The way people search online is changing.
For years, SEO has been the foundation of digital visibility – helping businesses appear when potential customers search on Google. But with the rapid growth of ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and other AI platforms, there is now another opportunity for businesses to be discovered: Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
And importantly, GEO isn’t replacing SEO. It’s adding another layer to it.
AI search is growing rapidly
Generative AI platforms recorded around 9.5 billion visits per month worldwide between June 2025 and May 2026 – up 70% year-on-year. Unique visitors also grew by 57% to around 655 million.
At the same time, traditional search remains significantly larger. Search engines had around 3.3 billion monthly unique visitors, compared with 655 million for AI chatbots.
So, no – Google isn’t going anywhere!
In fact, 95% of ChatGPT users also use Google, showing that people aren’t necessarily replacing traditional search with AI. They’re using both.
So, what is GEO?
SEO helps search engines understand and rank your website.
GEO is about making your business, website and expertise easier for AI systems to understand, trust and reference when generating an answer.
For example, someone might search Google for:
“Website design company in Devon”
But with AI, they might ask:
“Who are the best website design agencies in Devon for a manufacturing company?”
The second search is much more conversational, specific and research-driven.
The goal of GEO is to make sure your business has the information, authority and online presence needed to be considered when those questions are asked.
Google is becoming more AI-powered too
GEO isn’t only relevant to ChatGPT.
Google is increasingly incorporating AI directly into its search results. Similarweb reports that more than 40% of US searches now trigger an AI Overview, while Google’s AI Mode has rapidly grown in usage.
That means the traditional Google search journey is changing too.
Users can now receive an AI-generated answer before they even reach the traditional search results.
This makes it increasingly important for businesses to be visible within the answers, not just the rankings.
SEO + GEO is the real opportunity
The best approach isn’t to choose between SEO and GEO.
It’s to combine them.
SEO helps you:
- Rank in traditional search results
- Drive traffic to your website
- Build organic visibility
- Target valuable search terms
GEO helps you:
- Become visible within AI-generated answers
- Build authority around your areas of expertise
- Increase the likelihood of being referenced or recommended
- Prepare your business for the next generation of search
And there is significant crossover between the two.
High-quality content, strong technical foundations, clear expertise, authoritative information and a trustworthy online presence all help both SEO and GEO.
The future of search isn’t Google vs AI.
It’s Google + AI.
The businesses that start optimising for both now will be better positioned as the way customers search continues to evolve.
At R50, we’re helping businesses look beyond traditional SEO and prepare for the next generation of search with SEO and GEO working together.
Because being visible isn’t just about ranking anymore.
It’s about being found wherever your customers are searching.