Great SEO Is Good GEO — But Not Everyone’s Been Doing Great SEO

As SEOs, we’re used to being adaptable to altering algorithms, so LLM optimization needs to be a easy extension of that course of.

To debate the trade debates surrounding the variations between search engine optimization and GEO and make clear whether or not they’re the identical or totally different, I spoke with search engine optimization veteran Grant Simmons.

Grant has over 30 years of expertise serving to manufacturers develop and has spent many years targeted on that means, intent, and topical authority lengthy earlier than LLMs entered the dialog.

I spoke with Grant about sign alignment, how Google’s newest continuation patents reveal the mechanics of LLM citations, and what SEOs are getting unsuitable about topical focus.

“We speak about writing for the machines, however we’re actually writing for human want as a result of it’s all pushed by the immediate or the question.” – Grant Simmons

You’ll be able to watch the total interview with Grant on IMHO under, or proceed studying the article abstract.

Nice search engine optimization Is Good GEO

At Google Search Stay in December 2025, John Mueller said, “Good search engine optimization is sweet GEO.”

I requested Grant what he thought have been the variations between optimizing for search engines like google and yahoo and for machines, and if he thought there have been any overlaps.

Grant’s method echoes what John Mueller mentioned, however “Not everybody has been doing nice search engine optimization,” he defined. “Nice search engine optimization was all the time about constructing topical authority.”

He continued to say, “Basically, machines (whether or not it’s Google or whether or not it’s an LLM) have to grasp the underlying that means of the content material to allow them to current one of the best reply.

They’ve to grasp the question or the immediate, then they need to ship one of the best reply. So in that manner, it’s very related.”

The place Grant sees divergence is in how the methods consider content material. Google has traditionally ranked pages, and even with passage rating, it nonetheless considers the web page and the positioning as an entire. LLMs function in a different way.

“LLMs are wanting extra at that passage aspect, you realize, one thing that’s easily extractable, one thing that has worth semantically associated to the question or the immediate. And so there’s that basic distinction.”

Grant additionally harassed that nice search engine optimization has all the time been holistic, touching social media, PR, content material, and model messaging. Having model consciousness, brand visibility, and brand consistency across all channels is a major think about LLM illustration. And that is precisely the sort of work that one of the best SEOs do.

“We’re entrepreneurs. We must always ensure, not simply from a standpoint of what we do in search engine optimization and GEO for our shoppers, which is connecting a necessity and intent to the services or products that satisfies that intent, we’re additionally doing the identical in our personal advertising and marketing. Now we have to grasp what our shoppers are in search of.

“[GEO] is similar [as SEO] when you’re doing it effectively. It’s not the identical when you weren’t. And naturally, there’s nuance.”

My ideas are that SEOs who’ve been within the trade the longest are experiencing much less disruption as a result of they’ve seen all of it earlier than. They discovered to be adaptable within the early years when there was a lot flux as we progressed from a number of search engines like google and yahoo to only one. Whereas for anybody new to the trade, they don’t have the identical background factors of reference.

Why Consensus Issues To Be Surfaced By LLMs

I went on to ask Grant about Google’s newest continuation patents, which describe two distinct methods that work collectively.

The primary is what Grant describes as a response confidence engine. This technique evaluates whether or not a passage will be corroborated, whether or not the knowledge has consensus throughout the online.

“In the event that they return a passage and so they can corroborated that it’s true, and once we say true, it’s true within the sense of a couple of particular person is saying it, that doesn’t imply it’s true, nevertheless it means the consensus is there,” Grant defined. “The consensus typically wins out.”

The second system is what Grant calls a linkifying engine. As soon as a passage has been confirmed by means of consensus, this engine determines whether or not a particular sentence or sub-element inside that passage, what Grant calls a “chunklet,” will be matched and linked to a supply.

“Consensus decides whether or not it’s surfaced within the first place. The linkify engine truly decides whether or not it’s linkable, whether or not a quotation is definitely going to occur,” Grant mentioned.

Getting mentioned by an LLM is one factor. Getting an precise hyperlink again to your content material requires that the precise passage is each verifiable by means of consensus and uniquely attributable to your supply.

Golden Information Content material Wins

So, what sort of content material earns this sort of AI visibility? Grant described it as “golden data,” content material that’s distinctive in some significant manner.

“Typically, data-driven, your individual information, your individual opinion that’s proof-backed, evidence-backed. Taking a distinct view of issues,” Grant mentioned. “However in the identical manner of taking a distinct view, there nonetheless needs to be some sort of consensus. If different individuals are agreeing with you, that’s actually necessary. Your content material wants the distinctiveness and the data-driven side, nevertheless it nonetheless has to align with the general consensus on the internet.”

Grant was additionally clear that whereas we regularly speak about writing for machines, the orientation should remain human-centered: “We speak about writing for the machines, however we’re actually writing for human want as a result of it’s all pushed by the immediate or the question.”

This stability between uniqueness and consensus is maybe probably the most actionable takeaway. Content material that merely restates what everybody else is saying received’t stand out. However content material that takes a place with out corroboration elsewhere received’t cross the arrogance threshold to be surfaced. The candy spot is authentic, data-driven perception that others can and do validate.

The Greatest Errors SEOs Make With Topical Focus

Once I requested Grant about the commonest errors he sees with topical diversification on pages, his reply was clear: making an attempt to be the whole lot to everybody.

“When you concentrate on intent, abruptly you perceive that pages have a proper to exist,” Grant mentioned. “I name it path to satisfaction. Understanding who the viewers is and what they should discover, it’s important to present a path to that satisfaction.”

Grant identified that almost all SEOs inherit present websites slightly than constructing from scratch. The temptation is to give attention to the surface-level optimizations, akin to title tags, meta descriptions, and headers, with out reviewing whether or not a web page is definitely targeted on a particular intent or whether or not it has what he calls “drift.”

“What they received’t do is basically assessment the web page and perceive whether or not that web page is targeted on a particular intent or whether or not it has this drift,” Grant defined. “Cleansing out these outliers, matters that you simply’re protecting once you don’t actually imply to, is basically diffusing what the web page means. These are the issues that I feel SEOs miss out on.”

This ties instantly again to LLM citability. If a web page lacks clear topical focus, it turns into more durable for AI methods to extract a self-contained passage that solutions a particular question. Tightening that focus isn’t simply good search engine optimization; it’s the muse of being seen in AI-generated responses.

Grant’s Technique Advice For 2026

I completed by asking Grant what he’s recommending to his shoppers proper now.

“Let’s double down on what’s working,” Grant mentioned. “LLM traffic is so small today that optimizing for LLMs is necessary for the long run however not for at the moment’s metrics. Let’s enhance our search engine optimization. Let’s get to that nice search engine optimization stage. And as we’re doing that, we’re incorporating the weather that can provide help to present up for GEO, that can assist present up on these different surfaces.”

His focus is on nice content material, topical authority, uniqueness, data-driven approaches, citations, and digital PR. In Grant’s phrases: “Getting content material so good that LLMs can’t ignore you, Google can’t ignore you, and publications can’t ignore you.”

It’s the Steve Martin philosophy utilized to search engine optimization: “Be so good they will’t ignore you,” and, coincidence or not, the rule I’ve utilized for the final 15 years in search engine optimization.

Watch the total interview with Grant Simmons right here:

Thanks to Grant Simmons for providing his insights and being my visitor on IMHO.

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Featured Picture: Shelley Walsh/Search Engine Journal