GEO vs. SEO: how to get a local business recommended by AI

2026-05-29 · 4 min read

SEO optimizes for a results page. GEO/AEO optimizes for the answer an AI gives when someone asks for the best option. Different game, different signals. Here are the six highest-leverage moves.

The six moves that move the needle

1. Google Business Profile, 100% complete — categories, services, hours, photos, a real description. It's the strongest entity signal.
2. NAP consistency — identical Name/Address/Phone everywhere. Inconsistency breaks the AI's entity resolution.
3. Review volume + recency — competitive with your top three rivals, with a steady fresh stream. The single biggest reputation signal.
4. Get into third-party "best [category] in [city]" listicles — LLMs quote these heavily.
5. Answer-style content + schema — FAQ/service pages that directly answer buying-intent questions, with LocalBusiness and Review structured data.
6. Monitor it — AI answers drift weekly; what works today can silently drop tomorrow.

None of this requires a huge budget — just doing it before your competitors do.