Last week, I just finished a meetup about AI search when a corporate marketing lead caught up and asked me: "Rachel, everyone is talking about GEO these days, but why does everyone have a different definition? Who actually gets to decide?"
I didn’t answer right away.
Because that question reminded me of the many companies I've interacted with over the past six months.
Some people think GEO is just Prompt optimization; others believe it’s just a new name for SEO; and some feel that as long as you publish content that AI can easily read, you’re already doing GEO.
I continued asking him: "So, what do you think is the biggest confusion?"
He paused for a few seconds, sighed softly, and said: "It feels like every company has its own explanation. I don’t know who to trust."
I nodded.
What really made me stop and think wasn’t the question itself, but the fact that more and more companies are starting to ask the same one.
This signals that GEO is undergoing a new shift.
The Past Year Has Been a Phase of “Wild Growth”
Over the past year, GEO has entered a period of rapid development.
More businesses are paying attention to AI search, more service providers are discussing GEO, and market education has been faster than many predicted.
At the same time, various interpretations have emerged.
- Some focus on studying Prompt engineering.
- Some emphasize content structuring.
- Some see GEO as a natural extension of SEO.
- Others prioritize brand knowledge building.
These views can’t simply be labeled as right or wrong.
Because in the early stages of any new industry, multiple definitions often coexist.
I’ve been in this field for two decades, starting with Yahoo SEO in 2005, moving to Google Search, and now to AI Search. I’ve seen similar phases before.
In the beginning, everyone tries to explain it.
Later, the industry gradually develops a shared language.
I believe GEO is in a similar place today.
The Real Change to Watch: More “Official Definitions” Are Emerging
Many people follow AI model updates daily.
But I’ve been paying more attention to something else lately.
More and more industry conferences, corporate training sessions, digital marketing forums, and domestic AI platforms are starting to discuss GEO in a more standardized way.
The focus of discussion is gradually shifting from "Is there such a thing as GEO?" to "How should we understand GEO?"
For instance, more platforms are discussing knowledge quality, brand credibility, content organization, and how the AI search ecosystem should be built.
Industry associations, training organizations, and internal company sharing sessions are also beginning to feature GEO-related topics.
These changes don’t necessarily mean that unified standards have formed.
But they do suggest that GEO is moving from a topic of community discussion to a topic of industry discussion.
This, I believe, is a very important signal for this year.
Why “Official Definitions” Often Matter More Than a Single Model Update
Many people think that because AI search updates daily, the biggest changes must come from the models.
That statement is half true.
The other half actually comes from the industry itself.
Over the past twenty years, I’ve experienced three generations of search ecosystems: Yahoo, Google, and now AI Search.
Every time an industry matures, it’s not because the algorithms stopped changing first.
It’s because the industry began to form a relatively consistent language.
I generally break down industry development into three stages.
- Stage One: Everyone discusses, "Does this thing even exist?"
- Stage Two: Everyone discusses, "How should it be done?"
- Stage Three: Everyone discusses, "What is the commonly recognized standard?"
In my view, GEO is gradually entering Stage Three.
This doesn’t mean innovation is ending.
Quite the opposite.
Only when the industry begins to share a common language can companies more easily exchange experiences, service providers more easily compare practices, and businesses build truly sustainable operational mechanisms internally.
What Common Understandings Might China’s GEO Form in the Future?
No one can accurately predict what GEO will look like in a few years.
But based on the current direction of the industry, I see several trends worth watching.
- AI will increasingly focus on credible information sources.
- Brand identity consistency will become more important.
- Content structure will affect AI’s understanding efficiency.
- Data source attribution will receive more attention.
- Citation chains and knowledge relationships will gradually become important references.
- The value of corporate official websites may be revived.
Many companies easily misunderstand one thing.
These changes are not meant to cater to AI.
Rather, they are meant to reduce the cost for AI to understand brand information.
No matter how domestic AI products evolve in the future, a brand information system that is accurately understood, consistently updated, and has clear sources will find it much easier to build long-term value compared to scattered information.
What Really Matters Isn’t Who Proposed GEO, But Who Is Defining It
Over the past year, I’ve often seen companies debating: "Who was the first to propose GEO?"
I don’t focus much on that question.
Because the development of any industry generally goes through three different stages.
Someone proposes a concept.
Someone spreads the concept.
And someone refines the concept.
What truly impacts a company’s long-term practice is often not who first coined a name.
But who drives the industry to gradually form a shared expression that everyone can understand, communicate about, and practice together.
I’ve always believed this is the key sign that an industry is truly beginning to mature.
What Changes Are Happening in China’s GEO Landscape?
| Past | Present |
|---|---|
| More discussion on concepts | More discussion on practice |
| Different institutions had different explanations | More unified expressions are emerging |
| More experience sharing | More standard building |
| Focused on Prompt | More focused on content quality & credible information |
| Focused on acquiring traffic | Focused on building AI visibility |
These changes don’t mean the industry has stopped innovating.
On the contrary, they mean GEO is beginning to enter a more mature stage of development.
What Should Companies Focus On Now?
If in the past year, many companies were concerned with "Is it necessary to do GEO?", then I believe what deserves more attention next is how to build the capability for continuous optimization.
The reason is simple.
AI search is not a one-time optimization task.
Brand information can change daily, website content is constantly updated, industry discussions keep growing, and AI’s understanding of a brand is continuously adjusted.
Therefore, rather than publishing a few pieces of content as a one-off, I recommend companies first establish their own AI visibility baseline.
Know where you are now.
Only then can you know where you need to go.
Based on years of practice, I believe companies can prioritize at least three areas.
- Continuously monitor the visibility changes of your brand across different AI platforms.
- Establish a brand citation monitoring mechanism to understand which sources AI prefers to cite.
- Plan your official website and knowledge content to keep brand information consistent and updated over the long term.
These tasks may not show immediate results like certain quick tricks.
But they are more like building the foundational capability for your brand to be consistently understood by AI in the years to come.
Some Worry: Will Official Definitions Stifle Innovation?
Over the years, I’ve heard many similar viewpoints.
Some say: "If everyone follows the same standard, won’t there be no room for innovation later?"
This statement is half right.
Half wrong.
Industry maturity never means the end of innovation.
SEO was like that.
Mobile internet was like that.
Today’s AI Search, I believe, is the same.
What becomes truly unified are some basic consensuses.
For example, what kind of information is more credible, what kind of content is easier to understand, and how brand information should remain consistent.
What truly keeps changing are the ways companies combine these foundational capabilities with their own industry, products, and user needs to do them better.
So, I don’t see standards and innovation as opposites.
On the contrary, after unifying basic rules, companies can actually focus more effort on areas that truly create value.
The Next Phase of GEO, As I See It
Let’s go back to the question posed by the corporate marketing lead at the start of this article.
Who really gets to decide what GEO is right now?
My answer is actually quite simple.
As more industry organizations, platforms, businesses, and practitioners join the discussion, GEO will gradually form more shared languages.
Communication between companies will become smoother.
Practical methods will become easier to compare.
The entire industry will enter a more mature phase of development.
A truly mature industry isn’t one where everyone uses the same method, but one where everyone starts using similar language to describe the same problem.
I believe that in the coming years, what’s more worth watching in China’s GEO landscape isn’t who first proposed a concept, but who can continuously push the industry towards forming clearer, more open, and more actionable consensus.
If you are a corporate marketing lead, I recommend first establishing a baseline for your brand’s AI visibility, rather than just focusing on a one-off content release. If you are a brand manager, consider restructuring your official website, brand knowledge, and content assets. If you lead a digital marketing team, it’s advisable to set up continuous GEO data monitoring and content iteration mechanisms, starting with data before making decisions.
Related Questions
Are GEO and SEO the same thing?
They are related but have different focuses. SEO is more concerned with a webpage's ability to rank in search results, whereas GEO focuses more on whether AI can understand, organize, cite, and recommend brand information. They are better suited for coordinated implementation rather than replacement.
Do Chinese AI platforms also need GEO?
With the increasing variety of domestic AI products, more users are directly obtaining information through AI. Businesses also need to pay attention to how their brand content is understood by AI. The implementation methods may differ across platforms, but the goal remains to enhance brand visibility.
Why are more people discussing GEO now?
AI search is becoming a new gateway for information access. Simultaneously, the industry is entering a more regulated development phase, with companies shifting their focus from concepts to long-term practice and continuous optimization.
What does it mean when official definitions for GEO start emerging?
It means that industry understanding of GEO will gradually form more consensus. Companies can more easily exchange experiences and establish methods for continuous optimization, rather than relying on one-off tactics.
What should companies prepare for first right now?
It is recommended to prioritize improving official website content, brand information consistency, and knowledge content systems. Simultaneously, establish an AI visibility monitoring mechanism so that subsequent optimizations are based on real data.
Will GEO change quickly?
AI platforms continue to evolve, so GEO practices will also need continuous adjustment. However, directions like high-quality content, credible sources, and clear brand expression are expected to remain important for the long term.