What Is Generative SEO and How to Succeed in 2025

The landscape of SEO is undergoing rapid transformation, driven by technological advancements in generative AI. 

This innovation has revolutionised search engine — and user — behaviour by enabling more conversational, intuitive, and context-aware interactions. 

Generative AI models, like GPT, allow search engines to provide direct, personalised responses instead of merely presenting a list of web pages. 

And as search moves away from traditional keyword-based queries, in 2025, users expect precise, immediate answers — and SaaS brands must adapt their content strategies in order to deliver. 

Indeed, generative SEO strategies must focus on creating high-quality, semantically rich content that aligns with user intent and leverages AI-driven features like featured snippets, voice search, and dynamic content optimisation. 

Adapting to this evolution of SEO with generative AI is crucial for SaaS brands aiming to stay competitive in this rapidly evolving digital ecosystem.

In this guide to generative AI success, we’ll cover exactly what generative SEO is and how it works, along with key strategies and tools to help you master this new search development. 

So read on — the generative AI SEO impact should not be underestimated.

What Is Generative SEO? (Definition and Key Concepts)

Generative SEO, often called ‘generative engine optimisation’ (GEO), is the process of optimising content to boost visibility in AI-driven search. 

Get generative SEO right, and you should see your content rank high on AI-powered platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI overviews.

Over the past year, lightning-speed advancements and the widespread adoption of AI have massively changed how consumers search for information and how they interact with businesses online. 

This means that in order to stay competitive, businesses must strive to master generative AI SEO — in 2025, traditional SEO alone doesn’t cut it. 

So how does generative AI and SEO differ from traditional SEO? 

Traditional SEO dates back to 1997, although it really took off in the 2000s as search engines became more integral to daily life. 

It focuses on optimising content to rank high up on search engines’ results pages like Google and Bing to drive organic traffic to your website. 

While in generative SEO, we often harness AI-powered tools to boost our results; traditional SEO typically uses manual methods like adding keywords, link building, and refreshing outdated content. 

Of course, with generative AI now being used within search engines as well as separate platforms, there is some overlap between the two types of SEO. 

To effectively practice both SEO and GEO, it’s essential to understand the transformative role of AI within modern search engines like Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) and Bing AI. 

These search engines harness the power of AI to enhance how users interact with and retrieve information. 

Here’s how. 

These AI-powered systems leverage advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to provide richer, more intuitive search results.

Instead of simply listing web pages, AI enables search engines to generate summarised, conversational responses directly addressing user queries.

This means users just looking for a quick answer no longer have to scroll through rows of search results to find the most relevant answer and then click through to a website. 

Instead, a composite answer is presented to them at the top of the search engine results page, making for a much quicker and easier user journey. 

For example, Google SGE uses generative AI to present concise overviews, integrating key information from multiple sources. 

Similarly, Bing AI combines traditional search with generative responses powered by models like ChatGPT to offer detailed answers, recommendations, or follow-up prompts.

AI also helps understand context, intent, and nuanced language, making searches more personalised and accurate. 

Search engines have also integrated AI-powered features like image recognition, voice search, and predictive suggestions to enhance usability. 

These advancements aim to streamline the search experience, helping users find precise, actionable information faster.

Why Generative SEO Matters for SaaS Businesses in 2025

As consumers increasingly demand faster, more personalised information retrieval, search engines like Google and Bing are harnessing the power of AI to give users what they want. 

Indeed, the rise of generative search engines and AI-powered results marks a significant evolution in how we access and interact with information — and brands — online.

While traditional search engines primarily relied on algorithms to rank and display links to relevant web pages, AI-driven technologies (particularly large language models like OpenAI’s GPT and Google’s Bard) have revolutionised search. 

As outlined above, this tech enables search engines to deliver summarised, conversational, and context-aware results rather than just listing links. 

They now have the power to cater to more sophisticated queries, answering complex questions directly, anticipating follow-up questions, and providing actionable insights in a user-friendly format.

With SaaS brands relying heavily on digital tactics to raise brand awareness and generate leads, they must quickly adapt to this new search landscape to stay competitive. 

This means quickly adapting content strategies around generative AI for SEO (you can find key strategies for this further down in this article). 

It’s important to note, however, that while generative search engines promise enhanced efficiency and accessibility, they also raise challenges around accuracy, misinformation, and transparency. 

For SaaS businesses, balancing innovation with reliability remains a critical focus as these technologies reshape the future of search.

Mastering this brave new world of AI-powered search may sound daunting, but some SaaS brands are already seeing success by partnering with experts in the field. 

For example, B2B SaaS digital learning platform Lingio teamed up with B2B SaaS SEO agency SaaStorm to develop a content strategy fit for 2024-2025. 

SaaStorm evolved Lingio’s SEO strategy in response to AI-driven search changes as part of a wider digital marketing overhaul.

Scroll down to read more about Lingio’s impactful partnership with SaaStorm. 

The Evolution of SEO with Generative AI

Historically, SEO began with a strong focus on keyword-driven strategies, where search engines relied on exact keyword matches to rank web pages. 

Back in the 2000s, content writers were generally given a blog topic, word count, several keywords, and keyword frequency. 

These were the early days of search, and keywords didn’t need to fit naturally into sentences or articles for your SEO efforts to be successful. 

This led to practices like keyword stuffing and repetitive phrasing, where writers would include keywords as many times as possible to manipulate search algorithms and get their content a top spot on SERPs. 

While this worked (for a while), it unsurprisingly came at the expense of the quality of the content. 

This impacted the user journey, with search engine users often clicking through to articles whose headlines promised an answer to their query, only to be disappointed. 

As search engines became more sophisticated, they took action against these ‘black hat’ SEO tactics and shifted emphasis to intent-based search. 

Google’s introduction of the Hummingbird update (2013) marked a pivotal moment, enabling the algorithm to understand the context and intent behind queries rather than matching specific words. 

This meant that in order for content to perform well on search, it had to be genuinely relevant to the search query, from the titles and subtitles to body copy and imagery.

Now, AI is changing the search game again. 

In May 2024, Google rolled out its Search Generative Experience (SGE), which integrates generative AI to deliver summarised, conversational responses. 

Meanwhile, Bing AI, leveraging OpenAI’s GPT technology, has transformed search by blending traditional search results with dynamic, AI-generated answers. 

But marketers need to think beyond traditional search engines when considering GEO. 

Tools like ChatGPT’s web search integration have enabled users to query the web in a conversational manner, blurring the lines between search engines and virtual assistants.

In many ways, Generative AI is furthering the work traditional search engines started by shifting search further towards semantic and entity-focused optimisation. 

Indeed, AI analyses relationships between keywords, entities, and contexts in order to present meaningful, human-like responses. 

This means that more than ever, content strategies must prioritise user intent, quality, relevance, and adaptability. 

Reflecting on the history of SEO, a fundamental transformation becomes clear. 

Over the years, SEO practices have shifted from manipulating algorithms with keywords to providing genuinely valuable, context-aware content that aligns with AI-powered search engines’ focus on user-centric, conversational experiences. 

How Does Generative SEO Work? (Technical Breakdown)

Now we know why generative AI in SEO is so important for SaaS businesses, let’s look at how it works. 

Content Generation and Optimisation

Generative AI is best known for its content generation functions, which are facilitated by advanced algorithms and natural language processing (NLP).

Indeed, NLP is central to generative SEO, enabling AI to comprehend and process human language. 

Specifically, it analyses semantics, syntax, and context to ensure the generated content is coherent, natural, and contextually accurate. 

NLP also helps optimise for semantic search, ensuring content addresses user intent rather than relying on exact keyword matches, and aids in detecting tone, sentiment, and readability. 

Using NLP, this tech can create blog posts, product descriptions, FAQs and metadata by predicting user needs and crafting responses that align with search engine algorithms. 

However, it’s vital that humans oversee AI-generated content.

While this tech is becoming more sophisticated by the day, the content quality fluctuates. 

You’ll sometimes find factual inaccuracies in blog posts written by AI tools, and the style of writing can often feel a little…robotic. 

This means that SaaS businesses that demand high quality content are continuing to hire human expert writers to oversee AI-produced articles or pen blogs themselves. 

But, even if a human is producing your content, AI still has an important role to play when it comes to optimisation. 

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) is the process of optimising content to provide precise, contextually relevant answers to user queries.

When practising answer engine optimisation in SEO, the focus is on ensuring content is structured to be selected by generative search engines as the direct answer to specific questions.

These engines prioritise content that directly answers user queries, making AEO essential for visibility in such environments.

Tactics include using question-based headings, structuring content with lists, tables, or concise paragraphs, and implementing schema markup to help search engines understand and extract information. 

Bing’s Role in the Generative SEO Era

There’s no denying that Google is top dog when it comes to traditional search. 

But Bing has been making waves in the generative search world, so optimising for this search engine is becoming increasingly important. 

Indeed, Bing powers a number of generative AI tools, including ChatGPT’s web search functionality, which means that strong performance on this search engine can significantly boost visibility in generative AI-driven results. 

Key Strategies to Succeed in Generative SEO in 2025

The transformative power of generative SEO is clear. 

So, how do you go about succeeding in this crucial new discipline? 

Here are five key strategies for GEO success. 

1. Optimise for AI-Powered Search Engines

The first step is to focus on optimising your content for AI-powered search engines. 

As discussed above, this looks a little different to traditional SEO. 

When adapting your content for Google SGE and Bing AI, focus on creating high-quality, user-centric material tailored for AI-generated responses. 

Start by addressing search intent with concise, authoritative, and well-structured content. 

This could include:

• FAQs
• How-tos
• Summaries 

Then, use schema markup to help search engines understand your content and increase its chance of being featured in snippets. 

It’s also essential to optimise for conversational queries and long-tail keywords to match natural language inputs.

Meanwhile, incorporating visuals, lists, and tables will enhance readability and make extraction easier for search engines. 

2. Focus on E-E-A-T Content

When attempting to build credibility for your brand and improve your website’s search visibility, focus on creating E-E-A-T. 

Search engines, especially AI-driven ones, prioritise E-E-A-T to deliver high-quality, reliable results, making it a cornerstone of modern SEO strategies.

E-E-A-T stands for:

• Experience reflects firsthand knowledge or involvement with the subject
• Expertise highlights deep knowledge or skills in a specific area
• Authoritativeness measures the content creator’s or source’s reputation within their field
• Trustworthiness ensures the content is reliable and accurate

3. Content Structure and Topic Clusters

It’s always been important to develop a clear and logical structure for the content on your website. 

After all, this improves your website’s navigation and boosts user experience. 

But it can also significantly improve your chances of appearing in AI-driven search results. 

This is because a clear content structure helps generative AI and search engines understand the content’s context and relevance, which is vital for GEO success. 

Use topic clusters and semantic keyword groupings in order to create a clear structure that these search engines will understand. 

Start by identifying a central topic relevant to your audience.

Next, create a comprehensive pillar page that provides an overview of that topic.  

Now, it’s time to develop your cluster content. 

These are related articles, blogs, or guides that explore subtopics in detail, each linking back to the pillar page. 

Here’s an example of how SaaStorm structures content for success. 

We partnered with affiliate management software Reditus to transform its website into a lead-generating powerhouse. 

When Reditus first approached SaaStorm, its website was messy, split between two CMS platforms, and full of unoptimised content. 

Restructuring Reditus’ website and content for SEO success was key to its transformation. 

We started by consolidating its pages into a single, structured WordPress CMS for improved useability and SEO.

We also cleaned up the existing blog by merging cannibalised articles, setting up 301 redirects, and deleting low-value content. 

Once the website was cleaned up, it was time to build high-impact content. 

We created a comprehensive resources section which was to feature blogs, customer stories, videos, podcasts and glossaries. 

In order to establish Reditus as an authority in affiliate marketing, we organised content into topic clusters, which included affiliate marketing, affiliate management, and affiliate revenue. 

Furthermore, we strategically targeted niche queries to capture qualified traffic.

Our priority was creating high-quality, actionable content tailored to Reditus’ ICP, and — with budget constraints in mind — we focused on bottom-of-funnel content (mainly ‘how to’ guides and competitor comparison pages) designed to convert high-intent users. 

We also introduced interactive tools on the website and implemented internal linking strategies to further improve the content structure. 

Joran Hofman, Co-founder at Reditus, said: 

“SaaStorm became my all-you-can-think-of marketing team. Since we started working together, our inbound pipeline has grown by 128%, and they’ve helped us create a $1.3M ARR pipeline through their marketing efforts. SaaStorm doesn’t just execute — they think, act, and work like an extension of my internal team.”

👉 Read more about our work with Reditus here.

SaaStorm also provided content structuring services during our project with Lingio. 

To establish the brand as an authority in their space, we organised content into topic clusters with pillar pages and supporting articles. 

This enabled us to rank Lingio for a broad range of essential keywords while capturing niche queries that brought in qualified traffic. 

Over the course of nine months, we produced 125 pieces of SEO-optimised content, from TOFU blog posts to in-depth BOFU guides. 

These articles were strategically created to rank for high-value keywords while also addressing prospects’ pain points and guiding them through the buyer journey. 

4. Technical SEO for Generative AI

In order to achieve success with generative AI, you must ensure your website is optimised for search engines and user experience. 

Here are three major elements of technical SEO for generative AI:

Site Speed: Fast-loading pages are crucial for reducing bounce rates. Optimise images, leverage caching and use a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

Core Web Vitals: Prioritise metrics like Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) to enhance usability and search rankings.

Schema Optimisation: Implement structured data like FAQ, product, or article schema to improve visibility in rich snippets and voice search.

This solid foundation supports content discoverability and engagement in search results.

👉 Read our comprehensive B2B SaaS SEO guide.

5. Link Building and Authority Management

SaaS linkbuilding is essential for boosting site authority, outperforming competitors, and building domain trust. 

B2B SaaS link-building agency SaaStorm delivers a results-driven link-building strategy to help B2B SaaS companies secure credible backlinks that drive traffic and visibility. 

Here’s how we help our clients achieve SEO dominance. 

Our link-building strategy is tailored specifically to each SaaS business we work with. 

This means identifying the most relevant and authoritative websites that can add value to your SEO and focusing on link opportunities that align with your goals and target audience. 

We work with top link-building agencies and trusted partners to secure premium backlinks at a lower cost for our clients, which allows you to scale quickly.

SaaStorm also works with clients to optimise their internal linking structure. 

This ensures your most valuable content is easy to find by both search engines and users, boosting SEO and generative AI, and improving user experience.

Furthermore, our compelling content attracts organic backlinks; we help your SaaS company create content that others want to link to. 

Regular reporting and results tracking is another key component of our offering. 

Clients receive detailed reports on backlinking progress, including new backlinks, domain authority metrics, and the impact on your search rankings.

This ensures your SEO efforts are constantly improving. 

Tools and Technologies for Generative SEO Success

To achieve game-changing generative SEO success, you must first build a strong tech stack packed with cutting-edge generative AI SEO tools.

These will give your generative AI SEO strategies the power, precision, and scalability you need.

Here are some of the best AI SaaS SEO tools in 2025:

• SurferSEO: A platform designed to help you optimise written content in an instant, SurferSEO analyses content against 500+ on-page signals and boasts a built-in keyword research tool, boosting generative search optimisation.
• Clearscope: Clearscope is an AI-driven platform that helps you produce the highly relevant content your audience is searching for. It enables you to identify the right keywords, refresh relevant content, simplify production workflows and monitor results with data-driven insights.
• Frase.io: “For content creators that put research first,” Frase.io is an SEO content optimisation tool and AI writer. It provides targeted SEO support and helps brands create and amend content, saving you plenty of time. 
• SEMrush for AI insights: SEMrush — which has long been one of the most robust SEO tools on the market — has now introduced AI insights. These features can categorise your content into organised topics and pages and tailor keyword research to your domain’s unique strengths with features like PKD and Topical Authority. 
• AirOps: AirOps helps businesses grow their AI engine, empowering them to build and scale AI workflows. It boasts tools designed to transform your content strategy, brief creation, content creation, and content optimisation. 

These advanced tools are critical for success, but investing in a cutting-edge tech stack can be expensive. 

SaaStorm can help. 

Our partners gain access to all the necessary SEO tools to help their company succeed without any extra fees. 

Our comprehensive tech stack includes industry-leading platforms like Ahrefs, SEMrush, SurferSEO, Screaming Frog, and many others.

For example:

• Ahrefs: $99 to $999/month
• SEMrush: $129 to $449/month
• Clearscope: $170/month
• Screaming Frog: $200/year

And the list goes on. 

Ultimately, our proprietary approach to working with our partners allows you to focus on your growth while saving money on vital SEO software.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Generative SEO

When pursuing generative AI search engine optimisation success, avoiding the following three pitfalls is vital. 

Over-Reliance on AI Content Without Human Oversight

While AI-generated content can be a game-changer, empowering SaaS businesses to scale up productions and reap SEO rewards quickly — it’s vital to have a human writer oversee the content. 

While AI tools are becoming increasingly sophisticated, there are still a number of challenges in this area.

First up, there are often factual inaccuracies in AI content. 

While human writers are skilled at pulling research from authoritative sources, AI will sometimes cite inaccurate data. 

Furthermore, many users can tell when they are reading AI-generated content due to tells like an often stilted editorial style and repetitive sentence structure. 

There’s also little room for colour, humour or human experience in AI-generated copy — techniques writers frequently use to engage an audience. 

As things stand, the quality of AI content remains significantly lower than that of a professional (human) content writer.

However, you can still harness the power of AI content generation — you just have to do it in the right way. 

Here are some options:

• Hire an AI-assisted writer who uses AI to help produce the article more quickly but carefully edits and fact-checks all copy. 
• Produce content using AI, but hire an editor to transform it into a more engaging piece of writing and fact check. 
• Use AI for lower-value content, and hire a human writer to create high-value content. 

SaaStorm used the final tactic listed above to keep costs low when producing content for Lingio. 

Lingio had ambitious content goals but a limited budget. 

We implemented a dual content production strategy to meet those goals efficiently: a blend of AI-assisted articles and 100% human-generated content.

We used AI-assisted articles for simpler topics, which meant we could produce more content at a lower cost while still generating that all-important SEO value. 

Meanwhile, human-generated articles were reserved for high-priority topics, in-depth guides, and pieces that required expertise and a personal touch.

Ignoring Bing and Other Emerging Search Engines

While Google has been king for years, it’s crucial not to dismiss the importance of Bing and other emerging players as we enter the era of generative SEO. 

Bing powers a wide range of generative AI tools, including ChatGPT’s web search functionality. 

Lack of Content Updates and Maintenance

Once you’ve created and published an article, it’s easy to forget about it. 

But it’s vital to continuously update your content to ensure accuracy and relevance if it is to have the desired effect. 

Indeed, AI models rely on current and accurate data to generate meaningful outputs. 

This means that outdated content can lead to misinformation, reduced user trust, and diminished rankings. 

By regularly updating your content, you’re aligning it with evolving user needs, search engine algorithms, and industry trends, maximising its visibility and impact. 

How SaaStorm Drives Generative SEO Success for SaaS Brands

At SaaStorm, we have proven expertise when it comes to both traditional and generative SEO for SaaS businesses. 

Instead of telling you what we can do, let us show you some of the impressive results we’ve achieved — and how we got there. 

Case Study: Continuous Optimisation & Bing SEO Integration

When B2B SaaS digital learning platform Lingio partnered with SaaStorm, it had an empty blog, minimal online visibility, and relied solely on outbound tactics to generate leads. 

In fact, the Lingio website was generating just 45 daily clicks and 400 daily impressions. 

However, it wanted to break free of its reliance on outbound. It knew it needed a strategic partner who could help them craft an inbound engine that would generate meaningful traffic, boost visibility, and drive high-quality leads.

SaaStorm started by conducting extensive keyword research, building topic clusters, and implementing a dual content production approach. 

We built a content calendar and production schedule, developed an external link-building strategy, and produced 125 pieces of SEO-optimized content in nine months.

However, our work didn’t stop when the content was published, with regular performance audits, updated internal linking strategies, and refreshed content to keep Lingio’s website competitive as Google’s algorithms evolved.

And when we entered the Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) era, we focused on optimising for Bing.

This has ensured Lingio stays competitive across search platforms, capturing opportunities from the rising number of Bing-powered AI users. 

Take a look at how Lingio’s content is performing on Bing below.

After just nine months, Lingio saw some incredible results, including:

• 500% organic traffic growth
• 11x increase in inbound leads
• 50,000+ organic clicks
• 2.6 million+ organic impressions 
• 300+ ranked keywords in Google’s top ten
• 200+ MQLs generated through organic search 

Fredrik Selander, Head of Marketing at Lingio, said: 

“SaaStorm’s strategic approach to B2B SaaS SEO and content marketing has completely transformed our inbound efforts. Our organic traffic grew by 500%, and we saw an 11x increase in leads — all in just nine months. The SaaStorm team truly understands how to drive results for SaaS businesses.”

Tailored Services to Fit Your SEO Goals

We customise our generative AI SEO services to the specific needs of every SaaS business we work with. 

Our tailored services to drive SEO and GEO success include:

• Generative SEO Audits
• Content Strategy Optimisation
• AI-Enhanced Link Building
• Performance Reporting and Ongoing Strategy Refinement

Final Thoughts on Mastering Generative SEO in 2025

Do not make the mistake of underestimating the impact of generative AI on SEO.

SaaS brands must learn about generative SEO and adapt accordingly to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. 

Generative AI in search engines, such as Bing’s integration with ChatGPT, delivers personalised, conversational, and context-rich results. 

SaaS brands that optimise for these changes can enhance their visibility, attract targeted users, and foster deeper engagement.

Remember — generative SEO emphasises content tailored to user intent, long-tail relevant keywords, and AI-friendly structures, which align with SaaS offerings focused on solving specific problems. 

Adapting to this generative AI and SEO evolution ensures SaaS brands stay relevant in search rankings, effectively capture leads, and build authority in a crowded market driven by innovation and digital transformation.

Not sure where to start? 

Try out our five expert generative AI best practices for SEO to stay ahead of evolving algorithms:

1. Optimise for AI-powered search engines
2. Focus on E-E-A-T content
3. Work on content structure and topic clusters
4. Implement technical SEO improvements for generative AI
5. Improve link-building and authority management

Ready to Future-Proof Your SEO?

Partner with SaaStorm today to implement Generative SEO strategies that drive sustainable growth. Book a consultation with our experts now!

Frequently Asked Questions About GEO