In 2025, the way people discover and engage with digital content has shifted dramatically. Traditional Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is no longer the only strategy that brings people to your website. Meet Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the emerging frontier for content creators and researchers looking to earn visibility through AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Perplexity.

If your organization hasn’t begun adapting its content strategy for GEO, now is a great opportunity. Here’s everything you need to know about what GEO is, why it matters, and how to start optimizing for it.

What is GEO and How Is It Different From SEO?

While SEO focuses on improving your visibility on traditional search engine results pages (SERPs) by using keywords, backlinks, and technical performance, GEO is about making your content the answer in AI-generated responses.

Rather than presenting users with a list of links as typically experienced with a Google Search, GEO centers on AI tools that synthesize information. These platforms use large language models (LLMs) to provide direct answers to a range of questions. Instead of competing for a top 10 ranking on Google, you’re aiming to be cited, summarized, or linked to by tools like Gemini or ChatGPT.

In short: SEO gets you found, GEO gets you featured.

Why GEO Matters in 2025

AI tools are no longer sidekicks to Google. They’re central players in how people research, compare options, and make decisions. As of May 2025, ChatGPT alone receives over 4.5 billion monthly visits, while Perplexity processes over 500 million searches per month. Google remains the dominant force in online search, with billions of daily visits from users worldwide. But with the direct integration of Gemini into search results, the way people find information is changing. Users can now get answers without ever clicking through to your website (this is called a “zero-click search result”).

Consequently, if your content isn’t showing up in AI answers, you’re missing out on a massive and growing segment of online visibility. Depending on what your website offers, this can be especially important for brand recognition and perception, traffic and lead potential, as well as establishing authority and credibility. In 2025, AI summaries are the new front page of search.

How GEO Works: What AI Tools Are Looking For

Each generative engine has its quirks, but several patterns are emerging across platforms:

1. Structure Matters More Than Ever

AI tools rely on clear, structured content. Use schema markup generously, particularly FAQPage, Organization, Article, and Product types. Structured data helps AI understand your content contextually, making it easier to reference in generated answers.

Tip: Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper is a great place to start reviewing your schema.

2. E-E-A-T Principles Still Rule

Google’s Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) framework, a core concept for SEO, now extends to AI tools like Gemini. Show credentials, cite data, link to reputable sources, and provide content authored by credible experts.

If you have certifications, awards, partnerships, or original research, feature them clearly. This shows your authority in your area of expertise.

3. Conversation > Keywords

GEO is less about keywords and more about natural language. Write in a conversational tone and frame your content in terms of questions and answers. Think: “What are the best family vacation spots in California?” instead of “California vacation destinations.”

4. Content Freshness is Key

AI platforms (especially Perplexity, which indexes content daily) prioritize content that’s up to date. Refresh evergreen posts annually and use a content calendar to help track when to review content. Be sure to prioritize articles with titles like “Top” or “Best,” as these perform well in answer generation, particularly on ChatGPT.

5. Visuals Are Increasingly Important

Gemini and Perplexity are both investing in multimodal search. Media assets like charts, videos, and well-optimized images can increase the chance of being featured. Also make sure your image alt text, captions, and surrounding content are descriptive.

6. Prioritize Performance & Mobile-Responsiveness 

Don’t ignore performance or the site’s mobile experience. A site that performs well on mobile will load quickly, display clearly on small screens, and typically avoids frustrating interactions (like unclickable buttons or pop-ups). Poor mobile performance (i.e. slow Core Web Vitals) can hurt your rankings, which in turn reduces your visibility to LLMs that rely on search results as part of their input sources.

Tool-Specific GEO Tips

Gemini (Google)

Perplexity

ChatGPT

Tracking GEO Performance

A consequence of AI summaries is that websites may see a drop in clicks and visits within their analytics, particularly a decrease in organic traffic month over month. With users getting the answers they need from AI-generated search responses, they may no longer need to visit your website to get information. However, those users who do click through often stay longer and discover more pages than they did previously.  

Additionally, websites may also see an increase in impressions or referrals from AI assistants. This data is increasingly important to track. 

So even if AI tools don’t always send traffic directly, you can still measure their impact. Here’s how:

Action Items for Digital Teams & Clients

  1. Audit your existing content with these optimization strategies in mind. (Tip: You can even use AI tools like Gemini to identify optimization opportunities for particular pages).
  2. Update schema across all major content types, especially Q&A and organizational pages.
  3. Refresh your high-performing or evergreen content regularly, especially pieces tied to seasons, events, or top lists.
  4. Revise your content strategy to include multimedia assets, structured data, and topic clustering.
  5. Optimize your About page and author bios to strengthen trust signals for LLMs.

Final Thoughts

Optimizing for GEO isn’t just a trend, it’s a fundamental shift in how people find and interact with content online. As AI-generated answers become a dominant part of the discovery experience, your brand’s ability to show up in these spaces could mean the difference between gaining trust or going unnoticed.

By embracing schema, writing conversationally, and refreshing content with purpose, your digital presence can evolve to meet the moment, one where the best answer often wins over the best ranking.

Ready to optimize your content for AI-powered search? Let’s make it happen.

In the era of digital healthcare, the accessibility of hospital and health system websites has become a critical factor in delivering exceptional patient experiences. Accessible platforms help ensure that all patients—regardless of physical, cognitive, or technological limitations—can access vital health information and services seamlessly. 

For healthcare organizations, a commitment to inclusivity isn’t just a legal obligation under laws like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It’s also a cornerstone of patient-centered care, reflecting a health system’s commitment to serving every member of its community. 

According to the CDC, nearly 3 in 5 U.S. adults use the Internet to search for health information, demonstrating widespread demand for easy-to-access resources. Yet, recent studies have shown people experience various degrees of frustration as they seek that information—frustration that fluctuates based on age, race, primary language, socioeconomic status, and disability. Creating a digital presence that welcomes users across all abilities sets the tone and pace with which patients can connect with their providers. 

Key Drivers of Digital Accessibility in Healthcare

Traditional Accessibility: Readability and WCAG Compliance

The foundation of an accessible website lies in both its readability and conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG). 

Readability refers generally to using inclusive language, organizing content clearly,  ensuring that medical information is easy to understand, and avoiding complex jargon that can alienate patients. 

WCAG conformance, on the other hand, provides a structured approach to make content and functions accessible to people with various disabilities, including visual, auditory, physical, speech, cognitive, language, learning, and neurological disabilities. 

While there’s a lot to know about accessibility, the good news is we’ve written about most of it at Oomph. Check out our articles on WCAG 2.2, writing for the web, the power of accessible web navigation, and building an accessible color palette to learn more.  

Serving an Evolving Demographic 

The aging baby boomer generation is on the cusp of massive healthcare utilization, with 80% of adults 65 and older experiencing at least one chronic condition. Despite their less-than-tech-savvy reputation, boomers do utilize digital platforms to access healthcare information. 

When you create an accessible healthcare website, you make your hospital or health system available to an older population with age-related impairments like vision loss, hearing loss, or mobility challenges that can make using a mouse or keyboard difficult. Thoughtfully integrating accessible elements like high-contrast colors and larger fonts can help your organization win the loyalty of older adults, supporting long-term success in a crowded marketplace.  

Website Uptime: Ensuring Constant Access

In critical situations, the availability of a healthcare website can be as vital as the accuracy of the information it provides. High website uptime means your information and services are always accessible, especially during emergencies. This reliability builds trust and can be crucial in time-sensitive situations where access to healthcare information or services can significantly impact patient outcomes.

Language and Translation Services: Bridging Communication Gaps

As racial and ethnic diversity grows across the U.S., offering translation services and multilingual content on healthcare websites is crucial. Your content will reach a wider audience and ensure non-native speakers have equal access to health information, reducing health disparities and improving patient outcomes.

Interactive Features: Scheduling and Wait Times

Integrating features like appointment scheduling and displaying emergency department wait times can also enhance the patient experience. For example, online scheduling allows patients to book appointments without needing to call during business hours, while real-time emergency department updates can help patients anticipate and plan around wait times. 

These functionalities should be designed with all users in mind, ensuring they are accessible to people with disabilities and facilitating a smoother healthcare journey for every patient.

6 Strategies for Improving Website Accessibility

Institutions across the landscape, like the Mayo Clinic, have structured their online presence to offer a wide array of patient-centered services, including appointment requests, doctor searches, and access to health libraries directly from their home page. Embracing this type of comprehensive digital engagement strategy underscores that hospital websites aren’t just supplementary channels, but also pivotal access points for patient care and information​.

If your health system or hospital is ready to enhance accessibility, here’s where to start:

  1. Conduct a Comprehensive Accessibility Audit: Use tools like SortSite to identify areas where your website may not meet accessibility standards.
  2. Focus on High-Impact Webpages: Prioritize pages such as the homepage, contact information, service descriptions, patient portals, and emergency services. These pages are often the first point of contact for patients seeking information or services.
  3. Engage Diverse User Groups in Testing: Include people with various disabilities and age ranges in your testing process to gain insights into your website’s real-world usability.
  4. Educate the Digital Team: Ensure that everyone involved in web design and content creation is familiar with accessibility principles, tools, and best practices for maintaining an accessible website.
  5. Embrace Continuous Improvement: Digital accessibility should be an ongoing commitment. Regularly update your content and features to meet evolving standards and user needs. Working with an agency partner who understands the essential and evolving requirements and best practices of accessibility and UX can keep your digital environments current and compliant.
  6. Leverage Generative AI: Generative AI remains a hot-button issue across many industries, including healthcare. There is even a risk of discrimination or bias if AI algorithms are not accurately trained, potentially compounding access to care for vulnerable and underrepresented communities. Yet, there are several options to adopt AI that can help increase patient access and decrease frustration with administrative tasks for team members while not involving AI in clinical domains. Examples include utilizing generative AI tools to improve content accessibility and delivery, such as helping to ensure medical content aligns with health literacy levels. AI can also create alt text for images or generate patient appointment reminders to ensure timely preventive care. Additionally, AI-powered chatbots that are appropriately trained and maintained have the potential to provide real-time assistance to users, guiding them through the website and answering their queries in multiple languages.

Turn Web Accessibility Into A Tool for Patient Well-Being

Information is power in the digital age, so making your website accessible isn’t just good practice—it’s essential. By prioritizing accessibility, healthcare systems and hospitals can ensure that their digital platforms serve all patients equitably, enhancing patient experience, health outcomes, and business performance.

Are you wondering whether your healthcare website is truly accessible or if you need help getting there? Let’s talk.