SEO helps a website appear in ordinary search results. GEO, short for generative engine optimisation, helps AI-assisted search understand the same business when it prepares an answer.
The overlap is large. Both need pages that can be crawled, accurate business details, useful answers, clear authorship, and evidence that supports each claim. A special file or a few lines of schema cannot force an AI tool to mention a business.
A practical example
Imagine an Auckland heat-pump installer. A customer may type “heat pump repair North Shore” into Google. Another customer may ask an AI search tool, “Who repairs a noisy heat pump near Glenfield?”
The useful source information is similar:
- the real services offered;
- the areas the installer serves;
- opening or response information that is kept current;
- a clear repair page that answers common fault questions;
- genuine reviews and project evidence used with permission;
- a working contact route.
SEO work makes these pages easy to crawl and relevant to conventional search. GEO work checks whether the same facts are clear enough to interpret when an AI system assembles an answer from available sources.
Where SEO work usually starts
First check the basics: page access, indexing, titles, headings, internal links, mobile use, speed, canonical URLs, and the sitemap. Then check whether each important service has a useful page and whether the location information matches the business's real service area.
Google Business Profile also matters for local discovery. Categories, hours, services, photos, and genuine reviews should agree with the website.
What GEO adds
GEO adds a question-based review. List a small set of questions customers are likely to ask, then see whether the website gives a clear, supported answer. Improve the source page where the answer is weak or missing.
This may mean adding a direct explanation, a comparison, a price boundary, an author, a service area, or a current date. The work should improve the page for a person as well as a search system.
Prompt checks are observations. They do not prove that one edit caused an AI citation, and results can vary between tools, users, and dates.
What should a small business do first?
Use one shared plan for SEO and GEO:
- Fix crawl and indexing problems.
- Confirm business name, services, locations, and contact details.
- Choose the customer questions closest to a real sale or booking.
- Publish or improve the strongest page for each question.
- Link related pages together.
- Check the result and record the next action.
BestAI's SEO & GEO plans use this recurring workflow for one small, editable New Zealand business website. The entry plan includes two priority page improvements, weekly checks, and a monthly written summary.
Search platforms choose what they rank or cite. No service can guarantee placement, traffic, enquiries, or an AI mention.