It’s impossible to deny how using artificial intelligence as a tool in both your personal and professional life can be beneficial, from smart home devices to idea generators. But knowing how to create content for the search engine compared to AI tools like ChatGPT is an important distinction when it comes to marketing.
If you’re trying to create a digital marketing strategy, search engine optimization (SEO) is usually one of the focal points. People still turn to search engines for many of their health queries. But a new approach is also budding to the top: generative engine optimization (GEO). It focuses on helping you to appear in AI answer engines, such as ChatGPT.
Read on to learn the ins and outs of SEO and GEO before comparing them. Then we’ll discuss how to incorporate both into your digital marketing as a therapist or medical practitioner.
What is SEO?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is one of the most utilized digital marketing approaches. Organic search results bring in more than 90% of all clicks. It refers to helping your site to rank as highly as possible on relevant search engine results pages (SERPs).
The algorithm takes several factors into account before ranking your site on a SERP, including:
- Valuable, well-written content
- Relevance
- Page speed
- Mobile-friendliness
SEO can provide a variety of benefits for therapists and medical practitioners, including:
- Long-term visibility and awareness
- Building authority and trust to boost your reputation
- Increasing site and in-person traffic
- Appealing to local patients
What is GEO?
Generative engine optimization, or GEO, means making efforts to get your content to appear in generative AI engines that people are starting to rely on for health-related information. A few examples include Google’s AI overview, ChatGPT and Bing Copilot.
GEO helps you to either be mentioned, cited or referred to in an AI engine. A few factors that are considered by the AI algorithms include:
- User intent
- Understandable and concise information
- Readable format
- Credible references
As a therapist or medical practitioner, GEO can help your practice in a few different ways, including:
- Increased number of direct AI engine recommendations
- Increased credibility to show you as an authority in your field
- Improved patient education and advocacy by showing comprehensive information
GEO vs SEO — How they differ
Both GEO and SEO are alive and well in today’s digital marketing field, and they each have their place. By comparing the two, you can see how they can impact your overall digital marketing strategy.
There are three main comparisons between GEO and SEO:
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Focus
The main difference between GEO and SEO is clear by the definitions. GEO is all about appealing to the AI engines so that your information shows up as a response. SEO focuses on your search engine presence to help you rank for SERPs.
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User experience
How users are able to see and engage with your site are completely different between the two approaches. Through SEO, users engage with your site by following a link to a specific page. With GEO, users are exposed to your site through direct answers to their queries, but they are less likely to visit it directly.
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Optimization
How you optimize your content for search engines versus generative AI engines are quite different. While both depend on algorithms, the algorithms look for different factors to determine if they fit their goals.
SEO focuses on targeted keywords, backlinks and the technical quality of your site. GEO prioritizes AI-friendly content formatting, context-rich information and structured FAQs.
GEO vs SEO — How they work together
The good news is that SEO and GEO can be complementary, working together to help you get the growth you’re striving toward. The two overlap in a few ways, including:
- Prioritizing high-quality content
- Using context to determine what the user is truly looking for
- Ensuring that credible, reliable content is spotlighted (backlinks, cited sources, etc.)
There’s room in your marketing strategy for both approaches. By playing into the collective factors of both SEO and GEO, you can ensure that your site’s content covers all of the bases. By optimizing for both approaches, you’re increasing your reach and online presence.
Let’s take a look at an example of how a piece of content can appeal to both search engines and AI answer algorithms.
You write a blog post about what people should know about finding a therapist for anxiety in their area. Include links, use an AI-friendly content structure and use contextual keywords. For SEO, it would be relevant for “ anxiety therapists in my area.” But it could also work with GEO, appearing in Google’s AI Overview for “best therapist for anxiety near me.”
How to find the balance of SEO and GEO
Both SEO and GEO can have a positive impact on your digital marketing success, but only if you don’t favor one. There may be times where one needs more focus than the other, and that’s OK. An effective marketing strategy leaves room for flexibility and adaptability.
Here are a few tips that ensure you’re giving both SEO and GEO their time to shine.
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Take a look at the current patient search behaviors from your metrics.
Was there more traffic last month from traditional searches or AI-driven answers? Determine which approach your potential and current patients are gravitating toward.
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Weigh the financial factors of SEO and GEO for each upcoming effort.
Both are cost-effective, but SEO tends to bring more steady, long-term traffic. On the other hand, GEO is an investment due to the increased brand awareness from a technology that’s still growing.
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Look at the timeline of each approach.
There’s a benefit in getting in on the ground floor by adopting GEO early in the development, with no end in sight. However, once your brand is at the top of a SERP, it’s not likely to move anytime soon, leading to overall increased brand visibility and growth.
Want to attract new patients to your therapy or medical practitioner website using SEO and GEO? BURG+CO. can help
It’s likely that you’ve used ChatGPT or another AI answer engine recently, and your potential patients probably have as well. But search engines still provide people with information they need and the ability to explore different sources. If you’ve become an expert in SEO, it can be a bit overwhelming to try and learn a completely new approach like GEO.
Even though it may be tempting to try and pit SEO and GEO against each other, you’ll likely see the most success when you include both in your strategy. And if you’re not sure how to do that, BURG+CO. is here to help you.
We not only pride ourselves on our expertise in SEO, but we always stay on top of what’s making headway in the digital marketing landscape. We’ll collaborate with you to ensure that you understand what AI engines are looking for in content and how to get your content to appear as answers to relevant questions.
Our content marketing team incorporates all of the factors necessary to appeal to the search engine and AI algorithms to get the most engagement and conversions possible. Our writers know what the algorithms are looking for while still prioritizing what the user is trying to gain.
Our team has years of experience in helping healthcare brands improve their digital presence to attract new patients and retain existing ones. If you’re looking to perform better in search engine results and attract more potential patients to your site, we’re ready to talk to you to see how we can help.
Want expert support with your digital marketing? Connect with BURG+CO. today to explore how we can help your healthcare brand grow.