SEO vs GEO: where to put your effort
Goal, unit of work, sources, measurement, timing: how ranking on Google differs from being recommended by AI assistants, and what to do first.
By Sébastien Monnier · · 6 min read · Lire en français
Search engine optimisation (SEO) aims for the first page of Google. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) aims for something else: being one of the few businesses an AI assistant names when a customer asks it for advice. The two look alike, but they are not measured, or worked on, in quite the same way. Here is the comparison, point by point.
The comparison in one table
| Criterion | SEO (search engine) | GEO (AI assistant) |
|---|---|---|
| What the customer sees | A list of about ten links | A written answer that names a few businesses |
| Goal | Rank well | Be recommended (mention) and, ideally, linked (citation) |
| Unit of work | The keyword | The full question, often long and specific |
| What counts | Relevance, popularity (links), technical | A direct answer, verifiable facts, consistent information everywhere |
| Sources taken into account | Mostly your site and the links pointing to it | Your site and the directories, reviews, media and forums that mention you |
| Stability of the result | Fairly stable from one day to the next | Variable: the same question gets different answers |
| Measurement | Position, clicks (Search Console) | Recommendation rate over many answers, citations, visits from AI assistants |
| Time to see an effect | Weeks to months | Weeks; depends on how often each assistant updates |
| Basic tool | Search Console, rank trackers | A repeated, dated measurement, question by question |
Table compiled on 26 September 2026.
What does not change
An assistant that searches the web relies on pages it can read. So the SEO basics still matter: a site crawlers can access, fast pages, one page per service, useful content. Google says as much about its AI Overviews: the usual SEO best practices apply, with no special markup to add (Google documentation).
What really changes
1. The question replaces the keyword
“plumber Lille” becomes “which plumber can I call in Lille on a Sunday for a leak, with a clear quote?”. The page that wins is the one that answers that question: opening hours, response time, indicative price, area covered.
2. Your reputation outside your site weighs heavily
For a local question, the assistant often looks at directories, review sites or the local press. If those sites talk about your competitors and not about you, your competitors get recommended instead.
3. Measurement has to be statistical
Ask the same question twice and you get two different answers. A screenshot proves nothing: you need to ask each question several times and think in percentages, with a margin of error (our method).
Do you have to choose?
No. For a local business or an SME, a sensible order of priorities is:
| Priority | Action | Helps SEO | Helps GEO |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One page per service and per main city | Yes | Yes |
| 2 | Specific facts at the top of the page: prices, lead times, area, hours | Yes | Yes, strongly |
| 3 | Complete, consistent listings on directories and review sites | A little | Yes, strongly |
| 4 | An FAQ built on customers’ real questions | Yes | Yes |
| 5 | A regular measurement of what the assistants say | No | Essential |
In short
GEO does not replace SEO: it extends it into the answers of AI assistants. The difference lies mainly in measurement (many answers, a percentage, a margin of error) and in the weight of outside sources. To see where you stand, test your site for free.
Updated 26 September 2026.