Secure growth: GEO agency services that cut AI search risk
- Will Tombs
- Dec 24, 2025
- 6 min read
Contents
AI search engines, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode, are driving the biggest shift in consumer search behaviour in a generation. Fewer users now click through to websites. Instead, they consume answers directly inside LLMs.
This creates a serious AI search risk. If your brand does not appear in generative results, it becomes invisible. The risk is higher for ecommerce, travel, and events businesses that rely on data feeds, such as product listings, prices, availability, and dates. LLMs need clean, structured access to that data to understand your offer.
Recent studies show organic CTRs (Click Through Rates) for informational queries featuring AI Overviews have dropped by 61%.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is now essential. Specialist GEO agencies help brands adapt, reduce AI visibility risk, and secure future growth.
The unseen threat: how AI search is reshaping website traffic
AI search creates new opportunities, but most brands are unprepared.
The biggest risk is invisibility. AI tools now give direct answers inside the search experience, so users click less. If your brand is not included in AI responses, your website traffic and influence quietly decline.
The alarming rise of "zero-click" searches
Zero-click searches happen when someone asks a question and gets the answer straight away, without clicking on a website. AI-powered tools now read information from many sites and show a single, ready-made answer.
Example: a user asks, “Best time to visit Paris.” Google AI Overviews give dates, weather, and tips instantly. No travel site gets the click.
This shift fundamentally challenges traditional SEO, where the main goal was to win a click. Now, brand visibility in AI search must be achieved even if a user never visits your site, making the transition from SEO to GEO critical.
The data: quantifying the impact on publishers and brands
The BBC, MailOnline, & Metro report a click-through rate drop of 89% since the rise of Google AI overview.
Research also shows that users are far less likely to click source links when an AI summary appears in the results.
Therefore, without a proactive strategy, brands risk losing visibility, leads, sales, and long-term market share.
The solution: an integrated GEO & SEO strategy
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is the definitive response to challenges posed by AI search results. GEO focuses on optimising a brand’s entire digital presence so it can be understood, trusted, and cited by AI engines, not just ranked in blue links.
Like traditional SEO, GEO is built on three core pillars: technical excellence, high-quality content, and website authority - but applied for AI-first discovery and visibility.
At Buried, we provide expert GEO services to help brands get discovered in this new landscape.
Similarities & differences: how GEO and SEO work together
GEO and SEO share the same foundations, but they work in different ways and are measured differently. SEO focuses on driving clicks from search engines. GEO focuses on being selected, cited, and trusted inside AI-generated answers.
Below is a clear comparison.
Area | SEO (Traditional Search) | GEO (AI/Generative Search) |
Most important search engines | Google, Bing | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Claude |
Preferred code structure | Clean, crawlable HTML | Clean HTML, with a heavy focus on JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) for data exchange |
Importance of site speed | Critical for rankings and UX | Critical for data access and AI parsing |
Role of structured data | Helpful but optional | Essential for AI understanding and accuracy |
Optimal URL structures | Keyword-focused, short URLs | Clear, descriptive, entity-led URLs |
Meta description strategy | Written to drive clicks | Written to summarise facts for AI reuse |
Content types that perform best | Blogs, landing pages | Explanatory, factual, comparison content |
Content recency | Important for freshness signals | Important for AI answer accuracy |
Most powerful links | Editorial, high-authority links | Citations from trusted, factual sources |
Undesirable link types | Spammy, irrelevant, or paid links | Unverified or low-trust sources; links from AI-generated content farms |
In short, SEO drives traffic. GEO protects visibility when traffic no longer clicks.
Together, they form a complete organic growth strategy.
Our GEO agency services: a 3-step process for AI search success
At Buried, GEO services are delivered through a clear, structured process and strategic services. The goal is simple: turn the risk of AI search into a measurable growth opportunity.
And the key is integration. GEO and SEO are managed together, not as separate entities. This ensures brands stay visible in traditional search while also being surfaced, cited, and trusted inside AI-generated results.
Step 1: Comprehensive GEO audit & competitor analysis
Every engagement starts with a full GEO audit across five core areas:
Site speed
Render analysis*
Structured data
Content quality
Link profile*
This audit shows what is helping AI visibility and what is holding the site back. A competitor analysis then benchmarks performance against key rivals to uncover gaps, risks, and strategic opportunities in AI search.
*Render analysis checks how a website loads and displays content for search engines and AI systems, ensuring important information is visible, accessible, and not hidden by JavaScript.
*A link profile is the full set of websites linking to your site, including their quality, relevance, and authority, which signals trust and credibility to search engines and AI systems.
Step 2: Strategic content, technical & off-page planning
Audit insights are turned into a practical, prioritised GEO roadmap.
Content GEO - Authoritative content is created to answer real user questions clearly and accurately. This helps position the brand as a reliable source for LLMs.
Technical GEO - To ensure the site is structured, fast, and accessible. Clean code, clear hierarchy, and strong data signals make it easy for AI systems to crawl and interpret content.
Off-page GEO - Brand credibility is strengthened through high-quality backlinks, trusted mentions, and authoritative references that reinforce trust signals for AI engines.
Step 3: Advanced tracking and reporting setup
You can't improve what you don't measure. The initial setup focuses on tracking:
Prompt visibility – when the brand appears in AI answers.
Citations – when AI engines reference or quote the brand.
Conversion reporting - across organic search and beyond.
Buried’s GEO reporting is integrated with SEO, traffic, and conversion dashboards. It provides a single view of how AI visibility connects to real business outcomes.
This approach sits within Buried’s wider services ecosystem, where GEO and analytics work together as part of a broader organic growth strategy.
Why choose Buried for your GEO strategy?
Choosing the right GEO partner is critical as AI search reshapes how brands are discovered. Buried is built for this shift - we combine deep organic search expertise with a clear focus on commercial impact.
Future-focused experts in organic search
Buried is a specialist UK-based organic search agency designed for this changing environment. We have deep, practical expertise in both traditional SEO and emerging GEO.
Our team is on the front line, decoding how ChatGPT works and turning those insights into commercial opportunities for our clients.
We focus on what matters: driving measurable results that senior business leaders can act on.
A conversion-driven approach
Our agency was founded by performance marketers. For us, every strategy must be tied to measurable business outcomes like leads, sales, and profit.
For CEOs and founders, this means our work is always accountable and aligned with your commercial goals. We turn every click, impression, and visitor into tangible business growth.
What our clients say
Devan Hughes, CDO, Dunnes Stores:
"Will has been instrumental in driving performance and growth marketing success for us over the past five years. Will’s expertise helped us build and scale an in-house team at Dunnes Stores, establishing strong foundations across performance, growth and organic search."
Duncan MacDonald, Founder, DMajor:
"Buried is our organic search partner at DMajor. One project that stands out was a website migration and strategy for a men’s fashion eCommerce brand, which led to substantial post-live gains in organic traffic and revenue for the client. Their work is detailed, considered, and focused on outcomes."
Together, these endorsements reflect Buried’s reputation as a trusted partner in both SEO and GEO-led growth.
Conclusion: turn AI risk into your competitive advantage
AI search is fundamentally changing how consumers discover brands. As answers move inside LLMs, the risk of losing traffic, visibility, and demand is real and growing.
An integrated GEO and SEO strategy is no longer optional. It is essential for protecting brand visibility, maintaining trust, and driving sustainable growth in an AI-first search landscape.
By partnering with an expert GEO agency like Buried, brands can cut through AI search risk, secure long-term discoverability, and turn this shift into a lasting competitive advantage.
Ready to secure your brand’s future in AI search? Contact us today to discuss how our GEO services can protect your traffic and drive growth.