GEO Is Just SEO: How Brands Really Get Into AI Answers
Originally published at sedatpehlivanturk.com . Over the past year, "GEO" (Generative Engine Optimization) has been sold as a new discipline. New files, new formats, tricks that "convince" AI. When I look at it as an SEO, I see something different: AI assistants run a search before they write an answer. And the way to be visible in a system that searches is still SEO. I am not the only one saying…
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) has been marketed as a new discipline, but for SEO professionals, it is simply an extension of the same principles. When AI assistants generate answers, they first perform a search, similar to how humans would. Google has confirmed that AI Overviews and AI Mode rely on its core ranking and quality systems, which involve breaking down complex questions into smaller searches.
To be visible in AI-generated content, brands need to follow SEO best practices. Google's official guide states that optimizing for generative AI search is still SEO. There are two ways an AI can learn about a brand: through training data or live search. Training data is months old and cannot be updated, while live search involves the AI searching the web and retrieving information from web pages.
For new or small brands, the only realistic route to visibility is through live search, which means relying on search engines like Google. AI search systems such as Gemini, Google's AI features, ChatGPT, and Copilot rely on Google's search systems. If a site is not indexed by Google, it will not appear in AI-generated answers from these platforms.
The key to being recommended by AI is entity resolution, which involves correctly identifying a person, brand, or company. In a test with my own name, three AI assistants identified me correctly when my site and contributions to a professional association were mentioned. However, Perplexity incorrectly identified someone else due to missing profiles and weak online presence.
To strengthen your entity, create complete profiles with consistent information across platforms like LinkedIn, Gravatar, and GitHub, linking back to your site. Use structured data such as Person or Organization schema with sameAs links. Additionally, being cited on relevant sites through articles, contributions, and quotes, as well as being part of the topic, can help improve AI's understanding of your brand.
Written by urgent.news from Dev.to's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
