SEO (Search Engine Optimization) aims to improve the ranking of a site in search engines so that its content stands out from the concurrency. But the context is changing: a growing part of information searches now involves interfaces that Respond directly (AI assistants, chat, hybrid engines), without necessarily referring to a site.

In Europe, according to a study conducted by Sparktoro in 2024, 59.7% Google searches end Without a click : the user gets a response without visiting an external site. This statistic means that research is increasingly becoming a response space, in particular via summaries and summaries integrated directly into the search engine.

In this context, the question is no longer only “how to rank well on Google”, but also “how to ensure that your information is selected and taken up by generative AI engines”, including Off Google, in AI assistants and their conversational responses.

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1) SEO vs GEO

SEO: to be found (and clicked)

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) includes practices that allow a page to appear in the results of a search engine and then get the click. It is based on two pillars: the relevance of the content (respond correctly to the intent) and The technical aspect. Concretely, SEO aims at a simple logic: a query → a list of results → a click to a site.

GEO: be included in a generated response

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) has another objective: to provide information easy to select and reuse using a generative model (LLM) to produce a response. Here, the user does not necessarily go through a list of links: he asks a complete question and the assistant synthesizes an answer from several sources.

For example, to the question:
“What are the best agencies to organize a 3-day weekend in Rome, with an average budget and cultural activities? ”
the assistant responds by recommending directly Brands (e.g. Voyageurs du Monde, Jet Tours, Clio Voyages), with positioning, arguments and an indicative budget.

These brands were not “chosen” by the user via one click. They have been selected by the AI because, in their response mechanism, they stand out as relevant to the request (destination, duration, budget, “cultural” angle).
The GEO is the ability to appear in this specific location : in the list of options offered by the assistant, at the moment when the user makes an opinion sometimes without ever opening a site.

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2) Market context and trends: why GEO is becoming a topic now

The search switches to interfaces that “respond”

The user no longer necessarily wants to browse links, he is waiting for a Direct response.
According to a press release from Gartner published in 2024, the search volume on conventional engines could drop by around 25% by 2026, in favor of chatbots and virtual agents. This figure does not mean that Google is “dying”, but that some of the uses of information and comparison are moving to conversational interfaces (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, etc.).
Impact on the SEO vs GEO question: If part of the attention moves to assistants, visibility no longer depends only on ranking in a list of results, but also on the ability to be included in a response.

Google speeds up the “response before click” logic

In an article posted by google In 2025, the company explains the deployment of AI Overviews (answers generated in Search) and indicates to observe approximately +10% of use on queries where these responses appear. In other words, when Google offers a summary, users use it more because it reduces the need to navigate between multiple pages.
Impact on the SEO vs GEO question: Even in Google, the “key moment” moves: the user reads a summary response before deciding whether to click. Being well-ranked is still useful, but it's no longer always the main point of contact.

3) How does SEO and GEO work

SEO referencing:

SEO is based on mechanisms measurable. Even if Google does not publish its exact formula, it is possible to objectify the results: average positions, impressions, click rate (CTR), indexed pages, crawl errors, technical performance.

In practice, this allows for a relatively stable improvement loop: publication, measurement, adjustment, progress. That's what makes SEO controllable over time : the algorithm remains opaque, but its effects are observable and exploitable.

However, it should be remembered that not all search engines use exactly the same criteria or the same weights. The general principles (relevance, quality of content, technical accessibility) are widely shared, but their implementation varies between engines. This does not call into question the logic of SEO, but explains why performance may differ from one engine to another.

GEO referencing: more variables, less certainty

The GEO follows a different logic. A language model does not classify pages in a list: it Construct a response by selecting passages deemed useful and then rephrasing them.
This selection depends on several variables, which change according to the tools and contexts:

• the model used and its updates,
• The citation policy (present or not depending on the interface),
• The accessible sources,
• the Exact context of the question (the more precise it is, the more restrictive the selection is).

To understand more precisely how a language model works, you can read our article How does an AI language model work?

A large part of the “GEO methods” that are now being relayed are plausible best practices, but by no means guarantees. The GEO can be worked less as a technical adjustment than as a continuous structuring work, supplemented by regular tests.

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What improves probably The chances of being cited in GEO

The operation of generative engines remains partly opaque: there are no official criteria or guarantees of recovery. On the other hand, some formats seem to increase the probability that content be selected, because they are easier to interpret and integrate into a generated response.

In particular, we observe better recovery when the content offers:

• Of direct and explicit answers, avoiding vague or generic formulations,
• one clear structure (lists, steps, tables), facilitating the extraction of information,
• Of the elements verifiable (precise definitions, criteria, dated figures, conditions, limits),
• A content specific, designed to answer a specific question rather than a topic that is too broad.
  
  

Key point: these elements do not constitute rules of referencing in the SEO sense of the word, but hypotheses. They do not guarantee recovery, but they reduce the risk of exclusion as the AI selects useful information to formulate its response.

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4) GEO is progressing, but SEO remains essential

As we have seen, GEO is taking an increasing place in research uses. Some of the requests are now made directly in AI assistants, where the user expects a Synthetic response rather than a list of links. In these situations, being taken as a source can influence the decision Before any click, or even without a click.

However, this does not call into question the central role of SEO. Classic search is still widely used, in particular to navigate, compare or identify a specific site. Above all, SEO is based on indicators more stable and measurable (positions, traffic, conversions), while the GEO remains more fluctuating, depending on models and interfaces, with less perspective.

So the right approach is to continue to invest in SEO, while gradually integrating GEO on certain targeted content, capable of answering specific questions. GEO complements SEO but does not replace it.

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Conclusion

The trend is clear, an increasing part of research is done in interfaces that Give the answer directly, which mechanically reduces the number of clicks to sites. SparkToro Show that in Europe 59.7% Google searches end without a click. And when a generated response appears, Seer Interactive observes a significant drop in organic CTR on the requests concerned.

Concretely: being well ranked is still useful, but no longer automatically guarantees traffic.

However, GEO remains more recent and less “readable” than SEO. The exact rules vary by model, the interfaces And the policies citation: there is still no “recipe” as stable as classic SEO.

So the realistic decision is simple: maintain a solid SEO base (measurable visibility, perspective, technical fundamentals) and add a GEO layer on the content that matters, making it more structured, accurate and easily reusable in generated responses.

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