Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is emerging as a buzzword in the AI era, promising visibility in LLM-generated answers. Before investing heavily, we should learn from the early SEO era (1997–2012), which was marked by uncertainty, opportunistic consulting, and rapid algorithm shifts. Today’s LLM landscape is even more fragmented and opaque, creating higher risk for misinformation and wasted spend.

Recommendation: Treat GEO as an experimental lane, not a core investment. Focus on durable content, provenance, and compliance—not hacks or speculative tools.

Early days of search engine optimization — The early SEO era was defined by information asymmetry and rapidly shifting rules — a dynamic that's repeating itself with GEO.

Historical Parallel: Early SEO

Uncertainty bred snake oil. In the 2000s, consultants exploited gaps in knowledge with tactics like keyword stuffing and link farms.

Google’s communication stabilized the market. Matt Cutts and Webmaster Guidelines gave clarity, aligning webmasters with Google’s interests.

Single dominant platform. By 2005, Google overtook Yahoo; by 2007, it was the clear leader. Optimization became predictable and scalable.

The early SEO playbook eventually coalesced around a few core tactics:

Keyword research and on-page optimization
Quality backlink acquisition
Technical crawlability and site architecture
Content freshness and relevance signals
User experience metrics (bounce rate, time on page)

Key dynamic: Deterministic algorithms + one platform = eventual playbook.

The SEO era taught us something important: when the rules are unclear, the loudest voices aren’t always the most accurate. Clarity comes from the platforms themselves — and it takes years.

Today’s Reality: LLMs & GEO

Fragmented ecosystem. Multiple engines (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Meta, Cohere, Mistral) with different behaviors and fast update cycles.

Opaque, probabilistic outputs. Unlike search rankings, LLM responses are stochastic and prompt-dependent; tactics rarely generalize.

No incentive for guidance. Vendors prioritize model capability and safety—not marketer education.

Tooling risk. Most GEO tools are thin wrappers over LLM APIs, scraping outputs and extrapolating from questionable data. Expect high churn; few moats exist.

Key differences from the SEO era include:

No single dominant platform to optimize for
Outputs are non-deterministic — the same query produces different results each time
No equivalent of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines or Search Console
Model updates happen silently and frequently, invalidating prior observations
Attribution and sourcing remain inconsistent across engines

The modern LLM landscape — Unlike the search era's consolidation around Google, the LLM landscape remains fragmented across competing providers with divergent approaches.

Implication: Even if a tactic “works” today, it may fail tomorrow—or on another engine.

Recommendations

Anchor to durable principles: Maintain strong SEO (crawlability, structured data, E-E-A-T) and layer GEO-friendly content (clear Q&A, attribution, licensing).

Prioritize provenance: Embed author, date, and rights metadata; publish canonical, self-contained assets.

Limit GEO spend: Avoid over-investing in consultants or tools; insist on short-term contracts and compliance documentation.

Build internal monitoring: Run small, controlled tests across engines; track mentions and citations without over-interpreting short-term lifts.

Defend our properties: Implement bot management and AI crawler controls to manage bandwidth and licensing.

Focus on customer utility: Content should answer banking questions accurately and safely—resilient across engines and time.

Bottom Line

GEO is real but immature. The early SEO era taught us that clarity and standards take years to emerge. Until then, avoid chasing hacks or speculative tools. Invest in content quality, provenance, and compliance—the only strategies likely to endure.

Heading Level One

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Heading Level Two

Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

Heading Level Three

Curabitur pretium tincidunt lacus. Nulla gravida orci a odio. Nullam varius, turpis et commodo pharetra, est eros bibendum elit, nec luctus magna felis sollicitudin mauris. Integer in mauris eu nibh euismod gravida.

Heading Level Four

Praesent blandit laoreet nibh. Fusce convallis metus id felis luctus adipiscing. Pellentesque egestas neque sit amet convallis pulvinar, justo nulla eleifend augue, ac auctor orci leo non est.

Heading Level Five

Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia curae. Morbi lacinia molestie dui. Praesent blandit dolor sed nunc feugiat eleifend at erat. Mauris porttitor tempus ligula.