Should GEO live inside SEO, or is it a separate discipline? | MMA / Marketing + Media Alliance
Great Debates

Should GEO live inside SEO, or is it a separate discipline?

GEO clearly overlaps with SEO, but it also changes the goal from ranking for clicks to being retrieved, synthesized, cited, and accurately represented in AI-generated answers. Practitioner evidence supports the idea that GEO should complement rather than replace SEO, while still requiring new competencies and measurement approaches. The debate is whether GEO becomes a specialized function, a layer within SEO, or a cross-functional capability across search, content, analytics, brand, and communications.

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Sep 24, 2026 Global
Dr. Michael Pettiette Dr. Michael Pettiette Program Director, Marketing + Media Alliance (MMA) Marketing Org Strategy Think Tank, Faculty Member, University of Houston
Peter Sloterdyk Peter Sloterdyk CMO, Gist
Anda Gansca Anda Gansca CEO & Co-Founder, Knotch
Gisele Góes Gisele Góes Head of Content & Integrated Marketing, Square
Jamie Roô Jamie Roô Executive Director, Head of WM Content, Morgan Stanley WM
Priyanka Sharma, PhD Priyanka Sharma, PhD Taxonomy & Way-finding, Business Digital, AT&T Business, AT&T

GEO clearly overlaps with SEO, but it also changes the goal from ranking for clicks to being retrieved, synthesized, cited, and accurately represented in AI-generated answers. Practitioner evidence supports the idea that GEO should complement rather than replace SEO, while still requiring new competencies and measurement approaches. The debate is whether GEO becomes a specialized function, a layer within SEO, or a cross-functional capability across search, content, analytics, brand, and communications.