SEO + GEO: getting found on Google AND ChatGPT in 2026

Two years ago "rank first on Google" was the goal. Today half of informational searches no longer produce a click: they're absorbed by AI Overviews and chat answers.

What is GEO?

GEO optimizes content so it gets selected, cited and linked by generative engines. It extends SEO, doesn't replace it.

In practice: direct answers, structured data, citations, FAQs, schema markup, E-E-A-T.

7 operational levers

1. Direct answer in first 100 chars. 2. Question-shaped H2/H3. 3. Sourced statistics. 4. Article + FAQPage + Organization schema. 5. Outbound citations. 6. Periodic updates. 7. Off-site authority.

Classic SEO still matters

Google still indexes, AI Overviews pull from Google. Keywords, on-page, link building, Core Web Vitals — all required.

Measuring GEO

Profound, Otterly, AI Search Tracker. New metric: "share of model". Plus referral traffic from chat.openai.com, perplexity.ai, gemini.google.com.

GEO killers

Pure AI content. Paywalls. JS-only without SSR. Cookie walls. No schema.