Google Search Attorney John Mueller responded to a Reddit user who asked if SEO is “enough,” or if marketers now need to think about search engine optimization (GEO).
Mueller’s answer was simple: labels are more important than truth.
- “If you have an online business that monetizes referral traffic, it’s a good idea to consider the full picture, and prioritize accordingly.”
AI is not going away. Mueller didn’t get into the name debate or confirm GEO as a new discipline, but he did make it clear that AI is here to stay:
- “It doesn’t matter what you call it, but ‘AI’ is not going away.”
So far, Google has backed away from the idea that AI implementation should be considered separate from SEO. See:
Ignore the hype. Mueller urged people to focus on the actual behavior of the audience. (“Be realistic and look at actual usage metrics and understand your audience.”) He suggested asking actionable questions, such as:
- How much of your audience is actually using AI tools?
- How does that compare to search, social, or other channels?
- What does that mean where you invest time and resources?
Why do we care. SEO still drives traffic and revenue. However, you shouldn’t assume that search visibility automatically translates to AI visibility. Because it doesn’t do it 100% of the time – even if many SEO best practices bypass GEO.
What he said. Here’s Mueller’s full quote from Reddit:
- “If you have an online business that makes money from referred traffic, it’s a good idea to consider the full picture, and prioritize accordingly. What you call it doesn’t matter, but ‘AI’ is not going away, but thinking about how the value of your site works in a world where ‘AI’ is available is worth the time. Also, look at the facts and look at the metrics of real use and understand what Facebook means to your audience (what does Facebook mean? are you wasting your time?)
Reddit thread. Is SEO still enough, or do we need to start thinking about GEO as well?
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