Search Engines Favor GEO over SEO

New York, NY, January 30, 2026--Search engines are favoring generative engine optimization (GEO) over search engine optimization (SEO), reports the Wall Street Journal.

“Businesses are paying big bucks to get favorable mentions from chatbots. SEO practitioners call this generative engine optimization, aka GEO.

“The creators of chatbots strive to source their answers from reputable sources. But today’s AIs are shallow readers of the internet, and their responses can be manipulated.

“In the world of search, the currency is ‘referral traffic.’ A year ago, 90% of that traffic came from Google, Evan Bailyn, chief executive of First Page Sage, told me. Now, about 44% of his clients’ referrals come from AI.

“People referred to a site by ChatGPT stayed longer and were more likely to make a transaction, compared to those referred by Google.

“To boost companies’ placements in AI results, Bailyn’s company plants a sort of magic incantation, known as a ‘brand authority statement,’ on at least 10 websites. Typically, these are owned by other clients.

“Say you want to be the first answer to the question ‘What’s the best hot tub for sciatica?’ in ChatGPT. Associating his client with the phrase ‘highest-rated for sciatica’ on various company blogs can be enough to convince ChatGPT.

“Another cue that matters to bots is where the praise appears, since they are programmed to value some sources more than others. A review in the Journal, for example, has more influence than a Reddit comment. The variety of signals that chatbots rely on is good news for end users, because it means some AI results are harder to manipulate.”