When you type a query into Google, it finds pages. When you ask an AI a question, it generates an answer. Understanding this difference is strategic: your customers use both. This article shows you how to align GSO (Generative Search Optimization) and SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to be visible on Google and understandable by AI.

Search engines: they find

A search engine like Google follows three steps: crawling, indexing, and ranking.

  • Crawling: robots explore your pages via links. An unexplored page is invisible.
  • Indexing: Google analyzes and stores the page in its index. If it's not indexed, it won't be visible.
  • Ranking: for each query, Google evaluates relevance, quality, updates, popularity (backlinks), and UX, then ranks all your pages.

In SEO, your goal is to optimize each page so that it appears and ranks higher for the targeted query.

Generative AI: they generate

With LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity), the logic changes: AI composes a customized response.

  • Training: the model learns patterns from billions of words; it predicts the most likely word.
  • Embeddings: words/phrases converted into vectors that capture meaning (e.g., "car" ≈ "automobile").
  • RAG: AI retrieves up-to-date information from relevant sources and then synthesizes it.

In GSO, your goal is to help AI model correctly and quote you in your own words.

What AI sees (and doesn't see) about your brand

What AI sees (and doesn't see) about your brand

AI does not "see" your logo or your graphic charter, UI/UX. It mainly ingests plain text and deduces your tone, your topics, your level of authority, and your consistency.

  • For AI, a brand is an entity that can be identified through repeated and consistent signals.
  • If the tone changes from one channel to another (fun on Instagram, cold on product pages, expert on the blog), the portrait becomes blurred, resulting in fewer reliable mentions.

Examples of territories perceived by AI

  • McDonald’s: accessibility, speed, familiar/family-friendly, value for money, standardization.
  • Apple: sleek design, innovation, ease of use, premium, confidentiality.
  • Ben & Jerry’s: indulgence, fun/quirky tone, social commitment, sustainability.

The clearer and more consistent your identity is, the more recognizable and quotable you are by AI.

GSO and SEO: two complementary approaches

To put it simply:

  • SEO = making sure Google finds you.
  • GSO = making sure AI cites you and understands your brand.

Your prospects search Google and consult AI (without looking for you).

  • Only SEO: visible in Google, but absent from AI responses.
  • Only GSO: cited by AI, but little organic traffic.

GSO + SEO = visibility + credibility + conversions.

What you need to set up:

SEO (being found)

  • Choose 3–5 priority business topics.
  • Create one clear page per topic: what you do, for whom, evidence, call to action.
  • Pay attention to readability, internal/external links, mobile optimization, and speed.

GSO (be cited by AI)

  • Summarize your promise in one sentence and repeat it regularly.
  • Add FAQs with short, direct answers.
  • Show proof: case studies, figures, customer reviews.
  • Reuse the same message on your website, LinkedIn, and Google listing.

A brief example in a few words

Let's take an accounting firm in Luxembourg as an example:

  • Page “Accountant for SMEs in Luxembourg”: clear offer, broken down by sector, 3 testimonials, CTA.
  • FAQ: “VAT obligations?”, “Deadlines?”, “Budget?”
  • Reviews: “Responsive team, compliance achieved in 30 days, call back within 24 hours”
  • Same promise repeated on LinkedIn and Google Business Profile.

Effect: Google finds it again (SEO). AI reuses your wording (GSO).

GSO and SEO: two complementary approaches

30-day action plan

Semaine 1 - Diagnostic

  • List 5–10 queries that are important for your business.
  • Audit the consistency of your website, LinkedIn profile, listings, and blog.
  • Map out three pillar pages and their subpages.

Week 2 - Entity Foundations

  • Strengthen the "About" page (mission, evidence, awards, team).
  • Add FAQs and definitions on two pillar pages.
  • (Tech) Implement basic structured data: Organization, Article, FAQ.

Week 3 - “AI-quotable” content

  • Publish 1 guide + 1 FAQ focused on decision-making (short sentences).
  • Include 3 pieces of evidence: customer case studies, figures, verified reviews.
  • Create a glossary of 10 industry terms.

Week 4 - Distribution & External Signals

  • Post 2 LinkedIn summaries of the guide + link.
  • Get 2 mentions (partners, local press, professional directories).
  • Measure: your organic traffic, brand queries, and conversions.

Measuring impact

  • SEO: positions, clicks, conversions per pillar page.
  • GSO: message consistency, external mentions/citations, excerpts (FAQs, reviews) included in observed AI responses.
  • Business: number of qualified leads generated from content (forms/calls).


Conclusion: Align your signals and get answers

Google finds pages. AI generates paragraphs. By combining GSO and SEO, you make your brand understandable to AI and visible in Google. The result: more useful visibility and more conversions.

👉 Need a turnkey GSO/SEO plan for your SME in Luxembourg? Intrépide Studio designs your pillar pages, your data schema, and your performance-oriented editorial calendar.

Interested? Feel free to contact us to discuss it over a good cup of coffee ☕️ (on Fridays after 4 p.m., it'll be more like a Battin Gambrinus 🍺).

FAQs

1) GEO vs. SEO: What's the difference?
SEO aims to make your pages easier to find and rank higher in Google thanks to relevant content, clean technical implementation, and high-quality links. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) aims to make your content understandable and quotable by generative engines (LLMs) that produce responses in natural language. The former works at the page and query level, while the latter works at the paragraph, fact, and brand consistency level. Together, SEO and GEO maximize your visibility in traditional search results and AI responses.

2) How can I make my content “GEO-ready”?
Write for clarity: a clear promise in one sentence, straightforward explanations, explicit definitions, and verifiable facts. Use short paragraphs, simple language, and your customers' actual words to limit ambiguity during generation. Cite your sources when you provide figures, and end each section with a key idea that can be easily incorporated into an AI response. Above all, ensure that this message is consistent across your website, LinkedIn, and Google Business listing.

3) What signals help an LLM cite me?
LLMs rely on well-established brands: a solid About page, identified authors, proof of expertise, and consistent messaging across all channels. They favor content that presents dated facts, quantified customer cases, and authentic opinions expressed in natural language. The use of structured data (schema.org) makes your information more readable by machines, and high-quality external mentions reinforce your credibility. The clearer and more consistent your signals are, the more likely you are to be accurately referenced.

4) How can the impact of the GEO be measured?
First, observe whether your key phrases reappear in responses from generative tools during regular testing. On your site, track the progress of brand queries, organic clicks to your explanatory pages, and conversions after reading. On your channels, check the contribution of LinkedIn and Google Business Profile to your GEO-ready content. The goal is to see both better recognition of your message by AI and a measurable increase in qualified requests.

5) What is a quick action plan for combining SEO and GEO?
Start by standardizing your promise in one sentence and apply it everywhere. At the same time, prepare a series of short questions and answers that cover your customers' recurring objections and needs, then publish at least one quantified and sourced customer case study. Strengthen your About page and add essential structured schemas to clarify your entity. Finally, obtain a few relevant external mentions and distribute your content on LinkedIn and Google Business Profile to multiply consistent signals.

6) What content formats promote GEO (LLM)?
“Easy-to-quote” formats: short FAQs, lists, definitions, executive summaries, “Key takeaways” boxes. Paragraphs of 3–5 lines, explicit titles, structured data (schema.org).

7) How can I reduce "hallucinations" when AI talks about my brand?
Publish sourced and dated facts (on the "Facts & Figures" page), quantified customer case studies, and detailed FAQs. Ensure consistency across all channels and add structured data + links to reliable external sources.

8) Multilingual GEO (FR/EN/DE): what to do?
Keep the same promise and structure in every language. Use hreflang, a glossary of key terms, and natively translated FAQs. Keep the same evidence and figures to avoid contradictions.

9) What mistakes are most detrimental to SEO + GEO?
Pages without a clear subject, vague titles, unstructured blocks of text, contradictory messages between the website/LinkedIn/Google listing, lack of quantified reviews, no schema.org, slow mobile speed. Correct these issues before producing more content.

10) What is the publishing schedule for maintaining SEO + GEO?
Simple cadence: 1 pillar page/month, 10 up-to-date Q&As per quarter, 1 quantified customer case study/quarter. Distribution on LinkedIn + Google Business Profile. Quarterly review: editorial consistency, structured data, performance.

Resources

Browse More Entries from the Exploration Log

All articles