For about two decades, the game for getting found online was called SEO — Search Engine Optimization. The goal was simple: rank as high as possible on Google’s search results page so that people could find your website.
That goal hasn’t disappeared. But the landscape has shifted in a way that requires businesses to expand their thinking.
Welcome to GEO: Generative Engine Optimization.
What Is Generative Engine Optimization?
Quick definition: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing your business’s digital presence to be cited, mentioned, or recommended by AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Google’s AI Overviews, Gemini, and Perplexity — rather than just ranking on a traditional search results page.
In 2026, a growing number of people are getting answers directly from AI assistants without ever clicking a search result. When someone asks ChatGPT ‘What’s the best roofing company in Edmonton?’ or asks Google’s AI ‘Which local HVAC companies offer emergency service?’, those AI systems construct answers from the information they’ve learned to trust.
If your business isn’t part of that trusted information pool, you simply don’t exist in that moment of decision.
How Is GEO Different From SEO?
Traditional SEO is about getting ranked. GEO is about getting cited.
With SEO, the goal is to appear high enough in a list of links that someone clicks yours. With GEO, the goal is to be referenced or recommended by an AI system that is generating a direct answer — often without requiring any click at all.
The two are not opposites. In fact, many of the underlying practices overlap. But GEO requires some specific strategies that traditional SEO doesn’t.
What SEO and GEO Have in Common
- Quality, relevant content that answers real questions
- A fast, well-structured, mobile-friendly website
- Consistent business information across the web
- Strong backlinks from credible sources
- Positive reviews and clear trust signals
If you have been doing SEO well, you are not starting from zero. You have a foundation.
What GEO Adds
Conversational content.
AI systems are built to answer questions in natural language. Content that is written in a conversational tone, structured around real questions, and easy for AI to parse performs better in generative results. This means FAQ pages, question-and-answer formatted articles, and clearly structured service pages.
Entity recognition.
What is an entity? In search and AI, an ‘entity’ is a clearly defined, unique thing — a business, a person, a location, a product. AI systems build an understanding of entities over time. The more consistently your business name, location, services, and description appear across the web, the stronger your entity profile becomes.
Structured data and schema markup.
Schema markup is code on your website that tells AI and search engines exactly what your business is, what it does, where it operates, and what customers say about it. It’s one of the most direct GEO signals you can control.
Third-party mentions and citations.
AI systems trust sources that are cited by other sources. Being mentioned in local news, industry directories, chamber of commerce listings, and partner websites builds the kind of authority that influences AI recommendations.
Should You Stop Focusing on SEO?
No. Traditional search still drives enormous amounts of traffic and business. The shift is not from SEO to GEO — it is from SEO alone to SEO plus GEO.
The businesses that thrive in the next three to five years will be those that optimize for both: ranking well in traditional results while also building the kind of authority, clarity, and trust signals that make AI systems confident in recommending them.
Loop’s SEO and digital marketing team is helping Alberta businesses adapt their strategies for both traditional and generative search.