What Comes After SEO?

[megri]

The short answer is: It's not a single successor, but a transformation where AI (and specifically LLMs) is becoming the core of how SEO works. "GEO" and "AIO" are related concepts, but "LLM" is the underlying technology powering the change.

Here’s a detailed explanation:


1. LLM (Large Language Model) - The Engine of Change


This is the most accurate answer to "what's next?" LLMs are the foundational technology behind AI like ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and Microsoft's Copilot.

• What it is: A very large AI model trained on a m***ive amount of text data to understand and generate human-like language.
• How it's changing SEO: The biggest shift in years, Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE), is powered by LLMs. Instead of just showing a list of blue links, Google uses an LLM to generate a direct, conversational answer at the top of the search results.
• Impact on SEO:
  • Focus on "Information Gain": Content must provide unique insights, answers, and perspectives that aren't just a rehash of existing information. The LLM will prioritize novel and valuable content.
  • Answering User Intent, Not Just Keywords: SEO is moving beyond matching keywords to fully satisfying the searcher's underlying question or task.
  • Structured Data & Authority are King: For an LLM to confidently cite your website as a source in its generated answer, your site needs to have clear, well-structured data and be seen as a top-tier authority.

In essence, SEO is evolving into "Optimizing for LLMs." 2. AIO (AI Optimization) - The New SEO Practice


AIO is the natural evolution of the SEO practice itself. It's the set of strategies you use to ensure your content is found and used by AI systems, primarily LLMs.

• What it is: The process of optimizing digital content and online presence for AI-driven platforms, including search engines, voice ***istants, and chatbots.
• How it relates: AIO is what you do in a world where LLMs power search. It encomp***es:
  • Optimizing for conversational, long-tail queries (how people talk to AI).
  • Creating comprehensive, topic-focused content that serves as a definitive source.
  • Using structured data (Schema.org) to help AI understand your content's context.
  • Building E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to become a source that AI can trust.

You can think of it as: SEO is now a subset of AIO. AIO is the broader discipline of being visible in all AI interfaces, with SEO being a major part of that. 3. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) - A Specific Subset


GEO is a newer term coined specifically for optimizing for AI generative experiences, like Google's SGE or the ChatGPT interface.

• What it is: A specific set of tactics aimed at getting your content included and cited in the AI-generated answers (like the snapshot in Google SGE).
• How it relates: GEO is essentially the practical application of AIO for LLM-powered search engines. It's the most direct "next step" for technical and content SEO.
• Key GEO tactics include:
  • Citation Optimization: Getting your brand or website mentioned by the AI as a source.
  • Prompt-Based Strategy: Creating content that answers the likely follow-up questions a user would ask the AI.
  • Diversity of Sources: Ensuring your content covers a topic from multiple angles to increase the chance of being cited.

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The Bottom Line: What Comes After SEO?


SEO is not dying, but it is fundamentally changing.

The cl***ic "10 blue links" model is being augmented and, for many queries, replaced by a conversational AI interface.

Here is the simplest way to see the relationship:

LLMs are the TECHNOLOGY (the engine).
AIO is the DISCIPLINE (the new strategy).
GEO is a SPECIFIC TACTIC within that discipline (for generative search).
Traditional SEO is the FOUNDATION that all of this is built upon.

What you should do now:

1. Don't Abandon SEO: Core principles like site speed, mobile-friendliness, and a good user experience are still critical.
2. Embrace E-E-A-T: Become an undeniable expert in your niche. Showcase author credentials, customer testimonials, and real-world experience.
3. Create Comprehensive, "People-First" Content: Write to satisfy human curiosity and answer questions fully, not just to hit a keyword density score.
4. Think in Terms of Topics and Entities: Structure your content so that AI understands the relationships between concepts you're discussing.

So, to directly answer your question: LLM is the "what," and AIO/GEO are the "how" for the next era of search.

[Ethan Cole]

This is a brilliant breakdown of where SEO is headed — or rather, how it’s evolving. I completely agree that we’re witnessing a paradigm shift from search engine optimisation to AI optimisation. It’s not about abandoning SEO but understanding that the rules of discoverability are being rewritten by LLMs.

I think your point about “information gain” is the most crucial. The era of keyword stuffing or surface-level blog posts is long gone. Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude don’t reward duplication — they reward originality, clarity, and factual authority. The next-generation “ranking factors” aren’t algorithmic tricks; they’re context, depth, and expertise.

What’s fascinating is how AIO (AI Optimisation) is emerging as a hybrid field — part content strategy, part data science. To perform well in AI-driven discovery, websites need to focus on:

• Structured context: Schema markup, metadata, and semantic relationships are vital for LLM interpretability.
• Author identity and verification: Real names, credentials, and experience matter because AI models are now citation-aware.
• Conversational tone: As more searches happen through chat interfaces, content must feel natural, explanatory, and human.

The concept of GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) is equally exciting — it’s the practical bridge between SEO and AI. Being cited in Google’s SGE or ChatGPT responses might soon become the new “position zero.” For that, brands need to anticipate user intent chains — answering not just the initial question, but the next three that follow.

I also appreciate your reminder that technical SEO fundamentals still matter. Site performance, accessibility, and UX signals are what make your content crawlable and reliable to both bots and humans.

In short, we’re moving from optimising for algorithms to educating intelligent systems. The next generation of content creators will be AI-literate communicators who understand how LLMs reason, cite, and summarise.

[Russell]

That’s a really insightful breakdown! I completely agree that SEO isn’t disappearing—it’s transforming. The rise of LLMs is clearly redefining how search engines interpret and deliver content. Instead of just ranking for keywords, it’s now about creating genuinely valuable, structured, and authoritative information that AI systems can confidently reference. AIO feels like the natural evolution, where visibility extends beyond traditional search into AI-driven interfaces. GEO, on the other hand, sharpens that focus by optimizing for generative answers. In short, adapting to LLMs, AIO, and GEO is how we’ll stay relevant in the new search era.