Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Agency vs. SEO Agency

A Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agency focuses on helping brands appear inside AI-driven search results, like Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, and ChatGPT, by optimizing for how large language models capture, ground, and cite content. A traditional SEO agency, on the other hand, works to improve visibility in Google’s SERPs through keywords, backlinks, and technical enhancements. The key difference is that while SEO aims to rank pages, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) aims to ensure content is referenced and cited directly within AI-generated answers. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agencies are groups of experts who know how these new search engines index, classify, rank, and cite pages so that brands can be optimized to meet customers in the buying journey.

Key Takeaways

Overview: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Agency vs. Traditional SEO Agency

Here are the key differences between a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agency and a traditional SEO agency:

Want to work with us? Learn more about Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) services.

1. Understanding How Each Search Engine Ranks Content

A Traditional SEO agency focuses on optimizing for Google’s SERPs—technical fixes, keyword targeting, and building backlinks remain the foundation. A GEO agency, by contrast, optimizes for AI-driven search systems like Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, and ChatGPT. These engines don’t just rank pages by links and keywords; they ground, re-rank, and cite passages of content based on clarity, authority, and factual density.

Recent GEO-bench research shows that outdated methods like keyword stuffing perform poorly, scoring only marginally above baseline. By contrast, high-performing GEO methods such as Quotation Addition (+41% Position-Adjusted Word Count) and Statistics Addition (+28% Subjective Impression) demonstrate that evidence-rich, authoritative, and well-cited content is what AI engines favor when deciding what to include in answers.

2. Workflows and Measurement

Traditional SEO workflows emphasize keyword research, link acquisition, and rank tracking. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agencies operate with entirely new playbooks, including:

This shift reflects the fact that AI-search visibility is about being part of the synthesized response, not just ranking in a list.

3. Building Reputation & Off-Page Signals

While traditional SEO has long relied on backlinks and domain authority (older methods that don’t work in modern search strategies), Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agencies extend this into subject-level reputation building. AI models rely on grounding strategies: they prefer to cite sources that are authoritative and consistently referenced across the web. A GEO agency may therefore:

These activities strengthen a brand’s likelihood of being cited, quoted, or referenced in generative answers—something backlinks alone cannot achieve.

What a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Agency Does

A Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agency specializes in strategies designed to increase a brand’s visibility, inclusion, and citation inside AI-driven search experiences such as Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Bing Copilot, Perplexity, and ChatGPT. Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses primarily on SERP rankings, GEO agencies work across technical, content, and reputational layers to optimize for how large language models (LLMs) capture, ground, and surface knowledge.

1. Question Research

GEO agencies begin by mapping customer demand in the language of AI queries. This involves analyzing both first-party and third-party data to uncover how different cohorts of customers phrase questions in natural language. From there, the agency builds a content and asset strategy that ensures the brand’s information is positioned for inclusion inside Search Generative Experience (SGE) answers and other AI-driven responses.

2. On-Page Efforts

Unlike keyword-focused SEO, GEO on-page efforts are tuned to passage-level optimization:

These techniques make pages more likely to be selected, cited, and grounded inside AI Mode or AI Overview results.

3. Data Feed Optimization

AI search engines increasingly pull from structured data feeds. GEO agencies audit and optimize these feeds to ensure nothing blocks or dilutes brand visibility:

By resolving incomplete or inaccessible feeds, the agency ensures the brand’s structured signals flow cleanly into AI search systems.

4. Off-Page Efforts

To influence how LLMs evaluate authority and reputation, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agencies go beyond backlinks:

This subject-level reputation building increases the likelihood that the brand is cited as a credible source when AI systems synthesize answers.

5. Measuring AI Inclusion

Finally, GEO agencies provide custom measurement frameworks that track how AI search engines reference the brand. This includes:

This closed-loop measurement allows businesses to see, track, and prove ROI or ROAS from generative engine optimization efforts.

What a Traditional SEO Agency Does

A Traditional SEO agency focuses on helping businesses increase visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs), primarily through keyword optimization, technical enhancements, and authority-building strategies. The ultimate goal is to align pages with search engine ranking signals so they climb higher in Google’s results, driving more organic traffic.

1. Keyword Planning

At the foundation of SEO is keyword planning—identifying the terms and queries customers use and mapping them to target pages. This creates a structured connection between customer demand in the market and a brand’s web presence. Agencies use tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google Keyword Planner to identify high-value search terms and build a roadmap for ranking.

2. On-Page Efforts

Traditional SEO agencies improve the relevance and quality of content by optimizing on-page factors such as:

3. Off-Page Efforts

While on-page optimization is crucial, many agencies also focus on off-page reputation building. The most common approach is backlink development, achieved through outreach campaigns, digital PR, or partnerships. These inbound links help signal authority and boost rankings.

4. Organic Performance Tracking

SEO success is tracked through performance metrics that tie rankings to business outcomes. Agencies monitor:

This structured reporting provides businesses with clear visibility into ROI or ROAS from organic search investments.

Where Traditional SEO and Generative Engine Agencies Overlap

While Traditional SEO and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) represent two distinct approaches, they share important common ground. Both are ultimately designed to make a brand visible, trusted, and discoverable within search ecosystems—whether in SERPs or AI-generated answers.

1. Technical SEO as the Foundation

Both agency types rely on technical SEO as the bedrock of their work. If pages can’t be crawled, indexed, or read, then optimization efforts are wasted. Traditional search engines depend on Googlebot and Bingbot, while ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI-driven engines now deploy their own crawlers designed for knowledge capture. Ensuring that these systems can access, parse, and interpret site content is a shared prerequisite.

Curious on what those AI crawlers are? Read our LLM SEO guide.

2. On-Page Quality and Trust Signals

Both traditional SEO and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) agencies emphasize on-page optimization to deliver the best possible user experience. This includes:

Whether a page is being ranked in SERPs or surfaced inside an AI-generated response, trust signals and authority signals remain central to visibility.

3. Scalable Content Creation Over Backlinks

Both agency models recognize that long-term success lies in scaling quality content, not chasing backlinks. Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines show clear alignment of devalued manipulative link schemes. And focus on rewarding clear and helpful pages that help humans get real questions answered.

Instead, authority today comes from:

This shift away from backlinks toward entity-based authority means that both traditional SEO and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) practitioners must focus on building brand presence at scale within relevant conversations.

Common Questions About GEO vs. Traditional SEO

Common questions and answers from our experts:

1. Does traditional SEO even matter anymore alongside GEO?

Yes. Traditional SEO remains the benchmark requirement before you can succeed with GEO. Without strong technical SEO—such as ensuring non-blocking JavaScript, crawlable site architecture, and accessible sitemaps—neither Google nor AI crawlers can capture your content. Additionally, not all users are searching via AI systems yet. While adoption of Search Generative Experience (SGE) and AI-driven search is growing, SERPs still represent a major share of discoverability and demand. Neglecting them would leave significant opportunity on the table.

2. If I just do GEO, won’t SEO work too?

Yes and no. GEO has such high content quality requirements—fact density, statistics, unique insights, and alignment with natural language questions—that success in GEO often spills over into traditional SEO visibility. For example, if a large enterprise brand is consistently cited and referenced alongside subject-matter experts across the web, its content will naturally meet many of Google’s ranking criteria as well. However, GEO is not a one-size-fits-all replacement. Some businesses will still need deliberate SEO efforts to compete in traditional SERPs while layering GEO strategies on top.

3. How do you measure success in GEO compared to SEO?

Traditional SEO focuses on rankings, traffic, and conversions. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) adds a new layer: AI visibility metrics, such as citation rate (how often your brand is referenced in generative answers), share of voice inside AI search engines, and conversation-to-conversion rates. GEO agencies often build custom dashboards and log-file tracking to capture these insights. Success is measured not only by traffic but by how often your brand is chosen as a trusted source by AI search systems.

4. When should a business start investing in GEO?

Businesses should begin Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as soon as they’ve established a baseline of SEO fundamentals: crawlable pages, quality content, and strong technical health. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) becomes especially valuable for brands in competitive or fast-changing industries, where being cited in AI answers can mean winning or losing a customer at the exact moment of intent. The earlier a brand builds its AI-ready semantic footprint, the more defensible its authority becomes in future search ecosystems.

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