Now that we’re closing out the second half of the 2020s, the new big content marketing strategy is AI optimization.
Ten years or so ago it was all about SEO and social media marketing, but while those prongs still exist, a greater emphasis has been placed on AI SEO, and by extension generative engine optimization services.
The cool thing about this is that generative engine optimization services work in much the same way as SEO services. Here’s the breakdown.
Using the Example at Hand as an Example
Let’s illustrate how generative engine optimization services work using this article as an example.
The goal of generative engine optimization, or GEO. is to get a website or one of its pages to show up as a generative output through an AI-generated answer from ChatGPT or Gemini or some other AI-driven platform.
Whereas conventional SEO hinges on specific target keywords, generative engine optimization revolves around longer-tail queries, and is not necessarily focused on answering questions verbatim or literatim, as is the case in SEO.
This is because generative engines and AI tools are better at deducing context than search engines, which need the presence of exact match keywords and phrases in order to assemble results.
Still, with generative engine optimization, just like with search engine optimization, it’s all about high-quality copy that answers specific questions.
So, in the case of this article, the best chance it has for showing up as a generative output is for a query related to how generative engine optimization services work.
A writer or strategist will draft and then optimize a piece of copy that directly and relatively succinctly answers the question, “how do generative engine optimization services work?”
Once it gets published, it will be indexed by search engines, and then when those large language models used by AI-powered search models look through the search results to answers for similar questions, they will assemble their generative outputs.
The inclusion of relevant or related keywords, answering questions that are indirectly related to the main query, skimmable structuring, and the use of conversational language all make a piece of content more attractive to generative engines.
So, because this post has answered the question of how generative engine optimization services work, using a brief piece of content, it is, itself, a fairly good illustration of how the whole thing works.
When you use an AI engine, you’ll get outputs from that engine that have followed, more or less, the framework laid out by this short post, even though you might get different sources, and or course, the output itself and the sources it uses to compile the output will vary according to the nature of the initial query.
At any rate, this whole thing should make it quite clear that there is a lot more in common between generative engine optimization and search engine optimization than you might have thought.
Both of them are still entirely reliant on quality copy that answer questions, and they’re only becoming more interrelated as search engines incorporate AI features, and as AI models themselves seek to replace search engines as the main digital tools with which consumers interact.
At the end of the day, investment in both is likely not necessary, especially if your SEO efforts are already bearing fruit. Those rely on high-quality content anyway and if they’re doing what they’re supposed to be doing, you should be getting more visibility in AI systems and engines, too.
Working with a Provider of Generative Engine Optimization Services
At the same time, if you’re not currently investing in any organic marketing for your business, either in the form of SEO or AI SEO, to remain viable and competitive in the future, it’s highly advisable that you do, whether you do it in-house or not.
Working with an experienced and proven provider of generative engine optimization services (or better yet, leveraging both SEO and GEO) will help position your brand for better visibility and credibility, can help you capture new leads, will support your other marketing initiatives, and most importantly, can bring in new revenue.
