GEO, AEO and SEO: what changes for your website?

Three lenses for the same customer journey

A buyer may move from a search result to an AI summary, then open a source to decide whether a product fits. Plan for that whole journey. The terms help when they clarify the job of a page; treating one page as three unrelated optimisation projects can obscure the reader’s actual need.

Sources: Optimizing your website for generative AI features; Evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers; Elevating the Role of Grounding on the AI Web; A Smarter Way to Explore Images Has Come to Bing

What Google’s guidance changes

Google says foundational SEO remains relevant to its AI search features. AI Overviews and AI Mode may use related searches to gather information and link to supporting pages. To qualify as a supporting link in those features, a page must be indexed and eligible to appear in Search with a snippet; Google says there are no additional technical requirements. Separately, Google’s generative AI guidance says a site must be included in Search generative AI features in Search Console to be eligible for display in those features. These statements concern Google’s specific features, not a general GEO checklist. Treat eligibility as a prerequisite, not a forecast: it does not promise that a page will appear. For practical planning, keep important content crawlable and available in text. Google says generative AI search does not require a special AI file or schema. Maintain machine-readable formats when they serve another purpose, and make the page useful to the person who arrives.

Sources: Optimizing your website for generative AI features; AI features and your website; Google's February 2026 Discover Core Update  |  Google Search Central Blog  |  Google for Developers; Announcing web multimodal Search performance reporting in Search Console  |  Google Search Central Blog  |  Google for Developers

Build around a decision

A category definition alone rarely helps a buyer choose. Explain who the service is for, the job it solves, the conditions under which it fits and the evidence behind material claims. For agency work, make delivery scope tangible: describe what strategy, design and development include, which channels or campaign activities are managed, what the client team can manage after launch, and which integrations or ongoing support are in scope. Show relevant projects with enough context for a buyer to judge fit, link to supporting detail and give the reader a sensible next step. Keep scope and results tied to documented work.

1. Name the real need

   Use wording a customer might use before knowing your brand. Include team size, location, an existing tool or a required outcome when it affects the decision.

2. Give a usable answer

   Place the conclusion near the top. Explain the trade-offs and conditions that change it in the body.

3. Make the next step concrete

   Link to a relevant product detail, worked example, comparison or source so the reader can act on what they learned.

Sources: Buyer questions for AI visibility; How Ready Scan builds an AI visibility scorecard; Evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers; Elevating the Role of Grounding on the AI Web; A Smarter Way to Explore Images Has Come to Bing; AI Search is now generally available

A worked content decision

Consider a hypothetical agency whose service page says only “paid search, paid social and lead generation”. A growing business still needs to know what that means in practice. If these services are included, the page could explain which channels the agency manages, whether campaign planning, creative, landing pages and testing are in scope, how leads are qualified, and how campaign activity can be reviewed alongside CRM outcomes. It could also show relevant work with enough context for a buyer to judge fit, without implying that another client’s results will repeat. Be explicit about what is not included, too.

For a hypothetical B2B website project, a service page could also explain how strategy, design and development fit together, which content management system the site uses, and what the client team can update independently after launch. Clarify whether migration, CRM integrations and ongoing support are included, and show comparable projects with the agency’s role and relevant constraints made clear. These details help a buyer compare scope and identify what to verify before shortlisting.

These are content examples, not measured AI results or claims about an agency’s performance. Their value is helping a buyer understand the offer, compare providers and decide what to ask next.

Sources: Optimizing your website for generative AI features; Buyer questions for AI visibility; New learning paths: curated YouTube playlists for Search fundamentals and Technical SEO  |  Google Search Central Blog  |  Google for Developers; Evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers; Elevating the Role of Grounding on the AI Web; A Smarter Way to Explore Images Has Come to Bing; Multimodal embeddings beyond a single vector

Keep one useful answer current

Give each distinct reader need a canonical home. When the evidence or offer changes, update that page with detail that helps a buyer decide. For agency and client teams, useful additions may include a clearly scoped service, a relevant project with enough context to assess fit, or practical guidance drawn from the work itself. Where you can, explain what was done, for whom, under what constraints and what the team learned, using only details you can substantiate and share. That gives the page a distinct point of view instead of another generic summary. If a related topic deserves a separate page, link the two in context and explain what the second page helps the reader decide. Many slightly different question variants should not fragment one coherent explanation.

Sources: Optimizing your website for generative AI features; Evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers; Elevating the Role of Grounding on the AI Web; Multimodal embeddings beyond a single vector

Choose the next useful action

Let the observed problem determine the next action: clarify an offering that is hard to understand, improve access to useful detail, or correct inaccurate information you control. Prioritize changes that affect a real buying decision and that your team can substantiate, implement and maintain. Avoid reacting to a single mention or chasing visibility for its own sake. For client work, keep a simple change log with the buyer question, the answer or source evidence that revealed the gap, the page and owner, the change made, the signal you will review and the date. Set a review point, then check the original gap before deciding what to do next.

For reporting, distinguish search visibility from business outcomes. Google's AI-features guidance describes AI-feature traffic within Search Console's overall Web performance reporting; its generative AI guidance also points to a dedicated Generative AI performance report. Use the available view that fits the question, then review relevant analytics and CRM outcomes separately. When you reassess, compare the same questions and context where practical, and note any changes to the AI system or setup. Report the visibility movement as an observation, not as proof that the content change caused a business result. Mentions, citations and recommendations are visibility signals, not proof of leads or revenue.

Sources: How Ready Scan builds an AI visibility scorecard; Buyer questions for AI visibility; New learning paths: curated YouTube playlists for Search fundamentals and Technical SEO  |  Google Search Central Blog  |  Google for Developers; Evolving role of the index: From ranking pages to supporting answers; Elevating the Role of Grounding on the AI Web; AI Search is now generally available