The shift from SEO to GEO and why F1RST clients don’t need to worry

For many Search Engine Optimisers in today’s online world, it’s business as usual. SEOs continue to follow strategies in familiar ways, such as good old keywords, link building, and technical optimisation. But there’s something else happening. And it’s huge. Whether we like it or not, we are in the middle of a paradigm shift, namely the AI revolution. So, what does this mean for ongoing SEO work? Well, let’s delve in.

AI Everywhere

AI is everywhere already. From video and image generation to chatbots, automated conversational phone loops, digital assistants, security systems, content creation automations, and even AI actresses (!)

Google and its broad ecosystem of products and services are, of course, at the forefront with these developments (especially with their AI Gemini). A recent change sees AI-generated answers and snippets presented to us as part of regular Google Search results.

This trend has led to the term GEO being coined. This recent innovation of merging search engines and AI systems opens up new ways to optimise for businesses, organisations and of course, their digital agencies. Enter – ‘Generative Engine Optimisation’.

To AI or not to AI – That is the Question

But what does this mean for our digital agency work here at F1RST, and how does GEO impact our clients (mostly SME’s) and their local businesses? Specifically, how do we still develop meaningful content around our clients’ products and services? Moreover, can’t we just push the ‘AI button’ and have it all done for us? Or perhaps, why can’t anyone just push the ‘AI button’, essentially creating the end of digital agencies?

In short, unfortunately, it’s not that easy. In reality, the gradual shift from SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) to GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) currently underway has some deep underlying implications. Think of it this way: Google favours original content that adds real value for visitors. However, everything we create using AI is somewhat old news. It would be repeating itself, regurgitating existing information differently, but essentially not creating any real, tangible new informational value.

Now, how do we create content for our customers these days that ticks all the boxes, works well in terms of SEO and GEO, and is still valuable for your business going forward?

Proceed with Purpose

The answer is to use a powerful framework known as E-E-A-T, which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust. We use E-E-A-T to assess content quality and credibility. This helps tremendously to guide your business’s online journey to proceed with purpose in terms of content creation. Moreover, E-E-A-T is a quality guideline used by raters to assess content and inform algorithm improvements. As a result, the general recommendations are: Don’t use AI to create all your content. Instead, use humans to create unique content around your business, products and services. Of course, you can use AI to a small degree as a tool, but the human work put into your content to adhere to E-E-A-T is the magic stuff. Human-created content distinguishes you in a sea of AI-generated mediocrity.

Ultimately, content based on E-E-A-T principles is often much more valuable, interesting and noteworthy. After all, not only do we humans have to filter through tons of rubbish on the web, search engines and AI systems are faced with the same task – to cut through the noise. What is actually real and truthful information? What has good informational value, and what is worth pursuing and following up?

How are GEO and E-E-A-T connected?

So, how can you, as a business, become and remain relevant in an online world with GEO gaining more prevalence? Well, AI systems that operate search engines take a vast amount of information into consideration. They work out connections and context. To connect your business or organisation to the topics that are relevant to your industry or niche, adhering to E-E-A-T provides a solid foundation that the AI will recognise and reward. Next, let’s look at E-E-A-T in more detail and what this means in practical terms.

Experience

Google will gauge your experience within your industry. So, to maximise your score, you should address the following questions within your content: What have you learned over the years working in your business? How did your skills and processes evolve? How have you responded to changes in your industry or niche?

Expertise

Demonstrate your expertise. What do you know about your topic area? How does your knowledge or skill differ from the average person or other competitors in your niche or industry? Are you covering all aspects well online?

Authority

What qualifies you to speak about the subject matter? What is your background? What is it about your experience, education or skills that makes you an authority in the field? Are you being backed up by other parties’ endorsements?

Trust

Does the information you provide check out? Can it be data-matched/cross-referenced across different sources of information? Do your claims withstand fact-checking? Are your online efforts genuine, and do you avoid suspicious strategies? Do you abide by the law and have a history of good ethical conduct? Do you actively manage your reputation online, and do you distance yourself from other parties trying to bring you down via negative SEO? In other words, is your online profile squeaky clean? Finally, how good is your online feedback from others (the public, your customers, stakeholders and other organisations)?

Interestingly, E-E-A-T is not a completely new concept. It evolved from E-A-T. In late 2022, Google included ‘Experience’ as an additional valuable metric.

The Takeaway

GEO focuses on content structure and AI understanding. Generative engines are hungry for information and eager to learn. So, if you can provide good, unique and valuable information, you can make your business or organisation interesting to these machines. At the same time, your audience will appreciate this type of high-quality information because it’s significant and useful.

To future-proof your online presence, ready for the shift to GEO, F1RST would love to see where you are at. We will move you forward in your E-E-A-T content journey. Get in touch now!