SEO vs. GEO: What Quilting and Creative Entrepreneurs Need to Know

When you hear “SEO” (search engine optimization), you may think: keywords, backlinks, Google rankings. But a new sibling is emerging: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). This is shifting what it means for your website, your content, and how people find you via AI tools (ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.). If you run a quilting business, teach classes, write patterns, or sell online, understanding both can give you a real edge.

Here’s your guide to what SEO is, what GEO adds, where they overlap - plus what to do tomorrow to get ahead.

What is SEO?

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the long-standing practice of structuring, writing, and tuning your site so that traditional search engines (like Google, Bing, etc.) rank your pages well when people search relevant terms, like "modern quilt patterns" or "longarmer near me"

Key parts of good SEO are fairly simple and include:

• Keywords & content: Using words people are actually searching for within your niche.

  
  

• Technical health: Site speed, mobile-friendly design (which most website hosts have built in), HTML that’s crawlable (again, taken care of by most website hosts), valid structure (headings, alt text, etc. which you can help with).

  
  

• On-page content & meta: Title tags, meta descriptions, clean URLs.

  
  

• Backlinks: Other reputable sites linking to you. Like when you're a guest on another's summit, blog, podcast, or YouTube channel.

  
  

• User experience: Easy navigation, readable pages, minimal friction.

For creative entrepreneurs, what this might look like:

• Ensuring your FAQ, class description, and pattern description pages are in HTML (i.e. searchable & crawlable), not hidden behind buttons or expandable tabs. This looks like blog posts, or pages on your website where information lives, not attachable documents in a button.

  
  

• Having a clear site name and favicon (check out the image below) so your site identity shows up nicely in search results AND in AI tool responses (ChatGPT-style summaries tend to show site name/favicon when available).

  
  

• Producing long-form content that answers specific questions (“How to wash a cotton quilt top” or “Best beginner quilting sewing machine”) rather than generic content.

Favican is the little image in the Tab at the far left, underlined is the website name. Both of these show up on the tab your customer is using and in chatbots like ChatGPT as a link. Having a favicon looks more trustworthy and professional.

What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?

GEO is a newer idea: optimizing so that large language models (LLMs) and AI “chat” tools can understand your site, cite it correctly, and recommend you when people ask questions. LLMs are trained on large data sets; when they lack info, they might “turn to the web” and crawl pages to fill gaps. GEO practices help make sure your site shows up in those crawls, and that what surfaces is accurate.

Some aspects of GEO include:

• LLMs.txt: A file that summarizes your site’s key info so that AI tools can parse what you’re about - what pages matter, what content is true/official, what to avoid. Wix Studio has built-in support for LLMs.txt. (wix.com)

  
  

• AI visibility tools / dashboards: Platforms like Wix are releasing tools (like the “AI Visibility Overview”) so site owners can see how often their brand or site is cited by AI systems, traffic coming from AI queries, etc. (wix.com) - You're on a Wix Website now! I've been using this research for my own marketing efforts.

  
  

• Video content & platform presence: Bot search (in webinars from Wix) emphasizes that YouTube is one of the top platforms where bots look for content. Having content there improves your chances of being surfaced by AI tools. (wix.com)

  
  

• Clear, unique content / clear USP: Because AI tends to summarise or choose from among known sources, having a strong, unique way you describe yourself, your services, your patterns helps differentiate. Generic taglines are less helpful.

  
  

• Structural accessibility: Ensuring your FAQ, support pages, product instructions are visible in HTML, not hidden. AI crawlers often don’t “click buttons” or expand hidden content.

Key Differences & Challenges

Area	SEO Traditional Practice	GEO Additions/Twists
Training & crawling	Search engines use sitemaps, robots.txt, page content, and backlinks.	LLMs rely on training data + web content; LLMs.txt helps give them structured, official info; AI agents crawl pages.
Ranking signals	Keyword usage, backlink quality, site speed, mobile friendliness, etc.	Frequency of AI citations, how well content is summarizable, uniqueness, and presence of official documents.
Errors / “hallucinations”	Wrong indexing or broken links, content duplicated, etc.	AI tools sometimes make up URLs or content; users clicking on responses can get 404s. Need redirects or provide correct info so AI “knows” your content.
Content structure	Long-form posts, meta descriptions, headings, etc.	Clear FAQ, product/instruction pages, content in HTML, videos, structured data that AI can parse easily.

How SEO & GEO Overlap (and Why SEO⁺ Makes Sense)

The good news: optimizing for SEO helps with GEO. Most SEO best practices are also useful for GEO. But there are extra steps that make your site much more likely to be visible, accurate, and recommended in AI-driven environments.

Here are several overlaps + what you need to add:

• Good foundational structure (fast site, mobile-friendly, clear navigation) helps in both SEO and GEO.

  
  

• High-quality content that answers real questions: SEO likes it, GEO summarizers want it.

  
  

• But for GEO, you want to ensure that content is crawlable and visible in HTML (not hidden behind click-toggles/buttons). Also, making sure your site name/favicon is set helps AI snippets.

  
  

• Use tools like LLMs.txt (if available), or generate structured summaries of your site so AI has correct info.

  
  

• Monitor for “hallucinations” (made-up URLs or misinformation) via analytics. If AI or users are being directed to pages that don’t exist (404s), set up redirects or create those pages.

  
  

• Spread your presence: upload videos (like YouTube), maintain support/FAQ, have your site represented in multiple platforms so AI has multiple signals.

What You Can Do Next (Practical Steps)

Here are actionable things you can implement to benefit both SEO + GEO:

1. Check your site settings and make sure you have a favicon and site name clearly set.

2. Enable / check your LLMs.txt (if using Wix or a platform that supports it) and review its contents. Make sure key pages (courses, patterns, policy, FAQ) are included. (wix.com)

3. Review your FAQ / product support pages. Make sure instructions / descriptions are visible in HTML (not hidden behind interactive UI that AI might not “see”).

4. Use a tool or analytics to see if there are 404s triggered by broken links or by things “hallucinated” by AI bots. Set up redirects.

5. Put more content on YouTube or similar video platforms. Use descriptive titles and transcripts so AI can pick up on what you say.

6. In your content, avoid generic taglines; emphasize what makes you unique. Be specific in offerings.

Why This Matters for Your Business

• AI search (via ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) is being used more and more for discovery. If you’re not optimized for it, people might talk about or ask about what you do, but AI responds with other, better-positioned sources.

  
  

• When AI tools hallucinate or get info wrong, that can damage trust (if someone clicks a bad link, or you aren’t the result).

  
  

• GEO gives you more control over how your business is represented in AI summaries/answers.

  
  

• Future-proofing: as AI becomes more integrated in how people search, shop, and learn, having GEO in your toolkit means you’re ready rather than catching up.

Ready to make your website work for both Google and AI?Grab my Website & Landing Page Checklist (AI-friendly Edition) and make sure your site looks polished, feels professional, and is set up for both SEO and GEO.

Sources & Further Reading

• What marketers should know about LLMs.txt, Wix Studio AI Search Lab — overview & benefits of LLMs.txt in AI search. (wix.com)

• Understanding Your Site’s LLMs.txt File, Wix Help Center — how LLMs.txt works, how to access / opt-out. (Wix Support)

• Optimizing for AI Visibility on Wix & Wix Studio webinar/resource from Wix — covers LLMs.txt, AI Visibility dashboard, GEO tools. (wix.com)

• Wix launches AI Visibility Overview — about tracking brand presence in AI, citations, perception, etc. (wix.com)