How people and artificial intelligence (AI) search the web continues to shift and evolve. Since web searches now weave in AI-driven answers created by large language models (LLMs), the content of your website should be optimized for both traditional search engine optimization (SEO) and the new frontier of building your digital authority—which, for the purpose of this article, I’ll call generative engine optimization (GEO).
What are SEO and GEO?
SEO isn’t just one thing, done and then forgotten. It is a cumulative, ongoing process of improving three areas of your website’s presence: on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO. Tending to these things helps traditional search engines and LLMs understand what you and your site are about, which ultimately helps people find you.
GEO helps LLM tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini reference you for your knowledge and authority. When AI can connect information about you across the broader web, it can lead to wider discoverability.
Here’s an easier, “author-like” way to think of these terms:
- SEO gets your website to surface (show up) in the right kinds of searches (similar to ensuring that your book is placed on the right shelf in a bookstore so that folks can find it).
- GEO strengthens your presence across the web, which can increase the likelihood that AI will reference your work when people ask a question (similar to a bookseller understanding your work, recommending it to a customer, and pointing them in the right direction to find it).
While traditional SEO still matters, a broader strategy is needed.
As Jerelsy Young, digital services partnership manager at Liaison International, puts it: “Today’s digital world isn’t about taking up space on the first page of Google’s search engine results page or relying on keyword-heavy content. Instead, it’s about building a brand and consistently communicating what makes you unique across channels.”
Young noted that with the pivot “toward GEO, visibility extends beyond traditional search results. Mentions, citations, and engagement across trusted platforms are gold. This makes it critical to position yourself as both a brand and thought leader in your space.”
Diving into SEO: on-page, off-page, and technical
On-page SEO focuses on the content and metadata of every page of your website.
The content is what the public sees when visiting your site. You should create content that is valuable to your target audience and is unique to you as an authoritative author.
The following are tips for arranging the content on each page.
- Use headings and subheadings to give your page hierarchy. Add relevant keywords. This helps search engines understand the structure and purpose of your page. Start with an H1-sized heading (there should be only one, at the top of the page) and flow down to H6. You can have more than one H2 or lower headings, but keep them in descending order.
- Add alternative text (alt text) for each image. Clearly describe the image and format the alt text as you would a sentence, with proper grammar and punctuation.
- Upload only optimized images (JPG or WebP preferred) to your site.
- Use short, pertinent phrases for linked text. Avoid vague wording such as “click here” or “learn more.”
Metadata summarizes the data that exists on each page. Two areas to complete for each page on the back end of your site are the title tag and the meta description.
Use relevant keywords and strong action verbs when creating these tags. Be clear with the title tag and enticing with the meta description. Your goal is to help search engines understand who you are and what type of books you write, while also compelling users to visit the page.
Keep the tags within the following character lengths so as not to be rewritten or cut off by search engines:
- Title Tag: Less than 60 total characters (or about 600 pixels).
- Example: Book Title by Author Name | Genre of the book
- The pipe symbol “|” separates elements. A hyphen could also be used.
- Meta Description: Aim for 50–160 total characters.
- Start with an action verb to invite the user in.
- Use primary keywords.
- Highlight what makes you or your stories unique, though be relevant to what the page is about.
Off-page SEO involves utilizing your social media posts, adding relevant keywords and hashtags to help people find you.
“Sharing your insights and perspective through platforms like LinkedIn can help reinforce your expertise and expand your reach,” Young said. “AI tools are actively crawling real, human content. A consistent and authentic presence can help strengthen your overall digital visibility.”
Building high-quality backlinks to your site is another aspect of off-page SEO. For instance, if you post a guest blog on a popular site, make sure to ask that site to link to yours. Backlinking signals to search engines that you have credibility and are a trusted source of information.
Technical SEO means zeroing in on the speed and usability of your site. Routinely check for and fix any broken links. Ensure your site is mobile friendly and loads quickly (remember to optimize those images before placing them on your site). To assess a page’s speed and to diagnose performance issues, visit Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool.
Diving into GEO
While traditional SEO has been about helping your website rise to the top of searches so that users click on your link, GEO is about building your place on the web. You want AI to connect you with your book(s), your genre(s), your social media, and with any articles you’ve written, interviews you’ve done, or reviews written about your work. GEO helps LLM tools recognize you for your knowledge and authority.
As an author, you have a distinct advantage: the ability to create clear, concise, and engaging content. Use that strength on your website to demonstrate your experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (which is known as E-E-A-T). It’s what will tell the LLMs that you are a worthy source to trust in your genre. Be sure to link to credible sources on your About page, such as your publisher(s), agent, award organizations and other authoritative sites. Adding an FAQ section to this page is also a plus.
One last thing to mention here is schema markup, which essentially labels content on your site.
“Schema markup is structured data added to the backend of your site that helps search engines and AI tools understand and bubble up your content,” Young said. “This increases your chances of appearing in an AI snippet and helps improve visibility.”
This article provides only a brief overview of SEO/GEO and building your digital authority. They are big topics. For those interested in learning more, the following resources may be helpful:
- Google’s SEO Starter Guide
- A Guide from Google: Implementing Structured Data on Your Site
- Ahrefs Academy
- Semrush Academy
- Moz SEO Learning Center
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Lindsay Randall is a historical and contemporary romance author who has spent her “day job” hours focusing on SEO and GEO since late 2024.