Blog
If you run a retail business, you already know how much buying behavior has shifted in the past few years. But while most retailers have caught up to the idea of optimizing for Google search, a new layer of discovery is quietly reshaping how potential customers find your brand (before they ever reach your website).
GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, is the strategy behind making your content visible on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, and Google’s AI Overviews.
Unlike traditional search engines, these are generative tools that synthesize answers, recommend brands, and guide customer decisions, often before someone even clicks a link. For retailers, showing up in these AI-generated responses is super important.
And this is exactly what we are discussing today. In this blog, we’ll break down:
Let’s get right into it.
For years, SEO has been the go-to approach for helping customers find you online.
You research your keywords, build content, optimize your product pages, and hope to land somewhere near the top of a search result. But with more people turning to AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews to ask product-related questions, search is starting to look a little different, and so are the ways people discover retail brands.
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the new layer to pay attention to. Instead of optimizing just for search engine rankings, GEO helps position your brand where customers are now looking for answers, inside generative AI platforms that summarize, recommend, and even shop on a user’s behalf.
More shoppers are skipping the scroll entirely and asking AI questions like:
And AI isn’t just linking out, it’s responding with full recommendations, lists, and explanations.
For retailers, this means that visibility is no longer just about Google rankings, it’s about being included in the conversation, wherever that’s happening.
according to Gartner, traditional search traffic is expected to drop by over 50% by 2026, and 79% of consumers are projected to use AI-powered search in the next year. If you’re only optimizing for traditional SEO, you could be missing the platforms where shoppers are ACTUALLY spending their time.
It’s important to understand that SEO isn’t going away, and if you’re a retailer, your SEO efforts still matter more than ever. However, the way people search is evolving, and that’s where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) comes in.
SEO has always been about helping your website rank well in search engines. You use the right keywords, follow technical best practices, and make sure your pages are structured so Google (and other search engines) can crawl, index, and display your content properly. That still holds true, especially when it comes to product listings, local searches, and mobile visibility.
GEO, on the other hand, is more about how your content is interpreted by AI-driven platforms. These tools are not only looking at the keywords but also analyzing context, relevance, and how well your content answers specific user questions.
The focus is shifting from keyword density to intent matching, which means instead of just using ‘running shoes’ five times on a page, you’re now thinking about what someone actually wants to know (how comfortable the shoes are, durability, return policy, customer reviews, etc.).
Dig Deeper: Make it Easy for Your Customers to Find Products
While SEO and GEO approach search visibility from different angles, for retailers, understanding how the two overlap can help you build smarter, future-ready content.
Here’s a quick comparison table of where SEO and GEO align, and how their focus differs:
| Area | Traditional SEO Focus | GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Keywords | Optimized for exact-match and short-tail search terms | Natural, long-tail, question-based language that mimics real queries |
| Technical Setup | Page speed, mobile responsiveness, and structured data | Same as SEO, but structured data also helps LLMs interpret content contextually |
| Content Strategy | Keyword-targeted landing pages, blogs, and metadata | High-quality, well-structured answers to user intents that AI can pull into generative responses |
| User Intent | Focused on click-throughs from ranked positions | Focused on clear, helpful answers that AI engines summarize and recommend |
| Performance Metrics | Rankings, click-through rate, bounce rate | Visibility in AI summaries, presence in conversational search, branded mentions |
| Trust and Authority (E-E-A-T) | Relevant backlinks, content authorship, and domain authority | Still critical, especially with AI relying on trustworthy sources to generate answers |
For retailers, blending both strategies means you’re visible not just on search results pages, but inside the answers your customers are already seeing, whether they’re asking Google or an AI chatbot.
As more shoppers turn to AI-powered tools to guide their buying decisions, retailers risk falling behind if they’re not showing up where those decisions start.
It’s no longer just about ranking on a search results page.
Today’s consumer might ask a tool like ChatGPT or Perplexity what the best waterproof shoes are for hiking, or where to find affordable boutique home decor. If your business isn’t part of that answer, you’re missing out long before the buying journey even begins.
AI-generated responses often surface just a handful of trusted sources to build their answers. That means fewer opportunities to appear, and higher stakes if your site isn’t optimized for these newer engines.
Unlike traditional SEO, where users might scroll through several links, generative platforms summarize information instantly. You’re either in the answer or you’re invisible.
For retailers, this shift brings both a challenge and an opportunity. If your content doesn’t clearly reflect your value, product focus, or expertise, it’s unlikely to be picked up by an AI system.
You don’t need to toss out everything you’ve built to start showing up in AI-generated answers. In fact, with a few smart tweaks, the content you already have can do a lot of the heavy lifting.
The key is to think about how AI tools interpret and use your content.
These platforms are not just scanning for search rankings, but also for clarity, credibility, and specificity. So, rather than stuffing in more keywords or writing longer product pages, the goal is to help AI understand what your business is about, who it serves, and why your content is worth including in a response.
Start by tightening your existing content to make it more answer-ready. That means:
This way, you are not rewriting your entire site but refining it so AI tools can pick up the right signals.
Despite what it may seem, it’s not GEO versus SEO.
These two strategies don’t have to compete for attention. In fact, when they support each other, the results are stronger across the board.
To help you understand it even better, you can think of SEO as putting your store on the map so people can find you. GEO makes sure that when they walk by, or scroll by, they can actually see what you offer, understand it right away, and feel like it’s exactly what they need.
The two work better together. One brings in the traffic, the other helps convert it by showing up in the right place, at the right time, with the right message.
Retailers with solid SEO foundations won’t need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, GEO can work alongside that structure by fine-tuning how content shows up in AI-driven responses. Here’s a glimpse of how they SEO and GEO complement each other:
| SEO Focus | GEO Focus | How They Work Together |
|---|---|---|
| Ranking for search engine results | Appearing in AI-generated answers | Keyword-rich content supports both traditional results and AI-contextual prompts. |
| Structured metadata and tags | AI-friendly formatting and answer styles | Structured content helps both crawlers and AI engines interpret relevance and hierarchy. You want to go with headings, bullets, and short, direct answers that AI loves to pull from. |
| Long-form pages and evergreen content | Quick, digestible information | Detailed content can be repurposed into snippet-ready formats or quick-answer summaries. |
| On-page keyword optimization | Natural language and user intent matching | SEO brings people in, GEO helps you show up at the exact moment someone’s ready to decide what to buy or where to shop. So you want to use a blend of precise terms and conversational phrasing to make content versatile and flexible. |
| Technical SEO (load speed, mobile, etc.) | LLM discoverability and indexability | A well-built site makes content more accessible to both search engines and LLMs like ChatGPT |
| Blog posts and landing pages | UGC like reviews and Q&A threads | Search engines love content. LLMs also pick up on fresh, authentic signals from your users. So, you want to keep things fresh with seasonal promos, updated FAQs, and new arrivals (AI sees that as a reason to trust and share your content). |
This is where your existing investment in SEO can really start to shine.
What we’re seeing now with GEO is just the start.
Generative AI is quickly becoming part of how people explore, shop, and make decisions, and retailers who adjust their digital presence now are positioning themselves for stronger visibility and deeper engagement across every surface where customers are showing up.
According to a recent McKinsey survey, 65% of organizations are now using generative AI regularly, nearly twice as many as just ten months ago. This shift is already changing how people interact with search, content, and brands.
We’re entering a space where:
Retailers can’t afford to treat AI-driven discovery as a side project anymore. It’s becoming central to how visibility works online.
At Celerant, we’re here to help you stay in front of that change.
That means we’re not just focused on getting you ranked for your top keywords, we’re working to ensure your content also works across AI-powered surfaces, responds well to voice and visual queries, and is built to show up where your customers are now starting their search.
Interested in learning how we are connecting the dots for our retailers?
