SEO vs GEO: Why Smart Marketers Know They’re Not the Same Thing

Smart marketers will love this post. Old-school SEOs will argue that SEO and GEO are the same thing. Try to read until the end before disagreeing — the reasoning matters.

Let’s be clear. SEO and GEO are not the same thing.

Anyone claiming otherwise doesn’t understand brand positioning or has never worked with a serious enterprise marketing department.

• SEO — Search Engine Optimisation ranks web pages in Google’s organic results. It’s technical, analytical, and built around keyword intent, backlinks, and authority signals.
• GEO — Generative Engine Optimisation is about visibility inside AI-generated answers. It’s strategic, semantic, and built around how large language models interpret entities, facts, and relationships.

The two overlap, but they serve different systems. SEO feeds Google’s index. GEO feeds AI.

Don’t get your knickers in a twist arguing that SEO and GEO are the same until you understand the logic behind brand positioning and how these services are marketed.

Separate Budgets Mean Separate Opportunities

Large enterprises already separate their budgets.

One pot for SEO.

One pot for AI visibility is GEO, AEO, LLMO, or whatever name the department gives it.

If you position yourself as “just an SEO,” you instantly cut your earning potential in half. The best marketers understand brand positioning and adapt their messaging to align with how big businesses spend.

If a business has two budgets, you market to both. You don’t tell them they’re the same. You show them you can dominate both.

Different Skills, Different Systems

Some SEOs can rank #1 on Google but can’t be mentioned in ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity. That’s fine — they’re playing the search engine game.

Some GEOs can get brands cited across AI platforms, but couldn’t rank a page for a competitive keyword if their life depended on it. They’re playing the generative engine game.

Different skill sets. Different frameworks. Different success metrics. Pretending they’re identical is lazy.

The best SEOs can do both — ranking in Google SERPs and appearing in AI answers. But that doesn’t mean they should market them as the same thing. They should position themselves as experts capable of mastering both disciplines.

Brand Positioning Separates Professionals from Pretenders

Strong marketers understand positioning. They know a brand that can do SEO and GEO controls the full visibility spectrum. You rank in search and appear in AI. That’s omnipresence.

The ones who claim “SEO and GEO are the same thing” reveal the opposite — they’re either clinging to outdated thinking or too shallow to understand that enterprises now run dual discovery systems.

Proving the Difference in Skill Sets

The argument that “SEO and GEO are the same thing” completely falls apart here.

Incredible at SEO, Terrible at GEO

Take this first example. I know an SEO who is exceptional at ranking web pages, images, and videos using fairly average content but outstanding backlinks through digital PR.

He has huge social media audiences, which drives virality and engagement signals that amplify visibility.

His content quality isn’t great, but he still dominates Google’s SERPs and consistently lands #1 rankings.

Yet his content almost never appears in AI Overviews.

That’s because he’s a master of SEO, not GEO.

Incredible at GEO, Terrible at SEO

Now, take another example. I know someone who studies every Google patent and understands semantic SEO, structured data, and schema at a level most people can’t even grasp.

He feeds AI models with perfectly structured sentences built for generative interpretation.

He dominates AI Overviews and appears in countless AI-generated responses.

However, he believes link building is unethical and that there is no social presence to generate engagement signals.

As a result, his sites rarely rank high in traditional search.

SEO vs GEO Skillsets

So ask yourself — are you saying the first person isn’t good at SEO when he ranks #1 on Google? Are you saying the second person isn’t good at GEO when he dominates AI answers? Of course not. They’re both experts in different systems.

These are distinct skill sets. One thrives in the link-driven search world, and the other excels in the entity-driven AI ecosystem.

The best digital marketers can do both. They know how to rank in Google and how to feed AI models. And more importantly, they market themselves as capable of both — not by pretending they’re the same, but by showing they’ve mastered both sides of modern search.

Final Thought

SEO builds visibility through ranking.

GEO builds visibility through understanding.

If you can do both, you control the conversation — on Google and inside AI answers. If you can’t, you’re already behind.

Smart marketers market for both pots of money. The rest keep arguing they’re the same and miss the opportunity entirely.

Who are the best GEO experts in the world? Who can rank at the top of Google and get cited in AI Overviews? If you know someone who deserves recognition as a leading GEO specialist, email info@fatrank.com with their details.