For years, SEO meant appearing among the top ten Google results for a relevant query. The buyer clicked, landed on the site, and the channel did its job.
That model is still valid, but it's no longer the only one. When someone asks ChatGPT which CRM to use, asks Perplexity for the best running shoe brand, or asks Google which logistics operator has the best ratings in their country, the model generates a direct answer. If your brand isn't in that answer, it doesn't exist for that buyer at that moment.
Language models build their answers from content found on the web: product pages, blog articles, industry studies, company profiles, media mentions. Brands that produce dense, specific, and verifiable content about their category are far more likely to appear in those answers than brands with a well keyword-optimized site but no substantive content.
GEO extends SEO rather than replacing it. The content strategy that ranks on Google also positions in generative models, but with distinct nuances that must be understood and applied.