functionality baked into Safari, powered by tools like Perplexity and Claude.
- LLM-based services are now preferred for research, summaries, comparisons, and recommendations.
- Platforms like Amazon, TikTok, and Instagram are integrating their own AI layers to reshape how consumers search and shop.
User behavior is changing, too:
- Average search queries on LLMs are five times longer than traditional search queries.
- Users spend more time in generative sessions, asking follow-up questions and seeking personalized insights.
- LLMs are becoming personalized assistants, advisors, and product recommenders—not just search tools.
This fundamentally changes how content must be created, structured, and surfaced.
From SEO to GEO: What Brands Must Do Differently
1. Structure Content for LLMs
AI models favor content that is easy to parse, well-structured, and rich in meaning. Unlike keyword stuffing or dense blog posts, LLM-optimized content should include:
- Clear headlines and subheadings
- Bullet points and summaries
- Contextual phrases like “in summary,” “key takeaway,” or “consider this”
- Multi-intent coverage (not just what something is, but why it matters and how it’s used)
2. Optimize for Model Memory, Not Just Indexing
Traditional search optimization focused on being crawled and indexed. GEO is about being remembered and referenced. That means content must:
- Align with common prompt phrasing
- Appear in trusted publications or training data sources
- Reinforce brand consistency across platforms
- Offer original insights that LLMs recognize as useful
3. Monitor Model Mentions and Sentiment
New tools like Profound, Goodie, and Daydream are helping brands:
- Track how they appear in AI responses
- Measure sentiment across different LLM platforms
- Analyze prompt structures that lead to mentions
- Benchmark visibility against competitors
Legacy SEO players are evolving, too. Ahrefs now monitors brand presence in AI Overviews. Semrush offers a GEO toolkit to evaluate brand performance across generative platforms.
Why GEO Matters for Brand Strategy
In the age of generative AI, brand presence is no longer just a public perception—it’s a model perception. The way an LLM references your company, describes your products, or includes your services can significantly shape consumer trust and intent.
For example, Canada Goose didn’t just analyze SEO traffic; they measured how often LLMs spontaneously referenced their brand in relation to outdoor gear, warmth, and waterproofing. This kind of “unaided recall” is fast becoming the new marketing KPI.
Marketers who understand this shift are beginning to treat AI models like a new kind of audience—one that remembers, compares, and influences decisions at scale.
The Platform Opportunity: Why GEO Is Bigger Than Just Tools
Historically, SEO platforms never owned the full stack. They provided analysis, but not execution. GEO is different.
The next generation of GEO platforms will:
- Ingest clickstream data across verticals
- Integrate first- and third-party data to train custom LLMs
- Generate campaign content based on real prompt data
- Test and refine brand messaging in real time
- Influence how LLMs reason and recommend across categories
The opportunity goes beyond visibility. GEO platforms can become the system of record for marketing in the AI era—tracking interactions, measuring outcomes, and enabling real-time iteration across every touchpoint powered by generative engines.
This is how modern performance marketing will evolve. From testing headlines to training LLMs on your tone, GEO will become the connective tissue between brand, message, and machine.
Timing Is Everything: Why Founders Need to Act Now
The shift is already underway—but we’re still early. The next 12–24 months will define who gains an edge and who fades from AI relevance.
In the 2000s, Google Ads created massive ROI for early adopters. In the 2010s, Facebook’s targeting engine transformed direct-to-consumer growth. Now in 2025, the battleground is LLMs—and the prize is default inclusion in AI-generated decisions.
The question every founder must ask:
When your customer consults an AI, will it remember you? Will it recommend you? Will it even mention you at all?
That’s the true frontier of brand visibility. That’s the promise—and the challenge—of GEO.
Ready to Compete in the Age of AI? Join Our Founders Meeting
The rise of Generative Engine Optimization marks a profound shift in how visibility and discovery work in the age of AI. As traditional SEO loses ground to LLMs embedded in everyday platforms, founders must rethink how their brand, product, or message shows up—not just in search results, but in the very answers AI delivers. This transition isn’t just about algorithms; it’s about messaging clarity, strategic positioning, and being AI-ready at every step of the funnel.
Navigating this shift is no small challenge. Founders are now being asked to think like technologists, storytellers, and strategists—all at once.If you can’t communicate your business with a powerful idea, you won’t be able to build it. Join our weekly Founders Meetings where early to pre-Series A founders discover how to leverage AI and strategic messaging to unlock growth.
In these interactive sessions, you’ll learn the main factors holding founders back (with more then 25 years of working on SEO, our CEO started working on SEO on Altavista search engine), see real AI implementation in GTM strategy, and connect with a community of 500+ founders who’ve raised $50M+ collectively.
Join the next Founders Meeting (and ask him about the tricks and hacks he used back then) to download our Clarity Formulas and gain direct access to our CEO and fellow founders, who are navigating similar challenges.
