GEO vs SEO: What Ecommerce Brands Need to Know

If you run an ecommerce brand, you've likely spent years optimizing for Google search. And that work still matters—SEO drives 43% of all ecommerce website traffic. But there's a new optimization discipline emerging: GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization.

60% of users now engage with search pages featuring AI-generated summaries. The question isn't whether to choose between SEO and GEO—it's how to excel at both.

The Fundamental Difference

SEO and GEO share a common goal—getting your brand discovered—but they work in fundamentally different ways:

• SEO focuses on ranking web pages in traditional search engines like Google to drive clicks and traffic to your site
• GEO optimizes content to be cited or mentioned in AI-generated responses from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity—often without users ever visiting your site

This reflects a shift from position-based rankings (fighting for spots 1-10) to probability-based AI citations. Users increasingly seek direct answers through conversational AI rather than browsing through links.

Comparing SEO and GEO: A Detailed Breakdown

Primary Goals

SEO aims to rank pages to drive clicks and traffic. Success means users see your link in search results and click through to your site. The user journey requires a visit to engage.

GEO aims to get cited in AI answers for brand influence. Success means your brand, product, or expertise is mentioned directly in the AI's response. The user journey often involves zero clicks—they get their answer without ever visiting your site.

Key Metrics

For SEO, you track rankings, click-through rates, organic sessions, and bounce rate. These metrics tell you how well your pages perform in search results and how engaged visitors are.

For GEO, you track citation frequency, brand mentions, and share of AI responses. These metrics tell you how often AI tools recommend your brand when users ask relevant questions.

What Algorithms Evaluate

SEO algorithms emphasize backlinks, keyword proximity, page speed, and user signals like dwell time. Google rewards sites that other authoritative sites link to.

GEO systems evaluate factual consistency, entity coverage, structured data, and cross-source agreement. AI models prioritize content that can be verified across multiple authoritative sources.

The Overlap Problem

Here's a critical insight: fewer than 10% of sources cited by AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini rank in Google's top 10 organic results. This means SEO success doesn't automatically translate to GEO visibility.

This disconnect creates both risk and opportunity for ecommerce brands.

How to Optimize for Both

The good news: many optimization tactics benefit both SEO and GEO. Both emphasize user intent, high-quality E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) content, and authority building.

Tactics That Benefit Both

• Structured data and schema markup: Helps Google understand your content and helps AI engines cite you accurately
• E-E-A-T signals: Demonstrate expertise through thought leadership, transparent authorship, and citations from authoritative sources
• Multimedia content: Optimized images and videos improve SEO engagement metrics and increase AI citation rates
• Content clusters: Pillar pages with subtopic clusters cover varying intents, enhancing relevance for both search engines and AI

SEO-Specific Tactics

• Keyword-rich long-form content targeting search queries
• Backlink building and anchor text optimization
• Technical SEO: site speed, mobile-friendliness, Core Web Vitals

GEO-Specific Tactics

• Answer-first structures with numbered lists, comparison tables, and specific data
• Third-party mentions and cross-source verification
• Multi-platform presence across video, communities, and social channels
• Conversational, long-tail query optimization for how shoppers actually ask questions

Budget Allocation for 2026

Based on current research, here's a recommended resource allocation for ecommerce brands:

• 40% Core SEO: Technical optimization, content, and schema for Google traffic and AI Overviews
• 25-30% GEO and Digital PR: Structured product data, E-E-A-T building, and AI-optimized content
• 20% Tracking and Measurement: Use tools like alicerank to monitor both traditional SEO metrics and AI citation frequency across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview
• 5-10% Experimentation: Test AI-native formats like listicles and competitor comparisons

The Risk of Ignoring GEO

Ecommerce brands that focus only on SEO risk "AI invisibility"—being completely absent from AI recommendations even when they rank well in traditional search. As more buying decisions shift to AI summaries and recommendations, this invisibility translates directly to lost revenue.

The gradual nature of this shift makes it dangerous. Brands may not notice the impact until a significant portion of their potential customers are making decisions based on AI suggestions that don't include them.

Sources

• SeoProfy: Ecommerce Marketing Statistics 2025-2026
• Digital Authority: Generative Engine Optimization For Businesses 2026
• SEO.com: GEO vs SEO Key Differences