In his Forbes article, Michael Chagala argues that traditional SEO is rapidly being eclipsed by a new paradigm: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Unlike the classic approach of optimizing for search engine rankings, GEO focuses on how brands can become answers in AI-driven responses — essentially getting cited by generative AI itself.
According to Chagala, AI has evolved into the new search engine. Rather than showing a list of websites, modern AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s “AI Overviews” aim to provide direct, authoritative answers by synthesizing information from across the web. Because of this shift, brands now face a different contest: not to rank at the top of a search results page, but to be the single, trusted recommendation that AI returns. Forbes
GEO and SEO are not mutually exclusive, Chagala notes — there’s a strong overlap. But GEO demands fresh priorities: content structured for machine understanding, with key facts clearly highlighted, and webpages built with a user-friendly, bug-free experience. He argues that tactics like shady link schemes or aggressively duplicating location-based pages will carry less weight in GEO.
To succeed in this new landscape, brands should:
- Build authority and trust by participating in industry conversations and sharing clear, accurate information.
- Format their content to help AI read and quote it — using bulleted lists, pull-quotes, and other structural markers.
- Focus on technical quality — fix site speed issues, remove bugs, and ensure good user experience, since AI systems favor content that’s easy to parse.
Chagala’s bottom line: “You don’t need the best GEO strategy on the internet — you just need to do it better than your competition.”
