GEO vs SEO: what's the difference, and do you need both?

SEO is the work of getting your website found and ranked in search engines. GEO, or generative engine optimisation, is the work of getting your business named and described accurately in the answers AI tools give, from ChatGPT and Gemini to Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. You need both, because GEO is built on SEO foundations and your customers now use both kinds of search.

What does SEO do for your business?

SEO is the work that gets your pages into Google and Bing results for the searches your customers make. It covers the technical side, such as making sure search engines can crawl and index your site, and the content side, such as having a clear, useful page for each service you sell and each area you cover. It also covers the trust signals beyond your site: links from other websites, your Google Business Profile and your reviews.

The goal of SEO is a click. Someone searches, sees your listing, and lands on your website. That visit is your chance to turn a search into an enquiry, which is why the basics of SEO still decide how much work your website brings in.

What does GEO add that SEO doesn't?

Ofcom's December 2025 report on how the UK goes online found ChatGPT had 1.8 billion UK visits in the first eight months of 2025, up from 368 million in the same period of 2024. That's a lot of questions being asked somewhere other than a search results page.

GEO is the work of getting your business named in those answers, and described correctly when it is. SEO measures where your page ranks. GEO asks different questions: does ChatGPT mention you at all, does it get your prices and service areas right, and which competitors does it name instead?

So our GEO work starts somewhere SEO doesn't. Every month we find the questions your customers type into ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google, test which businesses get named and how they're described, then fix the sources those tools rely on. That means your pages, facts, listings, reviews, mentions, schema, AI crawler access and consistent prices and details across the web. Then we report whether you're named, how you're described and who appears instead.

Where do GEO and SEO overlap?

For Google's AI features, the rules are the same as for Search. Google's AI features and your website guidance, updated in December 2025, says a page must be indexed and eligible to show in Google Search with a snippet to be a supporting link in AI Overviews or AI Mode. Google states: "There are no additional requirements to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode, nor other special optimizations necessary."

So if your SEO is weak, your chances in Google's AI answers are weak too. Pages that can't be crawled, important details locked inside images, and structured data that doesn't match the page all hurt you in both places. Google's guidance says you don't need special AI text files or extra schema.org markup to appear in its AI features, which is a useful check against anyone selling GEO as a set of technical tricks.

Is ChatGPT search different from Google?

Yes, and this is where SEO alone falls short. OpenAI runs its own search crawler, OAI-SearchBot. OpenAI's current crawler documentation says it is used to surface websites in ChatGPT's search features, and that sites opted out of OAI-SearchBot will not be shown in ChatGPT search answers.

OpenAI also says its crawler settings are independent of each other. GPTBot is the crawler for training its models, OAI-SearchBot is the one for search, and you can block one while allowing the other. That's a decision to make on purpose, and our ChatGPT visibility work checks it as one of the first jobs.

Access is only the start. Our GEO work also covers your listings, reviews and mentions on other sites, because if your prices, areas or opening hours differ between your website and your listings, you're giving AI tools conflicting facts to choose between.

Do you need an SEO and GEO agency, or two separate ones?

One, and the reason is practical. The fixes overlap so much that splitting them creates gaps. An SEO team rewriting a service page without thinking about how ChatGPT reads it, or a GEO specialist adding content that the SEO team's site structure buries, means you pay twice for work that pulls in different directions.

We run both together. SEO and GEO work every day inside the DLR Growth Engine, at £1,499 a month + VAT on a 12-month minimum term with no setup fees. It includes a daily SEO and GEO content engine, a free custom website worth £4,500 that's yours once the 12-month term is complete, Google Ads and Meta Ads management, an AI enquiry chatbot, email and SMS nurture and a dedicated account manager. We don't sell SEO as a standalone monthly service; it's part of the Growth Engine, so your search and AI visibility are handled by one team.

If you want to see where you stand first, our Combined SEO and GEO audit is a one-off piece of work, with the scope and price confirmed before we start and no ongoing contract.

No agency can guarantee you'll be ranked or recommended by any AI tool, and we won't pretend otherwise. What we do is remove the reasons you're being left out and show you every month what's changed. To talk it through, book a free call on +44 1382 699595.

Frequently asked questions

Is GEO replacing SEO?

No. GEO depends on SEO. Google says pages need to be indexed and eligible to show with a snippet to appear as supporting links in AI Overviews, and that comes from SEO.

Can I do GEO without doing SEO?

No. Without crawlable, indexed, clearly written pages, AI tools have little of yours to work with, so GEO built on a weak site has a weak base.

If I block GPTBot, will I disappear from ChatGPT search?

No. OpenAI says each crawler setting is independent. GPTBot covers training and OAI-SearchBot covers ChatGPT search, so blocking GPTBot alone doesn't remove you from search answers.

How much do SEO and GEO cost with DLR Media?

Both run inside the Growth Engine at £1,499 a month + VAT. A one-off GEO or combined SEO and GEO audit is priced and scoped before we start.