A guide for business owners
SEO, GEO or advertising: where should you start?
Start with the problem: no clear website, little visibility, or visitors who do not enquire. The service you choose should solve that problem rather than follow the newest acronym.
Different tasks with a shared foundation
| Route | Practical purpose | What it cannot promise |
|---|---|---|
| SEO | Improve discovery and useful organic-search pages | A fixed position or ranking date |
| GEO / AEO | Improve information and visibility in AI search | A recommendation in every answer |
| Paid advertising | Present an offer to an audience within a budget | Qualified enquiries simply by buying clicks |
A new or barely visible website
First establish whether important pages are accessible, known to Google and clear about the offer. Publishing dozens of articles does not remove an indexing block. SEO Start covers review and agreed foundational fixes.
A working site, but clearer competitors
Improve service explanations, comparisons, terms and evidence of work. Connect pages and equivalent languages. This helps people choose and makes information easier to find. AI questions belong in that plan when they reflect a real buying decision.
Enquiries are needed soon
Check the offer, landing page and ability to handle responses. A defined advertising budget may be useful alongside organic development. Management fees and media spend are different budget items and should be quoted separately.
A practical decision
For a multilingual transport website, a useful route page may matter more than another generic article about AI. For a store, missing compatibility and shipping information can block sales even with good visibility. Prioritize the customer obstacle, then measure the change.
What to request in a proposal
- Included pages and problems, plus separately priced work.
- A baseline, sources for business facts and a content approval process.
- How work, enquiries and search changes are recorded, with comparable periods.
- Ownership of the website and accounts, and the handover at the end.
Frequently asked questions
Must GEO be bought separately?
No. Work for Google shares a substantial SEO foundation. Additional research or measurement may justify a distinct scope, which should be explicit.
Should we use only one channel?
Not necessarily. Combine channels according to budget and capacity, with a defined purpose for each.
Further reading: Google: AI search
Unsure what is holding the website back?
Send the URL and explain what is missing: visibility, enquiries, sales or a clearer offer.