In some ways, that feels almost old-school. For years, SEO has largely been about visibility: content engineered to rank, packed with keywords, and optimized for clicks rather than meaning. It produced plenty of copy that looked right on paper but rarely stayed with you. You’d read it, maybe agree for a moment, and then move on.
GEO doesn’t change that overnight. But the growing emphasis on clear, useful answers, information people can act on or insights that genuinely help, does reveal something. AI tools summarize, compare, and prioritize. They remove noise. And that makes it much more obvious which content actually delivers value.
That changes what visibility looks like. It’s less about being present everywhere and more about being useful when someone is looking for an answer. Being mentioned helps, of course. But what really counts is whether your content contributes something meaningful. Not because you claim it does, but because the content itself makes that authority clear.
Where the value comes from
Authority and expertise don’t come from labels. Calling yourself a thought leader or an expert rarely convinces anyone. They develop over time, by consistently showing what you stand for and how you help people move forward. By taking questions seriously, by explaining, adding context, and sometimes simply sharing your perspective.
That shows in how questions are handled. Are they taken seriously? Are answers clear and grounded? Is there room for nuance, or even for perspective? Sometimes that simply means explaining how you look at a subject, rather than trying to cover every angle.
Content that works feels recognizable. You sense that someone knows what they’re talking about. That time has gone into understanding the reader’s needs. That there’s a real person behind the words, not just a polished message. Whether that content takes the form of an article, a FAQ, a short video, or a podcast matters less than the clarity behind it.
Building reputation over time
What I find encouraging about this shift is that it doesn’t require anything fundamentally new from people who’ve been working with content for years. There’s no new rulebook and no secret playbook. What it does require is focus: on positioning, on consistency, and above all on the story you keep telling, grounded in the same underlying conviction.
That doesn’t mean it’s effortless. You can strengthen your visibility and credibility with practical elements like FAQs, a clear author bio, or short video or audio content. But simply pushing harder or applying tactics more aggressively won’t make the difference. Impact comes from clarity, from creating content that genuinely says something and shows who you are and how you help.
What writing is really about
Maybe that’s the most refreshing part of GEO. Not that it introduces new ways to win attention, but that it highlights what the craft has always been about at its core: writing for readers, for customers. And yes, also for systems that are trying to understand who truly contributes to the conversation.
Petrick de Koning
Petrick de Koning is a senior content creator. He helps technology-driven organisations tell complex stories in a clear, human and credible way. With a sharp eye on emerging developments such as AI and GEO, he explores how technology can help make content more relevant, without losing the human perspective.