If you’re feeling overwhelmed by talk of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google’s SGE, and how they might upend search engine optimization, you’re not alone. The search landscape in 2025 is undergoing its biggest shift in decades. Users aren’t just “Googling” anymore – many are turning to AI chatbots and generative search engines to get instant answers. In fact, one report predicts retailers could see up to a 520% increase in traffic from chatbots and AI search engines this holiday season compared to 2024. Does this mean traditional SEO is dead? Not at all. It does mean that marketers must broaden their approach. In this post, we’ll explain how AI-driven search differs from classic Google search, why SEO isn’t obsolete (just evolving), what Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is, and how you can optimize for both AI search and Google search together. By the end, you’ll see that with the right strategy, and the right partner, you can thrive in both the Google SERPs and AI-generated answers.
AI Search vs. Traditional Search: What’s the Difference?
AI search refers to the new breed of answer engines powered by large language models, think ChatGPT’s conversational Q&A, Perplexity’s cited answer summaries, or Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) results. Instead of returning a list of ten blue links, these AI tools generate an answer for the user. The experience is more interactive and immediate: ask a complex question, and the AI will synthesize information from various sources to respond in plain language. By contrast, traditional Google search still shows a ranked list of webpages (with snippets) that users click through for answers. This fundamental difference means the criteria for “appearing” in results are not identical. For example, early data shows that the overlap between top Google search results and the sources AI chatbots cite has dropped from about 70% to under 20%. In other words, the pages that rank #1 on Google aren’t necessarily the ones an AI like ChatGPT or SGE will draw from when composing an answer. One reason is that classic search engines have often rewarded lengthy, in-depth content (think of those long blog posts that precede a recipe), whereas AI systems prefer information that is concise, well-structured, and easy to parse. As one expert put it, chatbot algorithms tend to favor content presented in simple, structured formats, like bulleted lists or FAQ pages, which can directly answer many specific questions.
Another key difference is how users interact with these platforms. On Google, users might type a short query and then sift through results. With AI search, users often ask very specific or conversational questions, and they might follow up with clarifying questions in a chat. For example, few people will go to a chatbot and ask “Is my company a good brand?” – instead, they’ll ask something highly specific like “Which of these two product models is better for X purpose?” As a result, AI search tends to surface more granular information. Companies are learning that publishing extremely specific, question-focused content (such as Q&As, detailed comparisons, or clearly labeled facts) increases the chances of being pulled into an AI-generated answer. In short, AI search engines have different content preferences and behaviors than traditional search. Understanding those differences is the first step to adjusting your optimization strategy.
SEO Is Not Obsolete—It’s Evolving
It’s easy to jump to the conclusion that if AI answers are stealing clicks, all the SEO knowledge you’ve built up is suddenly irrelevant. The good news: that’s far from true. What we’re seeing is not the death of SEO, but its evolution into a broader practice. Google itself has stated that the same SEO best practices remain relevant for appearing in new AI search features like SGE. And industry analysts echo that Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is really “the next phase of SEO” rather than a completely new discipline. Many early GEO consultants actually come from the SEO world, because the core goal remains the same: anticipate the questions people will ask, and make sure your content appears in the answers. In other words, the fundamentals of creating quality content, structuring your site well, and building authority still apply. If you’ve invested years in good SEO practices, you’re already much of the way there, GEO builds on the foundation of great SEO. High-quality, audience-focused content, technical soundness (crawlable, fast pages), and credible mentions/backlinks across the web are as critical as ever, because these are the elements that also help AI models decide which brands to trust and reference.
However, SEO now extends beyond the traditional SERP. Marketers need to think about optimizing for multiple discovery channels: not just the Google results page, but also the answers that appear in AI chats, voice assistants, and other emerging platforms. The old playbook isn’t trash; it’s just getting an addendum. You may need to tweak some tactics and broaden your view of success metrics (more on that shortly), but the reassuring truth is that solid SEO strategy remains the bedrock of visibility, even as search extends into generative AI.
What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing your content and web presence specifically so that AI-powered tools will include your brand, facts, and pages in their generated answers. In other words, where traditional SEO aims to get you ranking on page one of Google, GEO aims to get you mentioned or cited in AI answers on platforms like Google’s AI overviews, ChatGPT, Bing Chat, Perplexity, and beyond. It’s a complementary approach to SEO, not a replacement. Think of GEO as ensuring your content “feeds” the AI engines. This is a holistic effort that goes beyond just tweaking meta tags or adding keywords. For example, GEO involves: publishing content in the right places and formats where AI systems are likely to find it, earning positive brand mentions across the web (even when those mentions aren’t traditional backlinks), and ensuring your site’s technical setup allows AI crawlers to easily access and interpret your content.
How does this look in practice? It means you might create a robust FAQ or knowledge base on your site that answers niche questions your customers ask, these bite-sized answers are perfect fodder for a chatbot. It means structuring your articles with clear headings, summaries, and bullet points (using phrases like “In summary” or lists), which makes it easier for an LLM to digest and quote your text. It also means maintaining your brand’s presence on reliable sites and data sources; for instance, if an AI is drawing on a knowledge panel or Wikipedia for information, you want to make sure that information about your company is accurate and well-represented there. GEO even extends to how you measure success. In the past, you might focus on your Google rankings and click-through rates. In the AI era, you’ll also track “reference rates,” how often your brand or content is being referenced by the model in its answers. You’re optimizing to be the example or source that the AI chooses to mention when providing an answer, which is a new kind of win. The key takeaway: GEO works hand-in-hand with SEO. Your SEO efforts make your content high-quality and discoverable; GEO ensures that content is packaged and positioned so that AI algorithms recognize it as a great answer to user queries.
Dual Optimization: Why You Need Both SEO and GEO
To succeed in 2025’s search environment, brands need a dual optimization strategy. Relying only on classic SEO without considering AI search visibility could mean missing out on a growing share of traffic and brand exposure. Conversely, focusing solely on AI answers and ignoring traditional search would be unwise, since Google Search still drives the majority of traffic for most websites today. It’s not an either/or decision, you genuinely need to optimize for both channels in parallel. Consider that Google’s new AI overview feature (SGE) now appears on a significant portion of searches (at least 13% of all queries, by one recent estimate) and is expanding to more users. Those AI summaries often pull information from multiple sources and can either lead a user to click through to one of the cited websites or satisfy the query outright without a click. By optimizing for GEO, you increase the odds that your site is one of those cited sources in the AI summary. At the same time, maintaining strong traditional SEO means if the user decides to dig deeper or perform a follow-up classic search, your site will be prominently there as well.
Another way to look at it is in terms of user journey. A consumer might start by asking an AI assistant a broad question, get a few recommendations (your brand should ideally be named here), then switch to Google to research that recommendation in depth, where again your site should appear at the top. If you had only optimized for one side of that journey, you’d lose the customer at either the awareness stage (AI answer) or the consideration stage (Google search). In short, dual optimization ensures continuous visibility. It also future-proofs your marketing: trends suggest AI-driven search and chat interfaces will only grow in popularity (ChatGPT, for example, reached 100 million users faster than any app in history, and has hundreds of millions of weekly users as of early 2025). One SEO study even saw an 800% year-over-year increase in traffic coming from LLM-powered sources in recent months, a sign of how quickly this channel is emerging. If your brand isn’t adapting to generative search, you risk becoming invisible online as user behavior shifts. The bottom line: to maximize your reach, you should continue investing in SEO (to capture traditional search traffic and feed Google’s AI with quality content) while also embracing GEO techniques to ensure you’re part of the conversation in AI-driven results. This dual approach will keep you present wherever and however your audience is searching.
Galileo Tech Media’s Hybrid SEO + GEO Solution
Adapting to this new dual reality may sound daunting, but you don’t have to tackle it alone. Galileo Tech Media has been at the forefront of search marketing for years, and we’ve evolved our services to offer a hybrid SEO + GEO approach that covers all bases. We understand how to apply classic SEO tactics and the latest GEO strategies in tandem, so our clients’ content is primed for both the Google algorithm and AI algorithms. Just as importantly, we deliver these services in a flexible, scalable way that takes the stress out of execution. Galileo operates on a piece-based pricing model, meaning we price and package our work by specific deliverables rather than by the hour. This allows you to purchase exactly the pieces of work you need, when you need them – whether that’s an SEO technical audit, a batch of AI-optimized FAQ entries, a set of new blog posts targeting featured snippets, or all of the above. You’re not locked into a bloated retainer for services you won’t use. You can scale up or down easily based on your current priorities and budget, getting volume discounts on higher workloads and never paying for more than necessary. In short, our piece-based approach gives marketing teams budget predictability and the agility to ramp efforts up or down as the search landscape changes.
Scalable execution is another cornerstone of Galileo’s model. Because we have a network of specialized SEO strategists, content creators, and technical experts, we can quickly mobilize to tackle large projects (like optimizing hundreds of product pages for GEO-friendly content) or pivot to seize a timely opportunity (like creating a quick-turn Q&A article to ride a trending query that an AI engine might latch onto). All of our work, from traditional SEO tasks to GEO initiatives, is aligned under one strategy so that every “piece” we deliver moves you closer to the goal of total search visibility. Our team stays up-to-date on Google’s latest updates and the fast-evolving best practices for AI search optimization. We’ve integrated GEO considerations into every step of our SEO process – for example, our content writers are not only experts in keyword optimization but also trained to format content in ways that AI systems prefer (concise summaries, clearly labeled sections, etc.), and our outreach specialists focus on building brand mentions and authority signals that boost your credibility in the eyes of both Google and AI models. The result is a comprehensive strategy that covers both pillars: we’ll help your pages climb the Google rankings and increase your chances of being the trusted source an AI quotes in its answer.
Conclusion (Persuasive Close)
The rapid rise of AI-driven search doesn’t mean you have to throw out your playbook, it means you need to expand it. By understanding the differences between AI search and traditional search, and by implementing both SEO and GEO tactics, you can maintain and even grow your online visibility in 2025 and beyond. The companies that succeed will be the ones who rank in the search results and get talked about by the AI answer engines. It’s a dual challenge, but with the right approach it comes with dual rewards: more touchpoints to reach your audience and more opportunities to outperform competitors. At Galileo Tech Media, we specialize in helping overwhelmed marketing teams navigate these changes with confidence. Our hybrid SEO + GEO services, delivered through cost-efficient piece-based pricing, ensure that you’re covered on all fronts without wasted budget or effort. We’re here to help you optimize for both worlds of search, so you never have to worry about being left behind by a Google algorithm update or a new AI tool on the scene. SEO isn’t obsolete: it’s evolving, and generative AI is opening fresh pathways to get your brand in front of customers. With Galileo’s support, you can embrace this evolution. The search landscape may be changing, but one thing remains constant: quality content, smart strategy, and expert execution will always win. Let’s make sure you shine on the Google results and in the AI answers – the future of search belongs to those who optimize for both.
