7 Steps to Transition from SEO to GEO 2026

TL;DR

SEO is not dead yet, but the shift is happening from traditional search engines to answer engines. You don't need to see Gartner's report; you can see for yourself how you are searching today. Next time, when you're writing or updating content, you need to think about AI too.

A well-optimized SEO might get citations and views from LLMs. But fundamentally, there are differences between "How a search engine parses content" vs "How a Generative Engine parses the content".

Today, I will list 7 steps that you could use to transition from SEO to GEO/AEO.

Understanding the Shift: SEO vs AEO

Here are some of the basic differences between the SEO and AEO:

As we can see from various factors, there are differences between SEO and GEO. This difference can result in not only getting a lower Share of Voice but also incorrect citation or wrong brand placement.

Now, let's look into the 7 steps that you can use to transition from SEO to AEO/GEO.

Step 1: Audit Your Current SEO Strategy

The first step of any strategy is to identify where you stand right now. Address the current SEO strategy and how you are implementing in your website and content. Analyze your website/content for finding these things:

• Does your website allow robots to crawl?
• Does your website have schema markup?
• Is your content targeting clear search intent?
• Are your pages internally linked in a logical and crawlable structure?
• Are you keyword stuffing too much?

These will give a perspective on where you might be lacking and which direction you need to improve. If you are getting AI-driven traffic from ChatGPT, Perlexity, Gemini, and other platforms, then analyze that content. Analyzing and improving the already cited sites will improve the traffic from them.

Step 2: Implement Advanced Schema Markup

Schema markup is also known as structured data. It is a piece of code that is added to your website's page that helps generative engines to understand the meaning of the page. It is primarily used to provide an entity relationship to the crawler to understand the content. This helps in metrics such as the accuracy of the citation. It consists of properties such as @type , name and subjectOf. Schema markup is believed to improve the citation of a website by 45%. Here are the most important schema markups that you must add to your website:

• FAQ Schema: This is the answer and question-format schema. Helpful for AI to answer follow-up questions from the schema and match the user query.
• HowToSchema: It is used for step-by-step guide content.
• Article & Author Schema: Most important for the article to connect the content and the author. This strengthens the E-E-A-T(Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) signals.

Here are the two resources that can help you in mastering the Schema markup:

• How to Build Schema Markup for AEO: A Step-by-Step Guide
• Common FAQ Schema Mistakes That Hurt Answer Engine Optimization

Step 3: Optimize for AI Context and Reasoning

LLMs use semantic search to find the related text inside the content. It is not going to read the whole article. In SEO, too, it was not reading the whole content, but it was looking for the keywords. But in GEO, the intent of the query should match the content.

Here are the key changes that you could apply to the content/articles:

• Completeness: Each passage should be complete in itself. This helps LLMs to get the full context in one passage without requiring additional context.
• FAQ section: Adding an FAQ section with a structured list will help match user queries to the content.
• Answer with 60 words: Give LLMs a quick answer within the first 60 words so that they can answer the query. You can further elaborate on the answer.
• Adding structured lists and tables: Structured rich texts are easy to parse. Thus, adding tables and lists helps LLMs to parse and understand text accurately.

A tool like Texavor can analyze your content to provide insightful tips and metrics that you can use to improve the content.

Step 4: Implement AI-Specific Technical Directives

Generative engines use different crawlers than search engines. For example, chatgpt-operator handles user requests from ChatGPT and perplexitybot indexes websites for inclusion in Perplexity's search results. They mostly look for files such as llm.txt or llms.txt file to find information regarding the website in a plain text format.

Here are technical directives that you can implement on your website:

• LLMS.txt / llm.txt: These files should be in the root directory. They should cover "What content they can access", attribution preferences, and contact details.
• robots.txt: This file should allow bots such as chatgpt-operator, peplexityboy, and google-extended to crawl your site.
• Server Side Rendering Preference: Avoid client-side rendering that can slow the site, and also provide complex JavaScript that AI crawlers may not execute.
• Clean HTML Structure: Your content should use a clear hierarchical structure with proper semantic tags. Use proper H2 and H3 for headers and sub-headers.

For llms.txt and robots.txt examples, you can see Texavor's website:

• https://www.texavor.com/robots.txt
• https://www.texavor.com/llms.txt

Step 5: Transition from Keywords to Topic

A major transition for content is from keyword to topic. In SEO, we would be writing the whole content around a few keywords with repetition that sometimes feels unnecessary. GEO requires you to address most of the queries that are related to a topic. Simply, it prefers pillar articles. This is more true to Gemini, which prefers longer, detailed guides.

How to implement topic-based GEO:

• Pillar Pages: Create 2000+ words when necessary. Avoid increasing word count by using repetitive information. LLMs prefer information density and quality over quantity.
• Supporting Cluster Articles: Internally links other supporting cluster articles for better semantic authority.
• Query Variations: Try to use a query in the headings to match the question rather than keywords.
• Topical Authority: When your content demonstrates topical authority that includes multiple sub-topics in one. It is more likely to cite your content as a primary source of knowledge.

Step 6: Build Trust Signals for AI Systems

Authority is one of the important metrics that AI/LLMs use to cite any website. This is simply used by them to increase their confidence on a particular topic to avoid misinformation. Traditional search engines rely on domain authority through backlinks for authority. AI systems prioritize credibility, consistency, and factual reliability for the authority signal.

How to improve the trust signal for AI/LLMs:

• Clear Authorship: Using Article & Author Schema to establish a verified author with the content.
• Transparent Sourcing: Mention the article if you are using quotes, state, and outbound links.
• Updated Information: Update topics regularly to avoid mentioning outdated data. AI prefers up-to-date content.
• Consistency: Consistently publishing high-quality, improved authority.

Step 7: Monitor and Iterate

Similar to SEO, GEO also does not changes over-night. It requires you to do all the good things consistently to see the results. To see any substantial results, it requires at least 3 months. During this time, AI crawls your site and starts citing your content across some related queries.

Here is an industry observation for AI to understand and cite your site.

During this time, you have to monitor and iterate on the fundamentals of GEO and AEO.

Debunking Common Myths About GEO and AEO

Let's see some of the myths regarding that I find on the internet.

Myth: GEO and AEO are just an extension of SEO

In reality, it is fundamentally different strategies. Both have different goals, such as SEO is for ranking, and GEO/AEO is for citation. Considered SEO and GEO as two separte layer. Both can co-exist, but both work differently for different types of search.

Myth: Keywords are still the primary focus.

Keywords become irrelevant as it never gives the full picture. Modern AI is more focused on the contextual meaning and semantic relevance rather than matching exact keywords.

Myth: Schema markup is optional.

Schema is critical for AI Visibility. It helps in providing structured data about the content that is loved by the LLMs. It gives them more confidence in the content. This results in providing better answers for them.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the main difference between SEO and GEO?

The main difference is in the goal of the optimization. SEO optimizes content to rank higher in the search engine, while GEO optimizes content to get more citations.

How does schema markup impact AEO?

Schema markup helps search engines to understand the meaning and structure of your content. It makes it easier for AI systems to extract precise answers.

What platforms should I optimize for in 2026?

In 2026, you should optimize your content for the major platform that regularly cites the source. These platforms are ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity.

Is keyword optimization still relevant in GEO?

Yes, keyword optimization is still relevant, but its roles have evolved. Rather than focusing on the exact match, you should focus on the semantic relevance and intent.

How can I measure success in AI-driven systems?

You can measure success with metrics such as AI referral traffic, citation frequency, and brand mentions across different platforms.

Conclusion

SEO is not dead, but it's evolving. Traditional search engines still drive the majority of traffic, but the way people discover information is clearly shifting towards AI-driven answer systems. The transition from SEO to GEO/AEO is not about replacing your existing system completely. It requires you add a new optimization layer built for Generative engines.

Websites that adapt early will benefit from increased visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and future AI systems. Thanks for reading the article.

References

• Bol Agency – Explains how GEO/AEO is impacting B2B SEO strategies in 2026

• Atak Interactive – A deep comparison of SEO, GEO, AEO, and AIO frameworks

• The USIM – Analysis of Q4 2025 updates shaping 2026 optimization strategies