# Do we still need SEO now that buyers ask ChatGPT instead of Google?

Canonical: https://fortitudemedia.ai/insights/seo-vs-llm-optimisation
Author: David Adams
Published: 2026-04-22
Last reviewed: 2026-09-24
Reviewed by: David Adams
Pillar: Getting named by AI assistants
Summary: Do B2B firms still need SEO now buyers ask ChatGPT? What to keep, what to stop paying for and what to add so Google and AI assistants both name your firm.
Keywords: seo vs geo, is seo dead, do i still need seo, difference between seo and geo, does chatgpt use google or bing, seo agency or geo agency
Short answer: Yes, but not the SEO you bought in 2019. Google says optimising for its AI features is still SEO, and ChatGPT search, Copilot and Google's AI answers all start from a search index, so ranking helps but does not guarantee a mention. Keep the technical basics and structured data, and get your site into Bing. Stop keyword-volume pages and bought links. Add what some agencies call GEO (generative engine optimisation): clear positioning, depth on buyer questions and mentions in publications buyers trust.
What changed: Added a keep, stop, add table, a Bing and IndexNow section, SEO versus GEO explained, the ID-Pal result, GA4's AI channel and sourced 2026 figures; corrected claims on links.
Publisher: Fortitude Media Limited

When quoting, attribute to Fortitude Media and link to the canonical URL above.

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For a decade the deal was clear. You paid an agency, they chased keywords and links, and a monthly report showed your rankings creeping up. It worked, more or less. Then a prospect told you in a first meeting that they had asked ChatGPT for a shortlist of firms like yours, and you were not on it. Your rankings were fine that week. It made no difference.

That is where most founder-led B2B firms are now. Google still sends traffic, so nobody wants to abandon SEO. But buyers increasingly start elsewhere: in [G2's April 2026 survey](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-g2-research-half-of-b2b-software-buyers-now-start-their-research-with-ai-chatbots-302742807.html) of 1,076 software buyers, 51% said they now begin their research in an AI chatbot, up from 29% a year earlier. And Google itself now answers many questions with an AI Overview before anyone sees a link.

Rankings still matter, but they no longer settle it. [Ahrefs found in March 2026](https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overview-citations-top-10) that only 38% of the pages cited in Google's AI Overviews ranked in the top ten for the search, down from 76% in July 2025, because Google now runs several related searches for one question. Most of what gets a firm named by AI assistants also helps it rank. But a chunk of what agencies still sell as SEO does little for AI answers, and some of it does harm. This guide sorts the two.

## Key takeaways

- SEO is not dead: Google says optimising for its AI features is "still SEO", and Google's AI features, Copilot and ChatGPT search all start from a search index.
- Ranking helps but does not guarantee a mention, because assistants run several searches per question and cite pages that answer the follow-ups too.
- ChatGPT search has drawn heavily on Bing and Copilot runs on Bing's index, so verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools and submit new pages through IndexNow.
- Keep technical hygiene, structured data and clear site structure; stop keyword-volume content, bought links and clickbait titles.
- Add what assistants reward: positioning they can repeat, depth on the questions buyers ask, and mentions in publications buyers trust.
- Run one programme for Google and AI, measured by rankings and by whether you are named for a fixed list of buyer questions.

## Is SEO dead now that people use ChatGPT?

No. Google's own [guide to its generative AI features](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide), last updated in July 2026, says optimising for them "is still SEO", because those features are built on Google's core ranking and quality systems.

The link between ranking and being named is real but loose. Google's AI features, ChatGPT search and Copilot all start from a search index (Google's, or Bing's for Copilot and, it appears, ChatGPT search), so a page that ranks is more likely to be read. But Google now issues several related searches for one question, a process it calls query fan-out, which is why the top-ten share of AI Overview citations halved. A firm that ranks first for its main phrase and has nothing on the follow-up questions can still be left out. Our guide to [why ranking first on Google does not get you mentioned by ChatGPT](/insights/google-rankings-wont-protect-you) covers that gap in detail.

## What is the difference between SEO and GEO?

SEO gets a page ranked in a list; what some agencies now call GEO (generative engine optimisation) or AEO (answer engine optimisation) tries to get a firm named inside a written answer. We call it being named by AI assistants, and most of the work overlaps.

The difference is that a filter became a reader. Google's classic results are a filter: you type a phrase, it returns matching pages in order, and you choose. An AI assistant is a reader: you ask in your own words, it reads what it knows and what it can fetch, and it writes an answer that names two or three firms. A filter can be fed the right words. A reader has to be convinced.

| | Classic SEO | Being named by AI assistants (GEO or AEO) |
|---|---|---|
| What the buyer sees | A ranked list of links | One written answer naming a few firms |
| What wins | Relevance and authority for a phrase | Clear, consistent, trusted evidence about the firm |
| Where the evidence comes from | Mainly your pages and links to them | Your pages plus what others say about you |
| What you measure | Rankings, clicks, enquiries | Whether you are named for buyer questions, and enquiries |

Buyers mostly use the plain term. [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&geo=GB&q=AI%20SEO,generative%20engine%20optimization,answer%20engine%20optimization,AI%20visibility,LLM%20SEO) for the UK over the year to 24 September 2026 shows "AI SEO" drawing about nine times the interest of "generative engine optimization", with GEO ahead of AEO. The label matters less than the work.

## Does ChatGPT use Google or Bing to find websites?

OpenAI says ChatGPT search uses "third-party search providers" without naming them, and the evidence points to Bing. In a small [Seer Interactive test](https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/87-percent-of-searchgpt-citations-match-bings-top-results) in February 2025, 87% of ChatGPT search citations matched Bing's top results, against 56% for Google. Microsoft says Copilot is [powered by Bing's search index](https://about.ads.microsoft.com/en/blog/post/october-2025/optimizing-your-content-for-inclusion-in-ai-search-answers).

Most B2B firms have never looked at Bing. Three jobs fix that:

- Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your sitemap and check which pages are indexed.
- Turn on [IndexNow](https://www.bing.com/indexnow), a free protocol that tells Bing and other participating search engines as soon as a page is added, changed or deleted. Many content systems and plugins support it.
- Allow OpenAI's search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, in your robots.txt and your CDN settings; OpenAI's help centre says a site must allow it to appear in ChatGPT search.

One qualification on robots.txt, the file that tells crawlers what they may visit: it is a request, not a lock. OpenAI says robots.txt rules may not apply to ChatGPT-User, which fetches a page when a person asks for it, as [Search Engine Journal reported](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/openai-says-robots-txt-may-not-apply-to-chatgpts-fetch-bot/585864/) in August 2026. The bigger risk for most firms is the opposite: blocking the crawlers they want by accident. [How AI crawlers read your website](/insights/ai-crawlers-vs-google-spiders) shows how to check in five minutes.

## Keep, stop, add: how to mark up your agency's invoice

Take your agency's last invoice or monthly report and mark each line against this table.

| Activity | Effect on Google | Effect on AI answers | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| Technical fixes: speed, crawlability, sitemaps, one version of each page | Helps | Helps; AI crawlers are simpler than Google's | Keep |
| Structured data | Helps with rich results and understanding | Removes doubt about your facts | Keep and extend |
| Site structure and internal links | Helps | Helps an assistant build a full picture | Keep |
| Bing Webmaster Tools and IndexNow | Neutral | Helps Copilot and ChatGPT search find new pages | Add |
| Keyword-volume content (one thin page per phrase) | Weak, and risky at scale | Rarely quoted; dilutes your better pages | Stop |
| Bought, swapped or directory links | Discounted or penalised | No value; links count only as a sign of real reputation | Stop |
| Clickbait titles and descriptions | Short-term clicks | Marks against you when the page does not deliver | Stop |
| Plain positioning on every key page | Helps | The first thing an assistant repeats | Add |
| Deep pages on real buyer questions | Helps | The pages assistants quote | Add |
| Earned coverage and consistent mentions | Helps through links and brand searches | In our view, the biggest gap in most budgets | Add |

### Keep: technical hygiene, structured data and structure

A fast, crawlable site with one clear version of every page is easier for every crawler to read, and the main AI crawlers do not run JavaScript, so key text must be in the page's HTML. Structured data labels your facts; [whether you need schema markup for AI assistants](/insights/structured-data-schema-markup-ai) covers what it does and does not do. Clear sections and internal links let an assistant that lands on one page find your sector pages, team and case studies.

### Stop: keyword content, bought links and clickbait

The old model was to find a phrase with search volume, write a page that repeats it, and repeat for a hundred phrases. To a reader that looks like writing aimed at a machine, and it dilutes the pages that might be quoted. Google's July 2026 guide goes further: creating separate pages for every query variation mainly to manipulate AI answers breaks its scaled content abuse policy. [Why ChatGPT ignores sites with hundreds of pages](/insights/ai-penalises-thin-content) covers the damage.

Links are more nuanced than "links no longer matter". Search indexes do weigh links, and an [SE Ranking study reported by Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/new-data-top-factors-influencing-chatgpt-citations/561954/) in November 2025 found the number of referring domains was the strongest predictor of ChatGPT citations. What counts is links that reflect a real reputation: coverage, partners, professional bodies. Directory submissions, paid networks and guest posts on sites nobody reads carry none of that, and Google has discounted them for years. If your agency reports "links built" as a headline number, cut that line first. [Whether backlinks still matter for ChatGPT](/insights/ai-evaluates-quality-referring-domains) goes further.

Titles written to win clicks ("7 secrets every MD gets wrong") now work against you: an assistant reads the title to understand the page, and plain titles that say what the page answers work better for both audiences.

### Add: positioning, depth and outside evidence

Read your homepage as a stranger with thirty seconds. Can you say what the firm does, for whom, where and why it is different? If the answer needs inference, an assistant will infer wrongly or leave you out. In our experience this is the most common problem on B2B sites and the cheapest to fix.

Then depth. One page that properly answers "how do we move payroll provider mid-year without breaking anything", with the steps, the traps and the timescales, does more than twenty short posts circling the topic. Depth means completeness, written by someone who has done the work.

Finally, evidence from outside your own site, which most SEO budgets never touched. Muck Rack's [May 2026 analysis](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/05/07/3290268/0/en/generative-pulse-earned-media-consistently-drives-ai-citations-holding-at-84.html) of more than 25 million links cited by ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini found 84% came from earned media and 0.3% from paid content. Trade press, professional bodies, review sites and partners' pages are where that evidence lives. Our guide to [which kinds of PR win work for a B2B firm](/insights/pr-for-b2b-what-works) shows how to do it at a founder-led scale.

## How should the budget shift?

Do not run two programmes. Run one and change the mix, roughly in thirds, whatever your budget is today.

| Share of budget | What it buys | How often |
|---|---|---|
| About a third | Technical and structural work: crawler access, Bing, structured data, site structure | Done once, then maintained |
| About a third | Fewer, deeper pages written from real expertise on the questions buyers ask | Every month |
| About a third | Earned coverage, reviews and consistent mentions on the sites buyers and assistants trust | Every month |

Once the technical base is sound, its share shrinks to upkeep and the rest moves to content and coverage. The exact split depends on where you start; for what our own programmes cost, see [what it costs](/what-it-costs).

The measure changes too. Alongside rankings, track whether the assistants name you for a fixed list of 20 to 50 questions your buyers ask. Ask each several times a month in a clean session, because answers vary from run to run, and count a win only when it repeats.

## What does this look like for a real firm?

[ID-Pal](/work/id-pal) sells identity verification to fund administrators, wealth managers, law firms and accountants. It had bought NorthRow, a UK business verification platform, and folded it into id-pal.com. "Traffic to the pages that bring in enquiries had fallen by around 40 per cent since the NorthRow move, and nobody could say why." And "AI could describe ID-Pal. It never recommended it."

"Across 36 recorded AI answers to the questions ID-Pal's buyers actually ask, ID-Pal was named three times, and only for its brand or its Salesforce integration. AI knew who it was, and had no reason to recommend it."

What changed was a mix of SEO and AI work. First, "About four hours of structured data work declaring NorthRow part of ID-Pal on both domains." Then "Five industry pages rebuilt: fund administration, wealth management, legal, accountancy and estate agency. Each opens with the question a compliance lead types, names the regulator, and answers inside the first ninety words." The result so far: "UK buyer questions where AI names ID-Pal: none in May, two in August, four in September 2026." And "Where a page has been rebuilt, ID-Pal appears. Where it has not yet, it does not, which tells us exactly what to build next."

## How much of our traffic comes from ChatGPT compared with Google?

Your own analytics will tell you, once it is set up to. Since 13 May 2026, Google Analytics 4 has had a default "AI Assistant" channel covering ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Copilot and Grok, as [Nice Looking Data documents](https://www.nicelookingdata.com/blog/ga4-ai-traffic-chatgpt-referrals). Claude and Perplexity are not included, and clicks from AI Overviews and AI Mode still count as Organic Search.

So compare Organic Search, the AI Assistant channel and referrals from claude.ai and perplexity.ai, remembering that many buyers read an answer and then search your name, which shows up as branded search or direct. Search Console's generative AI reports, available to all sites since August 2026, show impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode. Our guide on [telling which leads came from ChatGPT](/insights/attribution-ai-era-track-leads) covers the rest, including simply asking every new enquiry how they found you.

## What to do this month

1. Check your robots.txt and your CDN or security settings for blocked AI crawlers, and make sure OAI-SearchBot is allowed.
2. Verify your site in Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your sitemap and turn on IndexNow.
3. Rewrite the first two paragraphs of your homepage and each service page so a stranger could repeat back what you do, for whom and where.
4. Ask your agency for the list of links built in the last year and the list of publications that have mentioned you. If the first is long and the second is empty, change the brief.
5. Choose one buyer question and write the page that answers it completely, with someone who has done the work in the room.
6. Write down 20 to 50 questions your buyers ask and start recording who is named for them each month.

## Frequently asked questions

### Should we stop our SEO agency altogether?

Not if they are doing the technical and structural work well. Ask them to drop keyword-volume content and link quotas, add Bing and IndexNow, and report on whether you are named by AI assistants for your key buyer questions. If they cannot or will not, the relationship has run its course. [How we compare with an SEO agency](/vs/seo-agency) sets out where our approach differs.

### Should I hire an SEO agency or a GEO agency in 2026?

Hire for the work, not the label. The best providers do both, because the technical base, the content and the outside evidence serve Google and AI assistants alike. Nobody can guarantee what an AI assistant will say, so be wary of anyone guaranteeing a place in ChatGPT's answers; a good provider guarantees effort, reporting and the outcomes it controls. Our guide on [choosing a firm to help you get recommended by ChatGPT](/insights/how-to-compare-ai-optimisation-providers) lists the questions to ask.

### Does Google still matter for a B2B firm?

Yes. Google still sends traffic, its AI Overviews and AI Mode draw on the same index, and Gemini leans on Google Search. A firm that ignores Google loses on both fronts. The point is to stop the parts of SEO that only ever worked on the filter. [What Google AI Mode is and how it differs from AI Overviews](/insights/end-of-ten-blue-links) explains Google's newer format.

### How long before changes show up in AI answers?

Assistants that search the web live (ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Copilot and Google's AI features) can reflect a clearer page or a new article within weeks. Answers drawn from a model's own memory change only when the model is retrained, which takes months. The ID-Pal case study reports: "UK buyer questions where AI names ID-Pal: none in May, two in August, four in September 2026."

### What is the cheapest thing we can do first?

Fix your positioning in words. Rewriting the opening of your homepage and service pages costs a day of a founder's attention and changes what an assistant can say about you. Then check you are not blocking AI crawlers and that Bing has your pages. Everything else builds on those.

For the wider method, start with [how to get ChatGPT to recommend your firm](/insights/what-is-llm-optimisation). To see how this plays out for your own firm, [book a free Growth Review](/growth-review): 30 minutes with David Adams and three fixes in writing. If the gap is outside evidence, that is the work of [Reputation That Wins](/reputation-that-wins).

## Sources

- [Google Search Central, Optimizing your website for generative AI features on Google Search (July 2026)](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide)
- [Ahrefs, AI Overview citations from top-ten pages (March 2026)](https://ahrefs.com/blog/ai-overview-citations-top-10)
- [G2 via PR Newswire, Half of B2B software buyers now start their research with AI chatbots (April 2026)](https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-g2-research-half-of-b2b-software-buyers-now-start-their-research-with-ai-chatbots-302742807.html)
- [Seer Interactive, 87% of SearchGPT citations match Bing's top results (February 2025)](https://www.seerinteractive.com/insights/87-percent-of-searchgpt-citations-match-bings-top-results)
- [Search Engine Journal, New data reveals the top 20 factors influencing ChatGPT citations (November 2025)](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/new-data-top-factors-influencing-chatgpt-citations/561954/)
- [Muck Rack via GlobeNewswire, Earned media consistently drives AI citations (May 2026)](https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2026/05/07/3290268/0/en/generative-pulse-earned-media-consistently-drives-ai-citations-holding-at-84.html)
- [Google Trends, UK interest in AI SEO, generative and answer engine optimization (12 months to September 2026)](https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%2012-m&geo=GB&q=AI%20SEO,generative%20engine%20optimization,answer%20engine%20optimization,AI%20visibility,LLM%20SEO)
- [Nice Looking Data, AI traffic in GA4 (July 2026)](https://www.nicelookingdata.com/blog/ga4-ai-traffic-chatgpt-referrals)