---
title: "GEO vs SEO: Should You Focus on SEO or AI Visibility Now? 2026 | Croissant & Baguette"
description: "Both, and mostly the same work. SEO gets you ranked for a keyword; AI visibility (GEO) gets you named in the answer to a question. Row by row: what each optimises for, how it is measured, what only one needs, and when to lead with which."
url: "https://croissantbaguette.com.au/guides/seo-vs-ai-visibility/"
---

# Should you focus on SEO or AI visibility now?

https://croissantbaguette.com.au/guides/seo-vs-ai-visibility/

Both, and mostly the same work. SEO gets you ranked for a keyword; AI visibility (GEO) gets you named in the answer to a question. Row by row: what each optimises for, how it is measured, what only one needs, and when to lead with which.

## Should you focus on SEO or AI visibility now?

Neither instead of the other. Most of what gets a page ranked is what gets it lifted into an AI answer, so the work is largely shared; what differs is the number you watch, the weight on corroboration, and how fast each moves. Row by row, when to lead with which, what the tools and programmes cost, and one client measured.

**Quick answer**

Every figure on this page excludes GST. Tool prices are in US dollars, read on 26 September 2026.

- **SEO** a ranking, per keyword
- **AI visibility** a citation share, per question
- **Shared** the technical layer and the pages
- **Moves in** weeks, then 2–4 months
- **With us** audit free · from $1,000 a month

## Both, in one programme. The measurement is what changes.

Focus on both, in one programme, and measure both, because most of the work is shared and the two numbers catch different failures. Traditional SEO gets a page ranked in Google's list of links for a keyword and is measured in positions, impressions and clicks. AI visibility optimisation, also called generative engine optimisation or GEO, gets a business named or linked in the paragraph that ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Google's AI Overviews answer a question with, and is measured as citation share: the answers that name you, divided by the answers collected, per engine and beside your competitors. AI Overviews now sit on roughly half of Google searches and ChatGPT went past 900 million weekly users this year, so the second number can no longer be skipped. The searches have not stopped either, and an engine searches before it answers, so a page that does not rank is rarely cited. The shared work is the technical layer, a crawlable and fast site with structured data and a sitemap, and one page per question with the answer in its first paragraph. What GEO adds is an entity sentence saying what, where and for whom you are, numbers plain enough to lift, corroboration on the directories and review sites the engines read, and the measurement itself. Technical fixes move both in weeks; rankings and citation share take two to four months. Tools start at US$29 a month on either side. Our audit measures both at no charge after a 20-minute call, and the programme that works on both starts at $1,000 a month. If one has to lead: a site that ranks but is never named leads with AI visibility; a new site with no rankings leads with SEO.

## SEO or AI visibility, row by row.

Run one programme that does both and reports both. If one has to lead: a site that ranks and is never named leads with AI visibility, because the fix is structure and corroboration; a new site with no rankings leads with SEO, because an engine searches before it answers.

- **Optimises for** A page ranked in the list of links Google shows for a keyword, and the click that follows | A business named or linked in the paragraph an engine answers a question with, whether or not anyone clicks
- **Measured as** Positions, impressions and clicks per keyword, in Search Console and a rank tracker | Citation share: answers that name or link you over answers collected, per engine, against named competitors, with a range from repeated runs
- **Unit of work** A keyword: "seo agency sydney" | A question in the customer's words: "who does small-group Hobbiton day tours from Auckland"
- **What a page needs** The keyword in the title and heading, depth, internal links, and links from other sites | The question answered in the first paragraph with a number in it, FAQ markup, and one sentence saying what the business is, where and for whom
- **Corroboration** Backlinks count as votes; directories matter mostly for the local pack | Heavy. The engines trust a name they meet on directories, review sites and lists, and the sources column of a report shows which ones
- **Technical layer** Crawlable HTML, speed, a sitemap, structured data that validates | The same, plus a robots file that lets GPTBot, ClaudeBot and the rest in, and complete HTML with no JavaScript in the way
- **How fast it moves** Technical fixes in weeks; rankings over months, longer on competitive terms | Technical fixes in weeks; citation share in two to four months, Gemini and Google AI Overviews first
- **The tools** Google Search Console for free; Ahrefs from US$29 a month, SE Ranking from US$129, Semrush from US$139 | Otterly from US$29 a month, Peec AI from US$95, SE Ranking's AI add-on at US$89, Ahrefs Brand Radar from US$199, Semrush from US$199 with 50 prompts a day, Profound on request
- **What it costs done for you** Retainers vary with the agency and the category; our technical SEO fixes are a one-off from $2,000, typically $2,000 to $6,000 | Reporting only $500–1,500 a month and programmes that also fix $1,500–5,000, on Australian agency guides from 2026; ours from $1,000 a month, both numbers reported
- **The same work** Everything in the technical layer, and every page that answers one question plainly | Those same pages, read by a different machine; GEO adds the entity sentence, the corroboration and the measurement

## When SEO should lead.

- **There is nothing to cite yet.** A new domain with no rankings gives the engines nothing to find. Quitine, a store we built, was named in 10 percent of answers a few weeks after launch against 42 percent for the category leader; the index fills first.
- **The site cannot be crawled.** Pages that only exist in JavaScript, no sitemap, ten-second loads. That is weeks of technical work, and the same weeks serve both numbers, so it comes first whichever you care about.
- **Your buyers type intent, not questions.** AI Overviews sit on roughly half of Google searches, which leaves the other half as a page of links and a local pack. "Emergency plumber Parramatta" is still won by ranking.
- **The call comes from the map.** For "near me" searches the local pack decides who gets rung, and that is a Google Business Profile with reviews, which is SEO by any name.

## When AI visibility should lead.

- **You rank on page one and the answer names two competitors.** Google reads the page and the engines skip it, which is usually structure or entity, and both are fixed in about a month. The rankings are already doing their half.
- **Your customers ask, they do not search.** Considered purchases and services get asked as questions, and the answer is a paragraph with two or three names in it. Not being one of them is invisible in a way a page-two ranking never was.
- **The sources column is directories you are not on.** When the answers cite review sites and lists, the work is off your site and slow, two to four months of listings and profiles. Start the slow half first.
- **Your category is one where the engines already answer well.** Travel, health, trades, professional services. Across the four engines Cheeky Kiwi Travel's share of its customers' answers runs from 15 percent on ChatGPT to 36 on Google AI Overviews, 53 on Claude and 65 on Gemini, the shape of a category where the answers have settled. — The two lists are not either-or. The audit says which one is behind; the programme does both.

## What the number looks like when it works.

Our AI Visibility Audit of Cheeky Kiwi Travel, 23 September 2026, whose booking platform we built. 40 questions, four engines, four countries, five competitors. Its own site being the most-cited source is the SEO half showing up inside the GEO number; the engines found the pages before they named the business.

- **43% of AI answers name it** — Cheeky Kiwi Travel, 65 of 153 answers to the questions its customers ask (https://croissantbaguette.com.au/projects/cheeky-kiwi-travel/)
- **11% the nearest competitor** — the best of five operators tracked on the same answers (https://croissantbaguette.com.au/projects/cheeky-kiwi-travel/)
- **58 citations of its own pages** — the most of any source, above Viator and TripAdvisor (https://croissantbaguette.com.au/projects/cheeky-kiwi-travel/)
- **91% when the question is who** — 20 of 22 answers to the six questions asking who runs a tour (https://croissantbaguette.com.au/projects/cheeky-kiwi-travel/)

## Who does this in Australia, and what to ask them.

- **Which number they report.** Rankings, citation share, or both, from which engines and which countries. A GEO proposal with no engine list and no country is a content retainer with a new name.
- **What is shared and what is extra.** The crawl, the structured data and the pages serve both. If the AI visibility quote is a second retainer for the same technical work, you are paying for the word twice.
- **Which gap you have.** Ranked but not named, named but not ranked, or neither. The first is structure and corroboration, the second is content and links, the third starts with the crawl, and the quote should say which.
- **The corroboration plan, by name.** Which directories, which review sites, which partner listings, and who claims them. Off-site work is the slow half, and a plan that is pages only will not move the sources column.
- **One page of theirs that is cited today.** Ask for a page they wrote and the AI answer that cites it, with the date. Anyone selling citations should be able to show one.
- **We do.** Croissant & Baguette is a small Sydney studio with a network of Australian specialists. Built in Sydney, never offshored. The engine behind our audits is ours, so a single run reports citation share and organic performance side by side, and we build the pages and the fixes rather than handing over a document; this guide is one of those pages. — The audit costs nothing after a 20-minute call, one per business, and the report carries our own domain's number, whatever it says that month.

## What we charge.

When a number stands still, the report says so and names what changes.

**Why one programme covers both** Because on the site they are one job, and in the report they are two numbers. The crawl, the structured data and the pages that answer questions serve Google and the engines alike, so charging for them twice would be charging for the name. The fee buys the monthly measurement of both, the pages for the questions you are missing from, and the listings and profiles the engines read; one market with one core service is what $1,000 buys.

What moves the programme above $1,000:

- **Free AI visibility and website report** free (emailed within the hour · shareable link)
- **AI Visibility Audit** free (with a 20-minute call · one per business)
- **GEO & SEO programme** from $1,000/mo (3-month min · typically $1–2.5k a month)
- **Technical SEO fixes only** from $2,000 (one-off · existing sites · typically $2–6k)

- which gap you have. Ranked but not named is a month of structure; neither starts with the crawl
- how many questions you are absent from, and whether you already rank for any of them
- how many markets and services have to be measured and written for
- how much corroboration is missing. Listings, profiles and reviews are the slow half
- whether the crawlers can read the site now, or a rebuild comes first

## Ask away.

Seven things people ask before they choose. Market prices for the reporting are in our AI visibility reporting cost guide, and the check itself, step by step, is in our how-to on ChatGPT mentions. Still one missing? Ask us.

- **Should I focus on traditional SEO or AI visibility optimisation now?** Both, in one programme, because most of the work is shared: a crawlable, fast site with structured data and one page per question serves Google and the AI engines alike. What AI visibility adds is an entity sentence, plain answers with numbers, corroboration on the sites the engines read, and citation share as the measurement. Lead with AI visibility if you rank but are never named; lead with SEO if the site is new or cannot be crawled.
- **What does generative engine optimization do?** Generative engine optimisation, GEO, makes a business one of the names in the answer that ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini or Google's AI Overviews give to a customer's question, rather than one of the links under it. It does that by stating facts and prices plainly enough to be lifted, marking up who the business is and where, and getting it corroborated on directories and review sites. Its result is measured as citation share per engine.
- **What is the difference between GEO and SEO?** The unit and the output. SEO works on keywords and produces a ranking in a list of links, measured in positions and clicks. GEO works on questions and produces a mention or a link inside a written answer, measured as the share of answers that name you. The technical work underneath is the same; GEO puts more weight on corroboration, plain numbers and an entity sentence, and less on backlinks.
- **Do we still need SEO?** Yes, for two reasons. An engine searches before it writes, so a page that is not indexed and ranked is rarely the one it lifts; and roughly half of Google searches still show no AI Overview, so the page of links and the local pack still decide those. What changes is not whether you do SEO but what you count: rankings and citation share, side by side, from the first month.
- **Are GEO, AEO, LLM SEO and AI search optimisation the same thing?** Near enough. Generative engine optimisation, answer engine optimisation, LLM SEO, AI SEO and AI search optimisation all describe getting named in AI-written answers, and the differences are which engines a vendor happens to track. Whatever it is called, ask the same three questions: which engines, from which countries, and whether the number comes with the answers behind it.
- **How is AI visibility measured?** As citation share. A fixed set of questions in your customers' words is put to each engine from the countries they are in, and each answer is scored for whether it names or links you and each competitor. Answers that name or link you, over the answers collected, per engine and in total, is the number; repeated runs give it a range, because the same question gets different answers on different days.
- **Can our existing SEO agency do the AI visibility work?** Most of it, if they measure it. The technical layer and the question-led pages are work they already know. What they may not have is a way to put forty questions to four engines every month and score the answers, an entity and corroboration plan, or a habit of writing numbers into the first paragraph. We can run the audit and the technical fixes and give them the rest as a plan.

- **SEO & AI Visibility.** The free audit, the programme, and the two numbers we report every month.
- **AI visibility reporting costs.** Tools, retainers and programmes by price, with a real report card.
- **Is ChatGPT mentioning you?** The check by hand in an afternoon, the tools, and the four causes of silence.
- **The free report.** Five questions, four engines, two competitors, every answer in full.

## Find out which one you are missing.

A 20-minute call, then the audit at no charge: 30 to 50 of the questions your customers ask, on four engines, your rankings beside your citation share, which gap you have, and a 90-day plan in order. One per business.