SEO vs GEO James Dooley Interviews Andrew Holland

James Dooley: Hi. Today I am joined with Andrew Holland. Today’s topic is SEO versus GEO and whether they are the same thing or two different skill sets. Let’s get straight into it. Do you genuinely believe SEO and GEO are different? Andrew Holland: One hundred percent. I think the biggest issue right now is that GEO has not been clearly defined. People interpret it based on what they think it is. That is similar to the early days of SEO. Very few people were there at the beginning, and most fell into it later. Andrew Holland: What people are struggling with is mindset. Strategic thinkers will win bigger here. Narrow thinking will lose. GEO today will not be what GEO is in one or two years. It is evolving fast. Andrew Holland: My belief is that our job, whether as businesses or marketers, is to increase organic revenue. That is the role. Otherwise, there is no point. Generative Engine Optimisation is about deploying strategies that increase the likelihood of a large language model recommending a business in a buying situation. Andrew Holland: This links back to marketing science from the Ehrenberg Bass Institute. To grow a brand, you need sales. To get sales, you need mental availability and physical availability. Mental availability is being thought of in a buying moment. Physical availability is how easy it is to buy from you. Andrew Holland: The human brain is the first search engine. Now AI is becoming another. Byron Sharp has said everything will become AI availability. Our job with GEO is to increase the likelihood of a brand being thought of by AI in a buying situation. Andrew Holland: That is why GEO is different from SEO. We are not just matching queries to documents anymore. There is some overlap, but GEO aligns more with brand marketing, PR, and copywriting. It brings search closer to broader marketing. Andrew Holland: SEO as an industry has burned people in the past. GEO aligns better with marketing principles. The benefits can appear quickly. It is not a case of pay now and wait twelve months. You can see impact immediately. That is why I believe GEO should be sold separately. James Dooley: I agree. There is overlap, but business owners are now setting separate budgets for SEO and GEO. That alone tells you they see them as different. People arguing they are the same are missing a financial opportunity. James Dooley: If someone says they specialise in GEO and can get visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini AI overviews, they sound more specialised. Even if there is overlap, positioning matters. James Dooley: What would you say to people who insist it is the same thing? Andrew Holland: I think it is defensive. There is a herd mentality. A new category has appeared, and people are uncomfortable. The name does not matter. The output does. Andrew Holland: You have two different outcomes. Ranking in ten blue links is one. Being recommended by a large language model is another. GEO is outcome specific. You pay for a defined result. That makes it easier to measure and sell. Andrew Holland: SEO budgets are under pressure. GEO is an opportunity to reframe search marketing. It is future focused. It gives SEOs something new to talk about, write about, and lead the conversation on. Andrew Holland: Major signals show where this is going. Large acquisitions and industry investment are pointing towards GEO as the future. Nobody spends billions without serious research. Andrew Holland: For SEOs, this is an economic opportunity. Not a threat. James Dooley: Are you fully behind the term GEO? Some people use LLM optimisation or answer engine optimisation. Andrew Holland: I think GEO is accurate. I do not like answer engine optimisation. It feels limited. Generative engines do far more than answer questions. They generate diagrams, cards, images, recipes, and more. Andrew Holland: Generative is the key word. There was nothing, then something is created. If your business appears in that generation at the right moment, that is powerful. Andrew Holland: Generative value also extends beyond digital. When everything is copied and free, value moves elsewhere. Live experiences, communities, physical events. We see this in music, gaming, and communities. Andrew Holland: This is just the beginning. Generative engines will create worlds, platforms, and new markets. The economic opportunity is huge. GEO is not just about search. It is about how value is created in a generative economy. James Dooley: That was an excellent explanation. Let us know in the comments. Do you think SEO and GEO are different? Why or why not? It has been a pleasure, Andrew. Andrew Holland: Thank you, James.