SEO and GEO that keep your brand visible in search and in AI answers
The difference between SEO and GEO
At Yoyo Design, we help organisations stay visible as search changes. People still use Google, but a growing share of questions are now answered directly by AI, whether that is Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity. Being found today means two things, ranking in search and being the source AI tools quote.
That is the difference between SEO and GEO. SEO is the work that earns visibility in traditional search results. GEO, or generative engine optimisation, is the work that makes your brand a clear, trusted source that AI systems pull from when they answer a question. They share foundations, but they are not the same job, and treating them as one is where most organisations go wrong.
Our approach pairs solid technical SEO with content and structured data built to earn both rankings and citations. As a Registered Umbraco Gold Partner with in-house development, the recommendations we make are things we can actually implement, not a wish list handed to a developer who never returns it.
This is our SEO and GEO hub. It covers how we think about visibility across both. For deeper detail you can read our writing on what AI means for SEO and using structured data to win AI Overview citations, or talk to us about where your organisation should focus first.
Why does being found now mean optimising for both search and AI?
A growing number of searches never reach a blue link. The answer appears at the top of the page or inside a chat window, drawn from a handful of sources. If your brand is not one of those sources, you can rank well and still be invisible at the moment the decision is made.
SEO and GEO overlap but reward different things. Strong technical foundations, clear authority and trustworthy content help both. Beyond that, classic SEO still drives the clicks AI does not capture, while GEO rewards clean structure, factual accuracy and being a source worth quoting. You cannot do one and assume the other follows.
The organisations that stay visible build a single approach that earns rankings and citations together, grounded in technical SEO rather than chasing whatever tactic is trending that month. That is the difference between being busy with SEO and actually being found.
Helping brands and charities stay visible across search and AI
We start with where your visibility actually stands across both search and AI, then work back to the technical, content and structural changes that will move it. No tactic list for the sake of activity.
We shape SEO and GEO work around:
Technical SEO foundations - making sure your site can be crawled, indexed and understood before anything else is built on top.
Content built to rank and be cited - clear, factual, well-structured content that earns search positions and is easy for AI systems to quote.
Structured data and schema - giving search engines and AI models the explicit signals they need to understand and reference you.
Authority and topical depth - building the credibility and subject coverage that both rankings and AI answers consistently reward.
Measurement across search and AI - tracking visibility beyond rankings, including presence in AI answers, not just positions and clicks.
Clear priorities, not a tactic list - telling you what genuinely moves visibility for your organisation and what is noise.
The aim is durable visibility that survives algorithm updates and the shift to AI search, not a short-term spike that disappears at the next change.
The Industries we partner with
We work with B2B organisations, charities, membership bodies, professional services firms and ecommerce brands, usually where trust, authority and clear messaging matter as much as raw traffic.
That spans organisations going through digital transformation, charities competing for attention against far bigger budgets and brands that need to stay visible as search moves toward AI. Our digital and visibility-related experience includes:
RNLI for leading a large-scale digital transformation for one of the UK's best known charities
IAM RoadSmart for driving digital transformation across a national membership organisation
Zoonou for brand and digital transformation for a growing technology business
Worldwide Cancer Research for a charity website built with search visibility and accessibility in mind
We also write regularly on this area, including how charities can harness Google's AI Overviews and the impact of Google's generative AI on search.
Delivering your SEO and GEO work in sprints
EO and GEO are ongoing, not a one-off project. We still run the work in focused sprints so you see momentum and clear priorities rather than a vague retainer with nothing to point at.
Technical and visibility audit across search and AI
A prioritised roadmap tied to commercial outcomes
Implementation sprints across technical, content and structured data
Content optimisation and creation built to rank and be cited
Measurement and reporting across rankings, traffic and AI presence
Ongoing iteration as algorithms and AI models change
You always know what the current sprint is focused on, what comes next and where the trade-offs sit if priorities change.
SEO and GEO credentials
The weakest SEO is a list of recommendations nobody implements. As a Registered Umbraco Gold Partner with in-house development, brand and content teams, our technical SEO is grounded in how sites are actually built, so what we recommend is what we can ship. You can read more about how we approach this in our writing on making SEO friendlier in Umbraco.
We also stay close to how search and AI are shifting rather than treating GEO as a buzzword. Our team writes practically on the topic, from five ways to start optimising content for SEO to why your PPC budget might be better spent on SEO. If you also need a clear digital direction first, our digital strategy work sets the priorities that SEO and GEO then deliver against.
Why choose Yoyo as your SEO and GEO agency?
Yoyo is a multidisciplinary web design and development agency with SEO, content, technical and development expertise under one roof. That means we can find the issues, recommend the fixes and actually implement them, without passing you between an SEO team that does not build and a development team that was not in the room.
We have a track record of award-winning work across digital transformation, brand and platform projects, with a client mix of B2B organisations, charities and membership bodies. Whether you need a full SEO and GEO programme, a technical audit or help staying visible as AI search grows, we can give you a clear, honest direction. You can also see our wider SEO services for more detail.
If you would like to talk through what SEO and GEO with Yoyo could look like, get in touch.
FAQ's
What is GEO and how is it different from SEO?
SEO is the work that earns visibility in traditional search results. GEO, or generative engine optimisation, is the work that makes your brand a clear, trusted source that AI systems quote when they answer a question. They share foundations like strong content and technical health, but GEO puts more weight on clean structure, factual accuracy and being genuinely citable. Most organisations need both, working together rather than in isolation.
Is SEO still worth it now that AI answers so many queries?
Yes. AI answers are often built from the same content that ranks well, so strong SEO feeds your AI visibility rather than competing with it. There is also still a large volume of search where people click through to sites, which AI does not capture. Abandoning SEO to chase AI would weaken both. The sensible move is to do them as one connected programme.
How do you get a brand cited in AI Overviews and tools like ChatGPT?
There is no guaranteed placement, and anyone promising one is overselling. What genuinely helps is clear, factual, well-structured content, strong topical authority, clean technical foundations and structured data that makes your information easy to interpret. We focus on the things that consistently improve your chances of being the source AI pulls from, rather than chasing tricks that do not last.
How do you measure SEO and GEO success?
We measure beyond rankings. That includes organic traffic and conversions, visibility for the topics that matter commercially and, for GEO, whether your brand is appearing and being cited in AI answers for relevant questions. We agree what success looks like up front so reporting is tied to outcomes, not vanity metrics.
How long does SEO and GEO take to work?
Meaningful movement usually takes a few months, depending on the starting point, the competitiveness of your space and how quickly fixes can be implemented. Technical issues can show improvement faster. Authority and content gains build over time. We are honest about timelines rather than promising quick wins that do not hold.
Do you do the technical implementation or just advise?
Both. Unlike agencies that hand over a document and leave the hard part to you, we have in-house development, content and design teams who can implement the work. You can use us purely for strategy and audit, or take it all the way through to delivery with the same team.
Should we move our PPC budget into SEO and GEO?
Sometimes, but not always. PPC and SEO do different jobs and the right balance depends on your goals, margins and timeframe. We will give you a clear view rather than a blanket answer, and we have written about when reallocating the budget makes sense. The point is to spend where it actually returns, not to follow a rule of thumb.
Do you work with charities and non-profits on SEO and GEO?
Yes. A significant amount of our work is in the charity and non-profit sector, where organisations often compete for visibility against far larger budgets. We understand those constraints, and as a Registered Umbraco Gold Partner we can take recommendations through to implementation where that is the right next step.