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SEO, GEO and AEO: The New Era of Search with Full-Service Marketing Agency Concept Marketing

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The Evolution of Search
   • SEO is not dead – it’s evolving
   • The rise of GEO and AEO
2. The Changing SEO Landscape
   • AI-generated summaries and zero-click searches
   • User intent: Navigational, Informational, and Transactional
   • The importance of authenticity, E-E-A-T, and originality
   • Multi-channel search: Google, social media, forums, and beyond
3. From SEO to GEO and AEO: Optimising for Answers
   • SEO: The foundation of optimisation
   • AEO: Answer Engine Optimisation
   • GEO: Generative Engine Optimisation
   • Practical strategies:
     • Content that answers real questions
     • Structured data, schema, and formatting for machine readability
     • Authority, trust, and citations
     • Monitoring and adapting success metrics
4. The Continued Importance of Local SEO
   • Geographic SEO in the AI era
   • Voice assistants and local intent
   • Combining local SEO with GEO/AEO strategies
5. A Full-Service Approach to Search with Concept Marketing
   • Why integration matters: SEO, content, PR, and social
   • Real content for real audiences
   • Focusing on user intent and customer experience
   • Measuring success beyond clicks
6. Conclusion: SEO Isn’t Dead – It’s Grown Up
   • The future of search in 2025 and beyond
   • Success in the age of AI-driven answers
   • How businesses can stay ahead with Concept Marketing

The Evolution of Search: Concept Marketing on SEO, GEO, AEO and Beyond

The debate over whether SEO is “dead” has been around for years, and by now, it’s lost its relevance. The more important question is how search is evolving, and how businesses can evolve with it. As we reach the end of 2025, the shift is clear: people are discovering information through new platforms, smarter search engines, and AI-driven answers. 

SEO itself hasn’t disappeared; it’s transforming. Approaches like Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) are gaining ground as part of this shift. At Concept Marketing, we’re focused on helping businesses adapt to these changes with strategies designed for the evolving Search landscape.

In reality, SEO is very much alive; it’s just adapting to new technology and new methods of information seeking. Billions of people still search online for answers; they’re just doing it in new ways and in new places. This article explores how SEO is changing in 2025 and why new concepts like GEO and AEO are emerging as key strategies.

The Changing SEO Landscape

The goal of SEO remains the same: get in front of the right audience at the right time with the right information. What’s changing is how that happens. Search engines are getting smarter, and user behaviour is shifting with access to new technologies. Here are some of the biggest changes shaping SEO in 2025.

AI-Generated Summaries

Search engines like Google and Bing now use generative AI to provide instant answers right on the results page. This has resulted in the rise of AI-powered answers and zero-click searches. Google’s Search Generative Experience, for example, can display an AI-generated summary above traditional results. This means more users get their questions answered without clicking through to any website. By mid-2024, nearly 60% of Google searches ended without any click to a website. Rather than killing SEO, this shifts the focus: we now must optimise for these AI-driven “answer engines.” Businesses need to ensure their content is the one cited by an AI assistant or featured snippet when a customer asks a question. Our view at Concept Marketing is that overall organic traffic may decline as simple queries get answered on the spot,  but when done correctly, the quality of traffic will improve. The users who do click through to your site will be highly engaged and more likely to convert, should that be the intent.

User Intent: Navigational, Informational & Transactional Intent

User intent based on a keyword phrase has been the driving force of modern search, and that is not changing. Algorithms like Google’s RankBrain and BERT, and the upcoming Gemini AI, are built to understand the meaning behind a query rather than hunt for exact keyword matches. A 2025 analysis found that only around 16% of Google’s AI-generated answers contained the user’s exact search phrase; the remaining 84% were rephrased into natural language that addressed intent instead.

The emphasis has shifted firmly toward high-quality, user-centric content that answers real questions in depth. For businesses, the effect is two-fold. The traffic derived from informational content is likely to decrease. This could reduce brand exposure, but it could also weed out prospects that are simply not relevant. For transactional search queries, however, the impact on website traffic is far less dire. According to Advanced Web Ranking, only about 4.23% of transactional queries trigger AI summaries. Ultimately, Google’s goal is to serve the most relevant, useful information available. In respect to queries such as “plumbers near me”, or “kids mountain bike green”, this would be a list of websites for plumbers in your area, or shopping links to stores that have kids’ mountain bikes. This means that traditional SEO tactics like ensuring detailed descriptions in product listings and optimising for local SEO are still crucial for businesses. 

Authenticity and quality matter more than ever in today’s search landscape. With the flood of AI-generated content online, search engines are doubling down on signals of trust, expertise and originality. Google’s latest quality guidelines emphasise E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in content. It’s referenced that Google does reward pages offering fresh, first-hand information. Content that demonstrates real experience or unique insights will outrank bland, generic text. By contrast, sites that try to flood Google with AI-generated filler are finding it harder to sustain rankings. (Even on the visual side, Google introduced a quality filter in 2025 that significantly reduced the visibility of AI-created images in search results – a clear sign that authenticity is being prioritised.) The takeaway: brands that publish original research, expert insights, and genuine human voice will shine, while copy-paste or auto-generated content will fade away.

SEO is now multi-channel (beyond just Google), and optimisation isn’t confined to “10 blue links” on a Google results page. Today’s customers also search within social media, forums, voice assistants, and other platforms. Google itself has started surfacing more community content, recognising that users value authentic discussion. (For example, after a 2024 core update, Reddit suddenly became the third most visible website in Google’s US search results, outranked only by Wikipedia and Amazon!) Many users, especially younger generations, use TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, or Quora as search engines. In fact, 45% of Millennials already use social media to search for answers. This means your potential customers might find advice about your product or service in a Facebook group or a Reddit thread rather than on your website. This not only highlights the importance of a multi-pronged approach in terms of brand marketing, but modern SEO requires a presence wherever people are searching. Engaging with online communities, optimising content for Q&A sites, and managing your brand’s reputation on these channels has become part of search strategy and good “digital hygiene”. As one industry analysis noted, this shift underscores the need for “search everywhere” optimisation – ensuring your content and brand are visible across all the platforms people use for information”

In short, SEO in 2025 is broader and more intent-driven than ever. It’s not “dead”,  it’s just no longer confined to traditional search engines or old-school tactics. All those premature predictions about the death of SEO have proven wrong. Search is thriving; it just looks different now. The good news is that if you adapt to these changes, your business can gain even more visibility and customers from organic search tactics and a solid strategy.

From SEO to GEO and AEO: Optimising for Answers

So how do we adapt to this new search landscape? At Concept Marketing, we believe it requires expanding the definition of SEO. It’s helpful to think in terms of three layers now: SEO, AEO, and GEO.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)

The foundation is still traditional SEO,  making sure your website is technically sound, fast, and full of quality content that ranks. The fundamentals like granular keyword research, on-page optimisation and backlinks continue to matter. However, SEO alone is no longer sufficient to capture all opportunities. This is why we layer on the next two strategies.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation)

Answer engine optimisation is the practice of improving your brand’s visibility in AI-powered answer platforms, such as conversational agents and voice assistants. It’s simply an extension of your existing content plan. 

Instead of just ranking on a search results page, AEO is about getting your content featured in the AI Summaries. It involves structuring your content so that AI can easily digest and cite it. For example, providing clear Q&A formatted sections, schema markup, and succinct answers within your content can help an AI pick up your information. The goal is to have the AI quote your site or mention your brand when responding to information-seeking queries. 

One study predicts that by 2026, about 25% of organic search traffic will shift to AI chatbots and virtual assistants instead of traditional search clicks. Early adopters of AEO are already reaping benefits – they gain visibility across these emerging channels and capture leads that competitors might be missing. In short, AEO is about optimising for answers, not just keywords, and it’s a crucial complement to classic SEO.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation)

This is a term we use to describe optimising for the new generative AI search experiences. It overlaps with AEO, but specifically focuses on the generative AI models embedded in search engines (like Google’s generative Search Experience or Bing’s AI chat). GEO means ensuring your content is not only factually correct and high-quality, but also that it’s deemed to reflect the relevant user intent. Tactics here include: covering topics comprehensively (so the AI deems your site an authority), using semantic HTML structure (so the AI can parse your content easily), and providing original insights (so the AI finds something “new” to include). 

For instance, Google’s AI might display a few sentences synthesised from multiple sources, and you want one of those sources to be you. The difference from traditional SEO is that users may see your content excerpted without clicking through. This makes branding and clarity important: even a mention of your business in an AI answer can drive awareness or trust. It’s a new frontier, but one where Concept Marketing has been actively experimenting and developing best practices (we’ve even created content specifically to target common industry questions, so that our clients become the “go-to” source that AI assistants pull in).

Both AEO and GEO represent the evolution of SEO in an answer-driven world. Practically speaking, optimising for them involves a blend of content strategy, Digital PR, and technical SEO, underpinned by a strong brand narrative and supported through visual brand identity:

Content that answers questions is becoming the backbone of effective SEO. We create in-depth, helpful articles that tackle the exact queries customers are asking, the kind that appear in People Also Ask boxes, featured snippets and AI-generated answers. High-intent, long-tail searches are a particular focus, and are rapidly gaining keyword search volume as users feel more comfortable asking a long-tail query.

Structured data and formatting are essential for making content more discoverable. By adding schema markup such as FAQ schema or How-To schema, we can signal to search engines exactly where the questions and answers or step-by-step instructions appear on a page. This increases the likelihood of gaining rich results and being selected for voice or AI-generated answers. Even simple formatting choices like clear headings, bullet lists and tables can improve your content’s “answerability.” ChatGPT and Google’s AI frequently pull from lists and tables because they are easy to parse. Our team makes sure every piece of content is designed for both human readability and machine readability

Authority and citations are becoming central in the world of answer engines, where trust is non-negotiable. AI platforms tend to favour content from sites that show strong expertise and credibility on a topic. Building that authority comes from earning reputable backlinks, being mentioned in the press or forums, and consistently demonstrating E-E-A-T in your content. Generative AI is also beginning to cite sources directly, with Google’s AI and Bing Chat already listing references in their answers. This makes digital PR a vital part of GEO and AEO, whether that means getting your brand featured in high-authority articles or contributing expert insights in online communities. If an AI pulls an answer from a forum and your company’s expert has shared valuable input there, it could put your brand in front of the user indirectly. This is where a full-service approach can deliver real advantages.

Monitoring and adapting are critical because AEO is still so new that the industry has yet to establish consistent metrics. At Concept Marketing, we track indicators such as how often clients appear in featured snippets and People Also Ask boxes, while also testing prompts on ChatGPT and Bing to see if our content is being surfaced. We have tooling to indicate where we are appearing in search engines and AI summaries. We monitor traffic changes, but the bigger picture matters. Many companies are discovering that even as raw Google traffic declines, sales or leads do not necessarily follow the same trend. In fact, NerdWallet reported a 20% drop in monthly website visits after AI chatbots gained traction, yet still grew revenue by more than 35% during the same period. This shows that users are not disappearing but are gathering information in new ways and converting through different channels.

The key is to measure SEO success by overall visibility and business outcomes, not just clicks.

The Continued Importance of Local SEO

It’s worth mentioning that “GEO” has another meaning in marketing: geographic or local SEO. While we’re mainly talking about Generative Engine Optimisation here, local search optimisation remains as critical as ever in 2025. In fact, local SEO is also evolving with the rise of AI. Many AI search tools incorporate location data; for example, users might ask a voice assistant, “Find a good Italian restaurant near me,” and get an instant spoken answer. Ensuring your business’s local listings are accurate, well-reviewed, and marked up with the right schema will help you be the one that gets recommended in those cases. Google is still a major player for local queries (Google Business Profile, Google Maps, etc.), but even there, we see change. Google’s own data showed an increase in AI use for local searches in 2025. The bottom line: don’t neglect the basics. If you’re a location-based business, continue to optimise for local search by keeping your information consistent, gathering positive reviews, and engaging in your community. Local SEO works hand-in-hand with the new GEO/AEO strategies – for instance, a local service company might win at AEO by publishing an FAQ on their site that ends up as the voice answer for “how much does [service] cost in [city]?”, while also winning traditional local SEO by appearing in the Google Maps 3-pack for “[service] near me”.

A Full-Service Approach to Search with Concept Marketing

Navigating this complex SEO + AEO + GEO landscape requires a holistic, full-service approach. No single tactic in isolation will suffice; you need great content, technical know-how, creative marketing, and sometimes a bit of old-fashioned community engagement, all underpinned by a strong brand narrative and aligned with a consistent visual identity. This is the philosophy that guides Concept Marketing. We’ve always approached SEO as part of the bigger picture of marketing, not as a stand-alone discipline. As a full-service agency, we connect the dots between SEO, content, social media and PR to create strategies that are integrated, coherent and designed to build trust as well as visibility.

We create content authentically and purposefully for our clients in the real world, not just for the sake of search engines or SEO. That’s our difference. Every piece we produce is grounded in real value, designed to serve a genuine purpose and delivered in the formats that make the most impact. From articles and social campaigns to visuals and video, through to tenders, sales documents, applications, how-to guides, posters and technical specifications, we deliver what businesses actually need. We also produce case studies, capability statements, email campaigns, brochures and website content, the kind of material that drives conversations, wins opportunities and builds lasting connections. This is what we do day in and day out: real content, for real audiences, with real results.

Most importantly, we focus on user intent and customer experience at every step. SEO in 2025 is not about tricking an algorithm; it’s about genuinely answering people’s needs and building trust. By adopting an integrated approach, where our SEO efforts complement our paid ad strategies, social media efforts, and overall brand storytelling,  we ensure that whether a person finds you on Google, hears about you from an AI assistant, or sees you mentioned on an online forum, they encounter a consistent and compelling message.

SEO isn’t dead; it’s just grown up

In 2025, “search engine optimisation” includes optimising for answer engines and generative AI, and it spans across Google, Bing, social networks, voice assistants, and more. The businesses that stay ahead are those that embrace this change rather than resist it. By focusing on intent-driven content, authenticity, and multi-channel visibility, you can maintain and even grow your organic presence despite the shifts, and Concept Marketing is here to help you do exactly that.

In the era of GEO and AEO, success is measured not just in clicks but in visibility and influence. When someone asks a question online, whether they type it, speak it, or prompt an AI, and your brand consistently provides the best answer, you win. That’s the future of SEO, and we’re excited to be leading the charge into this new frontier.