A buyer who searches for a supplier can click a service page. A buyer who asks an AI assistant for a shortlist might see an answer with several sources. SEO improves the discoverability and usability of your pages. Generative engine optimization, or GEO, describes work on how answer systems represent and cite the facts about your business.
Choose the work based on the problem
| Situation | First work to do | What to measure |
|---|---|---|
| Product pages are missing from Google or Baidu | Inspect URL status, crawl access, canonical links, and links from your catalog | Index coverage, impressions, and clicks for the affected URLs |
| Search traffic arrives on a page that answers a different question | Match the title, main heading, lead paragraph, and page scope to the buyer's task | Query and page data, click-through rate, and qualified inquiries |
| AI answers describe an old product or miss a capability | Record the question and cited sources. Correct outdated facts on the relevant public pages and rerun the test | Correct mentions, citations, recommendations, and answer errors |
Google's SEO Starter Guide covers discovery, useful content, titles, and snippets. Baidu's ordinary submission guidance explains how to submit Chinese URLs for discovery. Use the two consoles to inspect their own traffic and index data.
Reuse the same evidence across channels
For a manufacturer, the most useful source may be a model page with dimensions, a datasheet, and a nearby case showing an application. Publish verifiable facts in accessible HTML and link to supporting documents. Add structured data that matches the visible content where it describes an eligible page.
Google's guide to generative AI features in Search builds on the same search fundamentals and emphasizes original content. For a separate platform, sample the buyer questions in that product and inspect the answer and sources it actually shows. Use the GEO measurement guide to set up the test.
Common questions
Which should we start with, SEO or GEO?
Start with the broken step. Fix a crawl or content problem first when buyers cannot find the underlying page. If the pages work and an assistant repeatedly gives incorrect facts, capture the answers and trace the sources.
Can the same page support both?
Yes. A page with original evidence, useful product information, and a clear answer can serve buyers coming from a search result or following an AI citation.
How do we compare results?
Keep organic search clicks, referral visits, AI answer samples, and qualified inquiries separate. Compare the same pages, markets, and observation windows when reviewing a change.