I’m not here to comment on whether AI is an overhyped fad or the future upon which all business is predicated. Truthfully, only time will tell. While I cannot tell you if the billion dollar investments from massive tech companies or the multi-million dollar deals they are inking with each of the Fortune 500 will pan into gold or gloom, I can tell you that misunderstanding how AI is impacting search is like showing up to the gold rush with a spoon instead of a shovel. 

The rules of the internet are being rewritten in real time. You and I once optimized for keywords, backlinks, and meta tags. We’re entering the era of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), where AI assistants, not human searchers, decide who gets recommended.

Where Search Is Going

Did you know people are still using Google, but they aren’t clicking any links? With new features like AI Overview, businesses are reporting that traffic is decreasing while their content is still being presented by models that may or may not quote it. This traffic is often what drives these online businesses, so it’s quite distressing that it is decreasing despite no significant changes from the business itself.

Noting that more people are defaulting to AI for answers to their questions, OpenAi announced on September 29th that the over 700 million people using ChatGPT for search can now make purchases through ChatGPT for products from places like Etsy. As a forward looking move, I imagine it won’t be long before we see services and other things offered as well. As search engines build their new foundation on AI, it will not be long before search is dominated by AI.

Less than two weeks after OpenAi’s announcement, Google limited their search results from ranking the top 100 search pages to only readily showing the top 10. This disrupted many current SEO benchmarking tools and how businesses are reporting on their SEO performance. For businesses, this means reporting will change and the usage of Google APIs will need to increase. For AI companies, this means more of the internet is being hidden from different AI-training bots that crawl through Google search results. This is likely in a bid to slow down competition as they continue to engineer Gemini as the future of Google as the home of search. For consumers, this change went largely unnoticed.

So, to put it simply:

• AI is already diminishing traffic to sites through traditional sites.

• AI is able to serve products and handle transactions without ever sending customers to the website.

• Businesses need to shift from SEO to GEO – especially as Google hides search results.

10 Shifts You'll See From SEO to GEO

On paper, SEO and GEO might look similar. Both aim to increase discovery. But in practice, they’re built on entirely different foundations. I see GEO as a new operating system for visibility: one built on evidence, not just optimization.

1. Audience
   From: writing to convince humans on a search page
   To: proving facts to AI assistants and agents, based on quantifiable opinion.

   
   

2. Primary Assets
   From: pages, keywords, and backlinks
   To: verifiable evidence like awards, reviews, licenses, and other measurable outcomes

   
   

3. Reviews
   From: star ratings and totals
   To: recency, velocity, specificity, and how fast you respond

   
   

4. Content
   From: blogs written for keywords
   To: evidence blocks — case studies, FAQs, and results written in natural language + structured for machines (JSON-LD)

   
   

5. Off-Site Presence
   From: link building and directory submissions
   To: cross-source consistency and credible third-party corroboration (Reddit threads, BBB, trade associations, local press)

   
   

6. Measurement
   From: traffic, rankings, and clicks
   To: Assistant Share (how often you’re recommended) and Assistant Conversions (bookings or calls from AI)

   
   

7. Local Pages
   From: one big “locations” page
   To: each location having its own reviews, schema, photos, and fresh data

   
   

8. Technical
   From: crawlability and speed
   To: the same foundation plus structured data for availability, service areas, staff credentials, and pricing

   
   

9. Conversion
   From: forms and phone clicks
   To: agent-ready endpoints like one-tap booking, scheduling APIs, and live inventory

   
   

10. Governance
    From: publish and forget
    To: evidence velocity — constant proof updates, clear policies, and visible fixes for negative feedback

Where Do I Start With GEO?

GEO is still in the Wild West. No doubt there is plenty left to discover. However, the companies that learn how to build trust with AI first will own the frontier.

Many people are nervous about AI. SEO Experts are aware that shifts are coming, but realize that taking steps now will put them incredibly far ahead of competition as AI becomes more prevalent . To get started, feel free to check out our comprehensive guide to GEO.

If you’re ready to see where you stand, apply for a free GEO Audit from our team at Cheers. We’ll benchmark your current footprint and give you tools to turn your existing proof into recommendations that drive real revenue.