Search is changing.
People are no longer relying only on traditional search results to find information.AI-powered search experiences can now understand complex questions, explore related topics, and provide answers supported by information from multiple sources.
This has created growing interest in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
But as GEO becomes more popular, there is a risk of treating it like another link-building tactic:
Get more mentions. Get more links. Get mentioned on more websites. Rank in AI.
That approach misses the bigger picture.
GEO is better understood as a relevance engineering problem.
What is relevance engineering?
Relevance engineering is about making it easier for search systems and AI systems to understand:
- Who you are
- What you do
- Who you serve
- What topics you are associated with
- What makes you credible
- Where you fit within your industry or market
Instead of simply trying to increase the number of backlinks or mentions, the goal is to build a consistent and credible picture of a brand across the web.
For example, imagine a freelance digital marketer named Afsana Faisal.
A random backlink from an unrelated website might tell a search engine that another website links to Afsana’s website.
But relevant information appearing across professional profiles, local business platforms, industry discussions, useful articles, and other credible sources can provide much more context:
Afsana Faisal → Digital Marketing → SEO → Trivandrum → Kerala → Freelance Services
That context is much more meaningful than simply counting backlinks.
Links still matter — but links alone are not the strategy
It would be incorrect to say that backlinks are dead.
Google’s current guidance makes it clear that traditional SEO fundamentals remain relevant to AI search. Pages still need to be crawlable, indexable, useful, and technically accessible. Google also states that its AI search experiences use information from its Search systems to retrieve relevant pages.
The problem is the mindset of:
“More links = more authority.”
A backlink from an irrelevant website may contribute very little to understanding a brand.
For example, imagine two situations.
Situation 1: Quantity
A company gets 50 backlinks from unrelated blogs, directories, and websites simply because those websites sell or exchange links.
The backlink count increases.
But what does the web actually learn about the company?Very little.
Situation 2: Relevance
The same company is mentioned by relevant industry publications, appears in expert discussions, participates in podcasts, receives genuine customer reviews, collaborates with complementary businesses, and publishes useful first-hand information.
The number of links might be lower.
But the surrounding context is much stronger.
This is the difference between link acquisition and authority building.
AI search is increasingly about context
AI-powered search experiences can use multiple related searches and sources to build an answer. Google’s documentation describes techniques such as query fan-out, where related searches are generated to explore different aspects of a user’s question.
That means visibility isn’t necessarily about matching one keyword on one page.
The broader question becomes:
Does the available information provide enough useful context for the system to understand the entity and its relevance to the query?
This is why topical relevance becomes important.
If a brand is consistently associated with a particular subject through useful, credible information, its digital presence becomes easier to understand.
Context can be more valuable than a random backlink
Consider a website selling cybersecurity software.
A backlink from an unrelated lifestyle blog might technically be a link.
But an expert mention in a cybersecurity publication, a podcast discussing cybersecurity trends, a detailed customer review, and an industry comparison can provide much stronger contextual signals.
The difference is not simply:
Link vs. no link.
It is:
Relevant context vs. irrelevant placement.
This is why blindly purchasing mentions or publishing articles on random websites is not a sustainable GEO strategy.
Google itself warns against pursuing inauthentic mentions for generative AI visibility. Its current guidance emphasizes valuable, unique, people-first content and warns that inauthentic mentions are not a useful shortcut.
GEO is not about manipulating AI answers
Another misconception is that GEO means finding a secret technique to make ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, or other AI systems mention a particular brand.
There is no guaranteed formula such as:
10 mentions + 20 backlinks + 5 Reddit posts = AI recommendation.
AI systems are complex, and different systems may use different retrieval and ranking processes.
Instead of trying to manipulate the output directly, a better strategy is to improve the information ecosystem around the brand.
That means creating evidence that is:
- Relevant
- Accurate
- Useful
- Consistent
- Original
- Credible
- Connected to the right topics
Build the brand’s digital entity
A strong GEO strategy should help answer a simple question:
“What is this brand known for?”
For example:
A local SEO consultant should not appear online as a completely different entity on every platform.
Their website, professional profiles, business listings, author information, content, and other legitimate references should communicate a reasonably consistent picture of their expertise and services.
This doesn’t mean copying the same description everywhere.
It means creating consistent meaning, while allowing each platform to provide its own useful context.
Create content that adds something new
Content is another major part of relevance engineering.
Google’s current guidance specifically recommends creating valuable, non-commodity content with unique perspectives, first-hand experience, and useful information rather than simply repeating what already exists online.
This is especially important in an AI-generated-content environment.
If hundreds of websites publish essentially the same article:
“10 Benefits of SEO”
another generic version adds little.
But a practitioner who shares:
- A real SEO experiment
- A case study
- Original observations
- Data from a project
- Lessons from a failed strategy
- Screenshots and analysis
- First-hand experience
can provide information that is much harder to replace with generic content.
That is valuable for users and potentially valuable for search visibility.
What should link building look like now?
Link building should not disappear.
It should become more intelligent.
Instead of starting with:
“Which website will give me a backlink?”
start with:
“Which relevant audience, publication, community, or organization would genuinely benefit from this information?”
If your contribution is valuable, the result may include:
- backlink
- brand mention
- referral
- social share
- citation
- relationship
- New customers
The link becomes a result of good marketing, rather than the only objective.
This aligns with an important idea: the best links often come naturally from useful work, relationships, research, and content that people actually want to reference.
GEO and traditional SEO are not opposites
It is also important not to create a false division between SEO and GEO.
Google’s current documentation explicitly says that SEO remains relevant for generative AI search. The same foundations — crawlability, indexability, helpful content, good site structure, internal linking, and strong user experience — continue to matter.
GEO should therefore be viewed as an evolution of how we think about search visibility, not as a replacement for SEO.
Technical SEO gets the information accessible.
Content makes the information useful.
Topical relevance provides context.
Brand authority provides credibility.
And genuine third-party recognition can strengthen the overall picture.
A better GEO mindset
The old mindset was:
“How many backlinks can I build this month?”
A better mindset is:
“How can I make my brand more relevant, recognizable, and credible within my category?”
That shift changes the entire strategy.
You stop chasing random websites.
You start looking for relevant opportunities.
You stop measuring success only by backlink quantity.
You start looking at relevance, quality, visibility, mentions, referrals, engagement, and business outcomes.
You stop trying to manufacture an AI recommendation.You start building a digital presence that genuinely deserves to be recommended.
The future of link building is smarter marketing
Links are not disappearing.
But treating links as isolated numbers is becoming less useful.
The strongest link-building campaigns are increasingly connected to broader marketing activities: expert contributions, digital PR, useful research, partnerships, podcasts, communities, customer experiences, and genuinely valuable content.
In other words:
Links can be the outcome of authority — not the definition of authority.
That is why GEO should be approached as a relevance engineering problem, not a tactical link-building problem.
The goal is not simply to get your brand mentioned more.
The goal is to make the web’s understanding of your brand clearer, more relevant, more credible, and more useful.
And that is a much more sustainable approach to SEO in an AI-driven search environment.
Conclusion
GEO is not about chasing more backlinks or trying to manipulate AI search results. It is about building a relevant, credible, and consistent digital presence that helps search engines and AI systems understand a brand. Links still matter, but they should be part of a broader strategy focused on relevance, useful content, authority, and genuine recognition. In the evolving search landscape, building relevance is more valuable than simply building links.
FAQ
GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization, is the practice of improving a brand’s visibility and representation in AI-powered search experiences. It focuses on making information clear, relevant, useful, and credible so that AI-driven search systems can better understand and potentially surface it.
Relevance engineering means building a clear and consistent connection between a brand, its expertise, its topics, its audience, and its online presence. The goal is to make it easier for search engines and AI systems to understand what a brand represents.
Yes. Links can still be valuable, but GEO should not be treated as a simple link-building exercise. The relevance, quality, context, and credibility surrounding a brand are more important than simply increasing the number of backlinks.
No. GEO does not replace traditional SEO. Technical SEO, crawlability, indexability, helpful content, internal linking, website structure, and user experience remain important foundations for search visibility, including AI-powered search experiences.
No. Backlinks are only one part of a broader digital presence. Relevant content, credible mentions, topical authority, first-hand experience, consistent information, and a technically accessible website can all contribute to how a brand is understood online.
No. Businesses should continue earning relevant, high-quality links, but the objective should not be backlink quantity alone. Link building works better when it is connected to useful content, digital PR, expert contributions, partnerships, and genuine relationships within the industry.
Start by making your website’s purpose and expertise clear. Create useful and original content, demonstrate first-hand experience, maintain consistent business information, build relevant industry relationships, and ensure that your website follows strong technical SEO practices.
A relevant brand mention can contribute to the broader online context surrounding a brand, even when it does not include a hyperlink. However, there is no guaranteed formula where a certain number of mentions automatically produces AI visibility. Relevance and credibility should be the priority.
A practical way to learn GEO is to use a real website as a testing environment. Study reliable search-industry and Google updates, apply appropriate changes, monitor search performance, and document what you learn. My own website, afsanafaisal.com, is one example of using a live website to develop practical SEO experience.
REFERENCE
- Google Search Central. “AI Features and Your Website.” Google Search Central. Google Search Central
- Google Search Central. “AI Features and Your Website: Optimizing for Generative AI Features.” Google Search Central. Google’s AI search guidance
About the Author
Afsana Faisal is a digital marketing professional with a focus on SEO, organic growth, and emerging search strategies such as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). She uses her own website, afsanafaisal.com, as a practical environment to apply SEO concepts, test strategies, and document her learning.