For years, the main way to be seen faster on the internet was considered to be ranking high on Google. Companies, media organizations, and online platforms spent huge amounts of money on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies for this purpose, creating content according to the algorithms of search engines. However, in the last two years, a new habit has started to form on the internet: users are no longer turning only to Google for information, but rather mostly to artificial intelligence-based platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity. This new direction is called GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) internationally.
Elvin Abbasov, Chairman of the Azerbaijan Information and Communication Technologies Industry Association, Medianews.az answered questions about the difference between GEO and SEO, its importance for news sites, the criteria by which artificial intelligence systems select news sites, the changes needed in Azerbaijani media to be visible on artificial intelligence platforms, and other issues.
- Mr. Elvin, how does GEO differ from SEO and why is it considered important for news sites?
- Traditional SEO focuses on keywords and technical structure to attract user traffic to the platform, whereas GEO aims to be included as a resource within the final answer provided by the artificial intelligence platform to the user's question. For news media, adapting to this new model can be critical because when artificial intelligence platforms provide a direct answer to the user's question, click traffic from traditional search engines can sharply decline, and appearing as the original source of information is only possible with a GEO strategy.
- So, what criteria do artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity use when preparing answers to user questions to select news sites?
- Generative artificial intelligence models tend to favor specialized platforms by primarily applying the E-E-A-T standards that measure the source's experience, expertise, and trustworthiness while preparing answers. Along with this, the clarity of the text, absence of manipulation, and its rich structure with tables and lists, as well as the timeliness and real-time updating of news for models like Perplexity and Gemini, are among the main selection criteria.
- Does ranking first on Google automatically bring a site to the top positions in artificial intelligence answers as well, or does AI use different selection mechanisms? Among several news pieces on the same topic, which ones does AI consider more reliable and prioritize?
- Unlike Google algorithms, artificial intelligence does not look only at domain age and backlink profile; it analyzes the internal logic of the text and how comprehensively it answers the user's specific question. Therefore, a site ranking lower on the search engine could be chosen as a main source by AI. Among different news about the same topic, AI may consider materials more reliable that link to official documents, research, and direct sources, that do not carry clickbait, and that present the issue neutrally.
- What changes should Azerbaijani media make in order to be more visible on artificial intelligence platforms?
- For Azerbaijani media resources to be more visible on artificial intelligence platforms, it may be useful to properly build the Schema Markup (JSON-LD) structured data system in the site’s code and increase question-answer blocks and theses in news. In addition, to facilitate easier processing of local resources by global language models, creating grammatically correct, semantically rich content and presenting materials signed by field experts to strengthen digital reputation are considered effective steps.
Nailə Qasımova,
Medianews.az
Note: The article was prepared on the topic of “Development of Information and Communication Technologies” with financial support from the Media Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan and according to competition terms.
