Rethinking GEO: The Future of AI Search is Guided, Not Generative

This is the time of the year where it is important to pause and reflect on all the things that happened, what you accomplished, and areas you wish you had done differently. For Search and SEO practitioners, 2025 was arguably one of the more turbulent years. It’s no secret that AI heavily disrupted and evolved Search. It fundamentally changed how people discover brands, content and information, ultimately altering how we need to leverage core SEO principles to drive value. 

It also brought us new acronyms… far too many acronyms. 

I have a confession to make (one that many here at Chartis are well aware of). SEO is one of the many marketing disciplines that loves their acronyms, sometimes to a fault, and this year brought that to a new level. Listen, I fully understand the importance of “Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)”, “Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)”, “Large Language Model Optimization (LLMO)”; you get the idea. 

I understand why these terms exist. My personal stance is that effective SEO strategy involves non-stop pivoting, grounded in the core principles of what makes SEO critical for brands to keep their owned house in order. These acronyms or approaches, to me, are no different than it has ever been. SEO has always been in need of a rebranding and evolution, but the flood of acronyms have almost become a joke in the space. I’ve personally landed on the fact that we’re optimizing for “AI Search”. No new acronym needed. 

Let’s take a minute to talk about “GEO”.

For the sake of this exercise, I asked my trusty LLM platforms “what are the key pillars of GEO”. The responses were logical and consistent:

1. Entity Authority & Brand Understanding
2. High-Signal Content for AI Consumption
3. Structured Data & Machine Readability
4. Retrieval Optimization
5. Trust, Distribution & Reinforcement Signals
6. Measurement & Feedback Loops
7. Experience Enablement

Not bad. My constant argument on this topic has ultimately been when I evaluate these pillars, that looks like a baseline framework for a solid SEO strategy. 

While the last 12+ months have been challenging, and exciting at the same time, I might be in the minority but this AI disruption is one of the best things to happen to SEO. Yes, traffic from organic search declined and is not coming back. Click-through rates dropped and ranking metrics have essentially lost value as traditional blue links aren’t what they used to be. But AI advancements in search have prioritized quality, trust and further bridging the gap between Search and Customer Experience. At its core, “good” SEO has always been grounded in these  key principles. 

What “Good” SEO Strategy Has Always Been About

• Brand & Product First. SEO can drive visibility and acquisition, but it can’t save a bad product. Brands that deliver unbiased value, frictionless digital experiences, intent-satisfying content, and strong performance have been far less disrupted by AI; unless traffic and rankings were the only KPIs that mattered.
• Accessible experiences for humans and machines. AI and LLMs have forced brands to prioritize fast, structured, and easily parsable web experiences. This isn’t new. Schema.org launched over a decade ago. The difference now is that accessibility for machines directly impacts discoverability and visibility.
• Brand Differentiation. AI has made differentiation mandatory. To win in traditional or AI-generated results, brands must clearly articulate what makes them different and always stay on the offense. What works today won’t work tomorrow.
• Solving Customer Needs. Intent has always been the North Star of search, and AI has simply gotten better at satisfying it. This is a major reason why clicks have declined (for better or worse). Customer intent has always been a key starting point of building a robust SEO strategy, and that should not change.
• Focus on Metrics that matter. Business value shouldn’t be defined by traffic and rankings; it never should have. Things like topical association, competitive share, and having a voice in your vertical are critical, only if that ladder backs to customer growth, high brand sentiment, and incremental revenue. 
  
  

Here is the problem with GEO as a standalone focus. 

Generative experiences must be a spoke in the AI Search wheel, but GEO doesn’t come without its challenges. 

• Generative search results are hyper personalized, or designed to be. This leads to inconsistent results for brands to monitor, which ultimately leads to difficulty to report on impact of strategies built chasing certain prompts, as a key KPI. 
  
  
• False Narratives. Generative results have created incorrect answers, varying levels of bias, and at times information that can cause brand damage. This isn’t going away any time soon, and brands must always keep a pulse on what responses are being generated, to ensure they control the brand narrative in these results. 
  
  
• Timing is everything. Generative responses are often short-lived and changing constantly. Designing a strategy around GEO isn’t enough, but rather it is necessary to develop a system that gets the brand narrative to market fast and effectively. Without a proper feedback loop, value must not be defined only by visibility, but end-to-end metrics tied to topical brand association.

That being said, there are strategic pillars tied to GEO that brands must prioritize if they haven’t already, such as brand sentiment, customer reviews, citations, ensuring on-site content is easily retrievable where appropriate. Generative results are also an output layer, not a standalone strategy. Without all the signals discussed above as part of SEO, it’s not enough to drive tangible growth. GEO can amplify strong systems and digital strategy, but it can’t replace them. 

So, what's the future of GEO?

Looking ahead in 2026, the idea of Generative Engine Optimization will and should remain top of mind. The landscape will continue to shift and brands need to test new capabilities in an effort to stay ahead of what is to come, or pivot when needed. As AI models continue to advance, and the race for AI supremacy will remain fierce for the foreseeable future, strategic flexibility should be heavily integrated into growth planning for next year. 

My view is that 2026 could be the year of “GEO”, but not the way we think.

We’re at the entry point to where Google (in particular) has been transforming the search experience for years; to a personal guided search experience. I’ll argue that the future of “GEO” is not Generative Engine Optimization, but Guided Experience Optimization. 

Revisiting the core, this ultimately brings us back to “good” SEO strategy. Optimizing all critical touch points of the customer journey to get them to an endpoint that solves their problem, which ultimately drives business outcomes.

Where We’re Placing Our Bets at Chartis

1. Web Guide: Google has taken a pretty big lead in the AI race, and the Web Guide experience currently in beta (to me) is the logical step for Search, versus AI mode replacing the initial search experience. It addresses all the areas that are paramount when searching for information, products or services. You start with a question, and refine, and refine again until you ultimately find what you’re looking for. Google has created an experience that brings this to the forefront, with limited intervention. That has always been their mission for a more personalized, value driving search experience.
   
   
2. Agentic Experiences: It might feel like a buzzword, and the idea of AI acting on a user’s behalf can be uncomfortable, history tells us this is a logical next phase in digital. Standards are being redefined every day, and brands must prioritize what this means getting their products and services in front of their customers. Agentic experiences are also designed to “guide” users from question to answer in the most seamless way possible.
   
   
3. Personalized Ecosystem: Personalization has been disrupting search long before generative AI. Today, identical queries can produce entirely different results based on context and history. As LLMs integrate more signals across platforms, this personalization will only accelerate.
   
   
4. User journey pathing from search box to point of conversion: The funnel hasn’t disappeared, it’s become invisible. Strategy now requires understanding every question, connection, and decision point between the search box and conversion, and designing experiences that resonate emotionally and functionally.

Final Thoughts

The last 18+ months were only the beginning of a much larger transformation in search. If we can leave the flood of new acronyms behind, even better. If we can’t, we should continue to focus on what actually drives value. 

Guided Experiences aren’t a new idea, but are required to drive growth, especially in organic search. Core SEO principles continue to be uniquely positioned to power this shift, enabling strategies that satisfy intent, build trust, and guide users toward meaningful outcomes. 

AI Search also didn’t kill SEO, it has transformed it in a way that is necessary and long overdue. It’s one of the many reasons I’ve stayed in the space, and I’m excited for what’s to come. 

Chartis is helping leading global brands adapt to a new era of search—one where discovery, authority, and trust matter more than ever. If you’re rethinking how your brand is found, understood, and chosen in an AI-driven landscape, we’d love to help you navigate what’s next. Let’s talk.