SEO. GEO. AEO. LMAO. Following a recent discussion on GEO with our head of digital strategy, Andy McLoughlin, and then immediately receiving a spam contact form about AEO (the same thing might I add), it got me a ponderin'. The digital world’s obsession with acronym rebrands continues, and it's cringing me out. Ever being labelled 'an SEO' like some sort of basement dweller never feels nice. While the internet scrambles to slap a new label on SEO every five minutes, before declaring it dead to antagonise the same community over and over, here’s a wild thought: maybe, just maybe… the fundamental approach to success in search is not actually new. Sure, AI’s changed the playing field. Zero-click visibility is a bigger deal now. Google finally has a legitimate competitor. And yes, we are thinking primarily in keyword groups and semantics rather than chasing the vanity of a single #1 ranking. But guess what? We’ve always done this. We’ve always looked at the bigger picture. We’ve always grouped keywords by theme, intent, and value. We’ve always focused on what’s actually useful, not just what’s shiny. What has changed (and i'm here for it): - Content audits are now less about what ranks, and more about whether something genuinely answers the question to boost the brand. - “What is the likely search query, or AI prompt, that this content best answers?” - Ranking alone doesn’t cut it. We want content that sticks. Meanwhile, everyone’s still chasing rankings while Johnny Client just wants conversions. Especially in B2B, where we're dancing around the user at the consideration stage, let’s not forget what actually moves the needle. And let’s be honest… experimenting with AI is way more exciting when it’s about working smarter: - Better processes - Stronger collaboration - Real business value … not just slapping “AI agency” on a deck for a bit of LinkedIn clout. So yeah. Keep your acronyms. Don't ruddy want 'em. And while you're messing about, we’ll keep doing what works. Thanks 😊 #SEO #AEO #GEO #DigitalMarketing #AI #ContentStrategy #ZeroClickSearch #EfficiencyOverEgo
I agree that all these new acronyms are creating confusion, but at the same time how would you describe the process or strategy of optimizing for AI search? You can’t say *AI SEO* because that implies you’re using AI to do SEO, not doing SEO for AI search. And you can’t just keep slapping the term *SEO* on everything, especially when you’re optimizing for a completely different object, e.g AI answers vs traditional search. I honestly think that the very concept of *search* is vanishing and rather fast. In the near future (actually even now for some queries) you won’t be searching anymore. You’ll just get answers. So yes while I agree that those acronyms may be cringe, but they do at least give some instant clarity around what exactly is being optimized and for whom.
→ GEO, AEO, whatever acronym comes next… the fundamentals haven’t changed → It’s still about understanding intent, building relevance, and solving real problems
Finally, someone said it SEO isn't dead, it's evolved. Acronyms distract, fundamentals deliver. Real strategy > shiny buzzwords. Respect!
Saw this post and thought "Oh sh*t, what new thing do i need to know about now?!?!?" Googled them and after each one thought "Oh, i know what that is!" I'm beginning to think that new acronyms are created just to try and make marketers' imposter syndrome kick in on a daily basis 😂
Brilliant take. Acronyms don’t build visibility — structure, clarity, and strategic intent do. The irony? While everyone’s debating labels, the interface itself has already shifted. We’re no longer optimizing for search engines — we’re optimizing within them. LLMs like ChatGPT and Claude don’t care about your meta description. They care about structure, semantics, authority, and intent — exactly what we should’ve been doing all along. At adds2marketing, we stopped chasing labels the moment we realized most brands have no idea how or whether they’re even showing up in AI responses. That’s why we built the LLM Visibility Graph — to finally measure and shape brand presence inside generative platforms. So yes — keep your acronyms. We’ll take insight, structure, and meaningful exposure where the decisions are actually happening. Visibility isn’t dead. It just moved. Keep yawning, so we'll do more business: www.adds2marketing.com