Summary
In this video from Growth Hackers, Tom and Alexander discuss the timeline for seeing results from GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) efforts. The conversation begins with a brief explanation of what GEO is: the practice of optimizing content so that AI search engines like Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity cite your brand and content in their generated answers. The key takeaway is that GEO results can appear anywhere from 2-4 weeks to 6 months, depending on several factors including domain authority, content quality, content structure, and competition around the topic. The presenters share a concrete case study where their own article achieved a top citation position in Google AI Overview within approximately 10 days, thanks to well-designed content structure and clear, easy-to-understand answers. An important distinction is made between AI tools with active search functions (like Perplexity) and those using pre-built knowledge bases (like default ChatGPT). Content appears much faster in tools with active search since they crawl the internet in real-time, while knowledge-base models require a training refresh cycle before new content appears. Compared to traditional SEO, GEO can deliver faster results overall, but the competitive landscape also moves quickly. Since AI tools pick up new content rapidly, competitors can also gain visibility in weeks or months. This means ongoing content optimization is essential to maintain top positions. The video concludes by recommending businesses focus on domain authority, structured content, schema markup, and LLM-friendly formatting to maximize their chances of quick GEO results.
Description
You've started optimizing for GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)—the future of search! But the most critical question remains: When will this investment start paying off for my company or brand? In this video, we break down the realistic timeline for seeing results from your AI search strategy.
FAQ
How long does it take to see results from GEO optimization?
GEO results can appear anywhere from 2-4 weeks to 6 months, depending on factors like domain authority, content quality, content structure, and topic competition. With well-designed content, results can appear in as little as 10 days for some queries.
Is GEO faster than traditional SEO?
Generally yes, GEO can deliver faster results than traditional SEO. However, the competitive landscape also moves quickly since AI tools rapidly pick up new content from competitors, meaning ongoing optimization is essential to maintain visibility.
Do all AI search tools index content at the same speed?
No. AI tools with active search functions like Perplexity and Google AI Overviews crawl the internet in real-time, showing new content much faster. Default LLM models like ChatGPT without search enabled rely on pre-built knowledge bases that only update during training refreshes.
What factors most influence how quickly GEO results appear?
The most important factors are domain authority, content structure that is easy for LLMs to read, clear schema markup, content quality, and the level of competition around your topic. Well-structured, authoritative content on less competitive topics tends to appear fastest.
How can I monitor my GEO performance?
You can use specialized GEO monitoring tools like Agent Mindshare, which tracks brand citations across major LLMs. Traditional SEO tools like Ahrefs are also adding GEO features. Focus on measuring whether your brand or content is being cited in AI answers, not just traditional search rankings.
Transcript
0:01 Hi, fun to have you here. Let's have a 0:04 first session where we're going to 0:06 discuss some more about Jill today. We 0:09 had a webinar a couple of weeks ago, but 0:11 today I think we're going to dive deep 0:12 into some more question that's that have 0:15 popped up the last couple of weeks. Uh 0:18 so the first question we have today is 0:20 could you just briefly explain for 0:23 everybody that's new to this what's 0:25 generative engine optimization? What is 0:27 Julio? 0:29 Yeah, of course, Alex. Uh, since we 0:31 already have given good explanation in 0:33 our previous uh webinar, today I'm just 0:36 going to give a very brief and quick 0:38 answer. GEO, I think we're going to put 0:41 it this way. Uh, it is representative 0:44 generative engine optimization 0:47 uh like AI search engines like Google AI 0:50 overviews, JGBT or perplexity. when 0:53 people search uh or give a prompts ask 0:56 questions there it gives answers. So 0:59 this is about how to optimize and make 1:01 sure your name and content is shown 1:04 there and uh why it's becomes more and 1:08 more important as start matter for a lot 1:10 of business. I think that answer is very 1:13 easy because more and more people are 1:15 using AI search or probably even instead 1:18 of the traditional search uh methods. So 1:21 of course GEO is becoming more and more 1:24 more important and at the same time to 1:26 make sure your brand and your websites 1:29 are visible in the AI answers that also 1:33 naturally become more expensive. Yeah, I 1:35 think that's pretty obvious. 1:38 >> Perfect. And I would say one of the most 1:40 common questions that have once again 1:43 been been discussed the last couple of 1:44 weeks when people start to work with it 1:46 whether you're a brand or a e-commerce a 1:49 lot of people wondering how long does it 1:51 actually take before the LLMs the the AI 1:55 searches pop 1:57 uh showcase your brand and brand name 2:00 when you start working with it. 2:01 >> Uh yes that's true. Uh that is a 2:03 question we got asked quite a lot uh 2:06 also from a lot of the clients we have 2:09 and uh the unfortunately the the short 2:11 answer is it really depends but I guess 2:14 that's not a good enough answer for 2:15 today's session. So if I have to put the 2:18 numbers, I think uh go uh could be as 2:23 quick as uh two to three two to four 2:26 weeks and or to as slow as to six months 2:30 before we could see results. So I know 2:33 that's a very wide r range but uh in 2:36 reality it really depends. 2:39 >> And why would you say it differs so 2:41 much? Why a couple of weeks for some 2:42 brands and a couple of months for 2:44 others? 2:45 >> Yeah. uh because uh uh just like the uh 2:48 traditional let's call it traditional 2:50 SEO there are even for GEO there are a 2:52 lot of factors that uh uh giving impact 2:55 to the answers like domain authority um 3:00 quality of the content um also how you 3:03 structure your content and also how how 3:08 much content there are like the 3:10 competition around this topic. So there 3:13 are a lot of things that that would give 3:16 impact and uh make the make the the 3:19 result show or not show. Uh that's why 3:22 it is very hard to give a solid answer 3:25 how long time it will take takes. But I 3:28 I can say generally if you do everything 3:30 right, it can be much faster than 3:33 traditional SEO. 3:35 >> Okay. But for someone that's brand new 3:37 to digital and wants to start working 3:39 with it and try to gain some visibility, 3:41 do you have any tips and tricks you can 3:43 showcase how to actually get that 3:45 visibility or where to start? 3:47 >> Uh yeah, I think we probably can start 3:49 with a good example that we have done. 3:52 Uh we actually have done a lot of uh 3:54 tests uh in the past uh not even weeks 3:58 months I would say. So this is a good 4:00 example we can give. This is actually 4:02 the test we did for today's topic. try 4:04 to answer how long time it really takes. 4:07 And here you can see that we uh our 4:10 article that we posted really got good 4:12 results. This is a Google air overview 4:15 and I think we also have a example from 4:17 other AI tools. Um if you please show 4:20 next page that our article really gets 4:23 uh cited as a very high top position and 4:27 this actually only took us about one 4:31 week uh or 10 days time uh roughly. So I 4:35 think as I said uh I mean of course uh 4:38 it depends on a lot of things but if you 4:40 really uh uh do everything right the 4:43 result can be quick. So in this case we 4:46 really did a very well design for the 4:48 content structure and uh try to answer 4:50 the question in the in the easy to 4:53 understand easy to digest this way. So 4:55 there are a lot of things we pre-esigned 4:56 for this content that's why this one uh 5:00 could be shown much faster. 5:02 >> Uh it's fun that you mention it uh but 5:05 go more to digital towards that. Is 5:07 there any difference to be shown in shut 5:10 perplexity or let's say other AI tools? 5:12 what's what's the biggest difference 5:14 between them or do they all work at the 5:16 same same way? 5:18 >> Yeah. uh that that is not an easy 5:20 question because I don't think uh me or 5:23 any of us have really deep insights of 5:27 how the M models work in different ways 5:31 but I think one thing that we can see 5:34 that is all the AI tools with active 5:38 search function there the go result can 5:41 be shown much faster which is easy to 5:43 understand because every time when you 5:46 uh uh have a prompt when ask a question 5:49 then it really does this search across 5:52 the internet like right now. But for the 5:55 default GTP model for example uh where 5:59 when you ask when you ask answer ask a 6:01 question the uh search function is not 6:04 active then it use the pre-built 6:07 knowledge base to answer your question. 6:10 Then even though you build a new page or 6:12 new content today that has to uh wait 6:14 till next round to uh during the 6:17 training to the refresh the content uh 6:19 the knowledge base before your uh uh new 6:23 content can be used. So that there in 6:26 that case there's a real difference. 6:29 >> And if we look at Jio compared to SEO 6:34 and focus on speed, would you say it's a 6:37 big difference or are they comparable? I 6:39 mean working with SEO, we probably know 6:41 what the speed is and what the cycle 6:43 should look like, but Jio is such a new 6:45 topic. So, so if you compare them two, 6:48 uh, would you say you get results almost 6:49 at the same time or is Jio slower or 6:52 quicker? Yeah, I think in in this case 6:56 uh we can say that VO can be faster. Of 6:59 course, there's no guarantee. You have 7:01 to as I mentioned already mentioned 7:03 there are a lot of parameters, but GEO 7:06 can be faster compared with the the 7:08 traditional SEO. But on the flip side, I 7:11 think there's also something that we 7:13 need to keep in mind since the it is so 7:16 fast to pick up your content also. it 7:19 will pick up some other people's content 7:22 in a couple of weeks or couple of months 7:24 also. So, you really need to stay on top 7:27 of things to make sure your go content 7:29 is like the top quality that is like 7:32 often being cited and used. But 7:36 generally speaking, GEO uh we we can 7:39 expect a faster result than traditional 7:42 SEO. 7:43 >> Okay. Uh interesting. And what would you 7:46 say is the best factors for geo actions 7:51 on your website to boost results and 7:54 visibility? What what could you do to 7:56 your website to really like boost 7:58 visibility in search? That's that's the 8:00 question. 8:01 >> Yeah, I think uh the the list uh can be 8:04 long but uh there are certain things uh 8:07 we for sure know that it matters. Uh 8:10 first thing is your domain authority and 8:13 of course how you structure the content. 8:15 uh if the content is structured, easy 8:17 for LLM to read or consume. Uh and also 8:21 of course very important make sure your 8:23 website is LM friendly and have clear 8:27 schema markup. Uh so all those things 8:30 will matter but of course there are uh 8:32 the list can be long. 8:35 >> Cool. And I mean when you start working 8:37 on this I think you rather fast want to 8:40 monitor see if you get results. So, so 8:43 to actually follow up and see if your 8:44 actions uh result in anything uh what's 8:48 the best tool out there to monitor your 8:50 go actions? 8:52 >> Uh yeah, I think uh end of the day of 8:55 course no matter G or SEO we want uh uh 8:58 conversions we want business uh but to 9:01 uh to measure the early indicator then 9:03 we are talking about the the the 9:06 so-called channel performance. In that 9:09 case uh G we are not really talking 9:11 about the only about the ranking 9:13 anymore. And of course uh in the uh 9:16 answers you want your brand uh your or 9:19 your channel to be uh cited as uh early 9:23 as possible to be the first one. Of 9:26 course you want that. But generally I 9:28 think we are measuring if your brand uh 9:31 is being cited or if your website 9:35 content being used. uh for the answer. 9:38 Uh those are the very important uh uh 9:41 parameter to start with because those 9:43 give the chance to your potential users 9:46 start to to to uh search about your 9:49 brand or even click click the link to 9:51 come to your website. So that is a very 9:54 first step to measure that. Uh and uh 9:57 yes there are a lot of different tools 10:00 uh to monitor GEO results. I think uh 10:04 the so-called traditional SEO tools uh 10:07 they start to add the go functions like 10:09 href and others they start to add the 10:11 functions for go and there are uh new go 10:15 specialized tools uh out there and our 10:18 agency actually we have agent mind share 10:21 that is uh that we built to help us moni 10:24 monitor and understand the geo 10:26 performance as well feel free to check 10:28 it out 10:29 >> so that could be the action from this 10:31 webinar or talk more or less So either 10:34 check the webinar that we had earlier on 10:36 or try agent minder to see where your 10:38 place right now when it comes to the 10:40 your position within your brand or uh 10:44 industry. 10:46 >> Yeah. And of course uh if you have other 10:48 questions around go feel free to reach 10:51 out. We are more than happy to discuss 10:53 with you. 10:55 >> I think that's it for today. Thank you 10:57 for this session. 10:59 >> Thank you Alex.
