Why Traditional SEO Is Breaking — And What’s Replacing It
SEO isn't dead. But the way we've been doing it?
That playbook is rapidly losing relevance.
Click-through rates from organic search are dropping. Search journeys are now fragmented across chatbots, AI assistants, and hyper-personalised interfaces. And the SERP — the stage we’ve optimised for over two decades — is no longer the main act.
Welcome to the era of Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO).
It’s not a tweak to SEO.
It’s a shift in how visibility, relevance, and intent converge in an AI-first search landscape.
1. The Cracks in the Current SEO Model
Traditional SEO — built on keywords, backlinks, and ranking positions — is struggling to keep up with how users actually search today.
- Click-through rates are collapsing.
The top organic link now gets less than 25% of clicks. AI-generated summaries, ads, and zero-click answers are cannibalising attention. - Zero-click results are the norm, not the exception.
Google’s SGE, ChatGPT, and Perplexity give users instant, AI-curated answers — without ever needing to visit a website. - Content is over-commoditised.
When everyone is publishing 2,000-word SEO blogs on the same topics, relevance becomes a race to the bottom — unless you differentiate through context, location, or depth.
The algorithms evolved.
User behavior evolved.
But most SEO strategies haven’t.
2. The AI Layer That Changed the Game
Search is no longer just a list of links.
It’s a recommendation layer, powered by models that predict not just what you’re looking for — but what you’ll find useful next.
- Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) brings AI summaries to the top of results.
- ChatGPT plugins and tools like Perplexity AI are redefining how we research, ask, and discover — often skipping search engines entirely.
- Personalization is now predictive. Search results are influenced by user context, device, location, and behavior — in real-time.
Ranking, as we knew it, is dissolving into curation.
Visibility is earned through relevance, clarity, and intent matching — not just technical checklists.
3. From SEO to GEO: The New Visibility Paradigm
So what is Generative Engine Optimisation?
At its core, GEO is the strategic response to AI-powered discovery. It’s about optimising for how generative models — not just traditional search engines — interpret, summarise, and serve your content.
Think “answer engines” not just “search engines.”
GEO blends:
- Geo-specificity — content tailored to where users are and how they behave locally
- Entity optimisation — structuring content around people, places, products, and services in ways machines understand
- Semantic clarity — helping AI models interpret meaning, not just match keywords
- Prompt-responsiveness — ensuring your content surfaces well in AI chats and summaries
In this new ecosystem, it’s not about being #1 on Google —
It’s about being the answer AI chooses to share.
4. What CMOs Should Start Doing Differently
If you're leading a marketing function, this is your inflection point.
Here’s where to focus:
✅ Audit your AI visibility
– How does your brand show up in SGE, ChatGPT, Perplexity?
– What answers are they giving your audience?
✅ Optimise for geo-entities and structured data
– Leverage schema markup, Google Business data, and location-based content
– Align messaging with real-world user behaviour in specific locations
✅ Create content with intent, not just keywords
– Build for questions, scenarios, and local search moments
– Understand how AI parses your content — and what it excludes
✅ Think omnichannel, not just on-SERP
– Your brand may now be discovered through voice, wearable AI, or embedded AI assistants.
– GEO isn’t just a content tactic — it’s an infrastructure rethink.
GEO isn’t coming. It’s already here.
The marketers who win in 2025 won’t be the ones chasing rankings — they’ll be the ones engineering visibility in AI-first discovery environments.
Read more about the author, Ferdie Bester on his LinkedIn Profile
