In the “old days,” which in the lightning-fast evolving world of marketing content was last week, a bank marketers content marketing strategy focused on the key SEO drivers of, say, keywords and backlinks. Well, to rip off an ad slogan made popular by Virginia Slims, SEO “has come a long way, baby.” And, in a very short time.
So, what’s the fuss and where are we now? The SEO landscape is in the midst of a monumental transformation, a tidal wave of change driven by the advent of artificial intelligence (AI) in search technologies. And if your bank doesn’t ride it, well, you just may find yourself underwater. (Side note: Can we stop putting AI in parentheses after spelling out the words “artificial intelligence”? I think so.)
Traditional SEO strategies around content creation, which have long focused on best practices around keywords and backlinks, are being complemented — and in some cases, supplanted — by a new approach known as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). This evolution reflects a shift from conventional search engines to those systems powered by AI that prioritize comprehensive, contextually relevant information.
“Contextually relevant?” What, exactly, does that mean? We’ll start by going back to the present, or rather, the SEO of the “old days.” For decades, traditional SEO has been the cornerstone of digital marketing strategies and content marketing. The primary function of search engine optimization — utilizing tactics such as keywords and links — has always been to increase the likelihood of an online content piece, such as a website or a blog post, to achieve a top ranking on a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). These tactics signal to content-crawling algorithms of search engines like Google and Bing that a piece of content is authoritative and relevant to the user’s query. The search engine then ranks the piece against others based on its authority and relevance “score.”
Where does AI come in? AI “knows” (and don’t ask me how, it just does) that the emphasis on keywords (sometimes as obvious as keyword stuffing) can lead to content that prioritizes search engine algorithms over user experience, resulting in material that may be rich in SEO best practices, but lacking in true depth and engagement. As for backlinks, the reliance on them has given rise to practices like link farming, which undermines the credibility of search results.
Enter Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
As AI-driven search engines become more prevalent, a new optimization paradigm has emerged: Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on traditional tactics designed to simply improve a content piece’s ranking on a SERP, GEO aims to optimize content for AI systems that address not just what the user is asking, but why they are asking it. These AI systems, such as Google's AI Overviews and ChatGPT, synthesize information from multiple sources to provide users with concise, contextually rich responses.
For bank marketers developing site content and blog posts, for instance, this means structuring their content in a way that highlights clarity, relevance, and authority. Granted, user intent has always been central to search strategies, but AI now takes it to a much deeper level. For example:
Imagine a potential banking customer is searching for “auto loan refinancing.” Traditional search engines might provide a list of links based simply on a search of those three keywords. An AI-powered system, by contrast, would present recommendations based, instead, on the “why” of the user’s search. A GEO-driven recommendation would include far more user context, taking into account topics that would prove useful to the user such as a recent change in interest rates, an increased cost in a new vehicle purchase, the importance of a good credit score, and the personal service a bank’s loan officers provide.
Key Differences Between Traditional SEO and GEO
While both traditional SEO and GEO aim to connect users with pertinent information, they differ in several key aspects:
Optimization focus:
- Traditional SEO: Concentrates on keywords, metadata, and backlinks to signal relevance and authority to search engine algorithms.
- GEO: Prioritizes content clarity, structure, and factual accuracy to ensure AI systems can accurately interpret and present information.
Content format and style:
- Traditional SEO: Often favors longer-form content enriched with targeted keywords to improve rankings.
- GEO: Values concise, well-structured content that directly addresses user queries, facilitating easy digestion by AI systems.
Success metrics:
- Traditional SEO: Measures success through metrics like organic traffic, click-through rates, and conversion rates.
- GEO: Evaluates success based on the frequency and context of content citations within AI-generated responses, as well as user engagement with these AI-driven answers.
Authority signals:
- Traditional SEO: Relies heavily on backlinks from reputable sources as indicators of authority.
- GEO: Considers overall web consensus and context, including mentions across forums, reviews, and corroborated information from multiple sources, to establish credibility.
Now what?
To effectively implement GEO, bank marketing content creators should consider:
- Leveraging AI in content optimization: Utilizing AI tools to analyze and refine content, ensuring it aligns with the preferences of generative engines.
- Enhancing content structure: Organizing information using clear headings, bullet points, and structured data markup to facilitate AI comprehension.
- Focusing on E-E-A-T: Emphasizing Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in content to establish credibility with AI systems.
- Integrating verifiable data: Including statistics, citations, and authoritative insights to provide AI with concrete information to reference.
- Monitoring and adapting: Continuously assessing the performance of content within AI-generated responses and adapting strategies to align with evolving AI algorithms and user behaviors.
The Future of SEO in an AI-Driven World
The rise of AI in search is transforming marketing in the digital world. While traditional SEO is still relevant and applicable, integrating GEO strategies is becoming increasingly crucial in any online presence from blog post to website. Content creators and marketers can adapt to this transformation by focusing on producing high-quality, structured content that AI systems can effectively process and present. This shift not only enhances visibility in AI-generated responses but also improves user engagement by delivering precise and contextually relevant information.
Bank Marketing Center
We’re Bank Marketing Center, the leading, subscription-based provider of automated marketing services to community banks. Our goal is to help bank marketers with topical, compelling communication with customers that builds trust, relationships, and revenue. And we do this through automating critical bank marketing functions, such as content creation, social media management and digital asset management, as well as regulatory and brand compliance.
We also want to share what we know – and learn along the way – with all our community banking friends. Whether it’s the latest on AI technology, suggestions on how to attract and retain top talent, or the importance of data protection, we’re here to make bank marketing the best that it can be.
Want to learn more about what we can do for your community bank and your marketing efforts? You can start by visiting bankmarketingcenter.com. Then, feel free to contact me directly by phone at 678-528-6688 or via email at nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com. As always, I welcome your thoughts.