Organic search is changing. Fast. In February 2026, research from Ahrefs found that the presence of a Google AI Overview was associated with a 58% reduction in click-through rate for the number-one organic result on informational searches.
Separate research from Pew Research Center found that users clicked traditional Google search results on 15% of searches without an AI summary, compared with just 8% when one appeared.
And by the time you’re reading this, those numbers may already have changed.
People aren’t just using Google differently. They’re increasingly asking questions directly through AI-powered search experiences and tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude.
That means businesses need to think beyond traditional rankings.
The objective is no longer simply to rank highly enough for someone to click your website. Your business and its expertise also need to be understood, trusted and surfaced by the systems answering the question.
This emerging discipline is often called Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
So, what can you actually do about it?
1. Don’t abandon SEO
Let’s start with the most important point: GEO doesn’t replace SEO.
Google itself says that the fundamentals of SEO remain relevant to its generative AI search features. Your website still needs to be crawlable, indexable, technically sound and structured so that search engines can find and understand its content.
Good SEO is increasingly the foundation for AI visibility too.
2. Answer the questions your customers actually ask
AI search is conversational.
Instead of searching for two or three keywords, people can ask highly specific questions about their situation, compare alternatives or ask follow-up questions.
Your content needs to address those real questions.
Talk to your sales and customer-service teams. Look at search data. Review enquiries. Identify the questions customers repeatedly ask before buying.
Then think beyond individual keywords. What would someone ask next? What comparisons would they make? What information would they need before making a decision?
Then answer those questions properly.
3. Make your expertise explicit
Don’t make an AI system — or a person — work unnecessarily hard to understand what you know.
Use clear headings. Define terminology. Answer questions directly. Explain processes. Make relationships between topics obvious.
If you have genuine expertise in something, create enough useful information around that subject to demonstrate it.
4. Publish information worth citing
If you’re simply rewriting information that already exists on hundreds of other websites, there is very little reason for an AI system to reference yours.
Original research, proprietary data, expert commentary, case studies, first-hand experience, useful statistics and genuinely informed analysis give your content something distinctive to contribute.
Don’t just create more content, create something worth referencing.
5. Build authority beyond your own website
What the wider web says about your organisation matters too.
PR coverage, industry publications, professional profiles, associations, research collaborations, reviews and authoritative third-party references all help establish who your organisation is and what it is known for.
Think beyond backlinks.
Think about your organisation’s digital footprint.
6. Structure information clearly
Make your content easy for both people and machines to interpret.
Use descriptive page titles, logical headings, concise answers, useful lists and tables where appropriate, strong internal linking and relevant structured data.
FAQs can be particularly useful when they answer genuine customer questions. But don’t create FAQ content simply because you think AI wants it. Put clear questions and answers where they naturally belong — whether that’s on a service page, product page, article or dedicated FAQ resource.
Google has explicitly said there is no special AI schema or markup required to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode.
So don’t chase technical GEO tricks that promise shortcuts.
Structure your content around what people need to know, then make those answers easy to find and understand.
7. Strengthen the entities behind the content
Your company isn’t the only thing an AI system needs to understand.
Who are your experts? What subjects do they specialise in? What organisations do you work with? What products or services do you provide? Where do you operate?
Build clear, consistent information about your organisation, people, expertise and relationships across your website and wider online presence.
8. Create content for specific, complex questions
Broad informational searches are increasingly being answered directly within search results.
That makes depth and specificity more valuable.
Instead of another article called “What is timber frame?”, for example, a specialist business might be better placed answering a much more specific question that requires genuine expertise.
The more complex the question, the greater the opportunity to contribute something an AI-generated answer actually needs.
9. Start measuring AI visibility
You can’t improve what you aren’t measuring.
Google Search Console now provides dedicated reporting for generative AI features, allowing you to see how often pages from your website are being surfaced within Google’s AI search experiences and which pages are receiving that visibility.
Your analytics can also identify referral traffic arriving from AI platforms such as ChatGPT.
Start establishing a baseline. Which pages are being surfaced? Which subjects are you gaining visibility for? Is that visibility increasing? Which AI platforms are sending visitors to your website?
GEO is still developing quickly, so don’t expect one perfect metric. Start measuring now so you have something to compare against later.
10. Optimise for the next step, not just the AI mention
Getting cited is not the end goal.
If somebody discovers your business through an AI Overview, ChatGPT or another AI search experience and visits your website, the fundamentals of conversion still apply.
Does the page establish credibility? Is your proposition clear? Is there an obvious next step? Can someone enquire, buy, book, download or contact you easily?
Your search strategy may be changing, but the commercial objective hasn’t.
Turn visibility into enquiries. Turn enquiries into customers. And measure whether your marketing is making your business money.
Your customers are changing how they find information. Your search strategy needs to change with them.
Want to make sure your business is being found as search changes? Talk to Bubbly Consulting about your SEO and GEO strategy at hello@areyoububbly.com.
