“GEO” as a label doesn’t make any sense – an LLM is not an engine

The SEO industry has quickly relabelled itself “GEO”, or “Generative Engine Optimization”. I can’t stand “GEO” as a label, because it doesn’t make any sense.

I have 2 issues:

1. “Generative” is too broad

GenAI includes image, video, audio, and text generation. But nobody doing “GEO” is optimizing for Midjourney prompts.

They’re focused on LLM-based products (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews), and so the term overshoots.

Now, optimizing for making sure Midjourney always outputs a bottle of Coca Cola in the background sounds like a cool business! But that’s definitely not what anyone using “GEO” means.

2. “Engine” is not accurate

An LLM is a model and not an engine (the clue is in the name).

Search engines earned that name through crawl-index-retrieve mechanics. LLMs predict the next token based on training data.

It’s a bit like calling a calculator a “math engine”. It kinda is if you squint really hard? But you’ve never heard a calculator called that before because it’s very silly.

“GEO” makes me cringe because it’s often a signal of bandwagoning and a lack of insight

“GEO” is simultaneously too broad (generative) and inaccurate (engine) because it’s so obviously a term spun up so that “SEO” people could rebadge as “GEO” and carry on not knowing what they’re doing.

The industry wanted a three-letter acronym that sounded like “SEO” so they could transfer their credibility. Hence we got “GEO”, but as the SEO industry rarely thinks anything through, nobody seems to have noticed that “GEO” doesn’t make sense.

Anyone who spent even an afternoon understanding how LLMs work wouldn’t land on “generative engine” as the description! That phrase only makes sense if you’re starting from “we need something that sounds like SEO” and working backwards.

This matters because if you don’t even understand the fucking name, how are you going to optimize for it properly? You just end up doing SEO with extra steps and wondering why this doesn’t work.

I will use “GEO” but please know I hate it and “AI search optimization” is much more accurate

Ellipsis will use “GEO” because, sadly, language requires a shared understanding and not accuracy. I tried talking about “AI search optimization” at conferences (which is accurate!!) but nobody knew what I was talking about. I switched to “GEO” and I’d see a lightbulb of recognition oh that’s what you do.

Ellipsis will also continue to lead in this space because we actually look at the data, think things through from first principles, and devise sensible strategies. If you need that (and leads as a result), get in touch.