Almost 25 years ago, I bought a book titled ๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ก ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ by Frederick W. Marckini (๐ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐จ๐ถ๐ณ๐ถ) from a Barnes & Noble in Fullerton, California. That book shaped the trajectory of my career. It taught me something fundamental that still holds today: visibility is never accidentalโit is engineered.
Traditional SEO trained us to think in terms of crawlability, relevance, authority, and intent. Those principles still matterโbut they are no longer sufficient.
We are now operating in a world where customers are bypassing search results altogether and asking AI systems directly: ChatGPT, Gemini, and other LLM-powered interfaces. These systems donโt โrank pagesโ the way Google did. They synthesize answers, drawing from trusted, well-structured, authoritative sources across the web.
This is where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) fundamentally change the playbook.
The question companies must now ask is not:
โHow do we rank #1 on Google?โ
But rather:
โHow do we become the source AI systems that trust enough to quote, summarize, and recommend?โ
Based on my experience transitioning from classical SEO to AI-first discovery, here are the strategic shifts that matter most:
1. ๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐ซ๐๐ก๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง, ๐ง๐จ๐ญ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ค๐ฌ
LLMs reward clarity, structure, and semantic completeness. Content must be written so that a machine can understand it, not just index it.
2. ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฌ ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฅ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐
AI systems favor brands with consistent topical authorityโclear positioning, expert authorship, and verifiable credibilityโover content farms or generic blogs.
3. ๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ
Pages designed around direct, high-confidence answers (FAQs, explainers, frameworks) are more likely to be surfaced inside AI responses.
4. ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ง๐จ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฌ๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ๐ฌ
Your content strategy must assume it will be consumed inside GPTs, copilots, and assistantsโnot just browsers.
Having spent decades inside traditional SEO, I did not find this shift intimidatingโI found it logical. GEO is not a rejection of SEO; it is its evolution.
The companies that adapt now will not just remain visible.
๐ป๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐.
Originally published on LinkedIn by the same author