For many years, online visibility came down to one simple idea: ranking well on Google. Businesses focused on SEO, optimized their pages, published content, and competed for clicks.
In 2025, the landscape is quietly but deeply changing. A growing share of searches is no longer done by typing keywords into Google, but by asking questions directly to AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Copilot. And when someone asks an AI a question, they do not receive ten blue links. They receive a direct, summarized, filtered answer.
The real question now becomes: is your website only well ranked… or is it also understood, reused, and recommended by AI engines?
This is where a new concept comes into play: GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization.
SEO and GEO: not a battle, but an evolution
Let’s start with something important: SEO is not dead. It remains the foundation. A fast, clear, mobile-friendly, well-structured website is still essential to be visible on Google.
However, SEO mainly focuses on ranking. It helps Google decide whether your page deserves a position in search results.
GEO, on the other hand, focuses on understanding. It helps AI engines understand who you are, what you do, who you serve, and why your content is credible. The goal is no longer only to attract visitors. More and more, the goal is to become a source that AI wants to use when answering a question.
Why your business should care
When someone asks an AI, “Which web agency in Montreal is best for redesigning a website?” or “Who can help me improve my online visibility in Quebec?”, the tool does not show a ranking list. It builds a response.
To build that response, AI relies on content it considers useful, structured, reliable, and easy to summarize. If your website is vague, overly promotional, or filled with generic statements, you will likely be ignored. But if your content is clear, human, and precise, your chances of being mentioned or recommended increase significantly.
How does AI Ddecide if your content is good?
AI engines do not read your website like a customer. They read it as a system searching for answers. They evaluate clarity, context, consistency, and credibility.
A simple example: if your services page only says you build “professional websites,” that is far too generic. It gives no real signal. AI cannot understand what that means, who it is for, or what makes you different.
On the other hand, if your content clearly explains what you deliver, who you serve, how you work, and which local realities you consider (Montreal, regions, bilingual market, privacy laws, etc.), your message becomes usable.
This is where local positioning becomes a major advantage. A web agency in Montreal and across Quebec understands the market in ways that generic platforms and international content never will. And AI engines increasingly value that local context because it matches very specific search intentions.
The key to GEO: answer before you sell
Good GEO content does not try to impress. It helps. It clarifies. It answers.
In practical terms, your website should anticipate the real questions your clients are asking: Will it be expensive? Will it take long? Is it compliant with privacy laws? Will it rank on Google? Will it work well on mobile? Will I get real leads? Do you understand the reality of small and medium businesses?
When your website answers these questions clearly, you win twice. You reassure your visitors, and you give AI engines clean, structured material to build reliable responses.
GEO and SEO: staying visible today and tomorrow
If we had to summarize simply: SEO helps you climb in search results. GEO helps you become the answer.
And in a world where answers are increasingly delivered directly by AI tools, becoming “the answer” is a powerful advantage.
The good news is that these two approaches work together. A website that already follows strong SEO practices, useful content, clear structure, fast loading, mobile optimization, internal linking, is already well positioned for GEO. It simply needs to go further in clarity, context, human tone, and expertise.
Let’s talk about it
If you want to understand where your website stands, or if you want to optimize it for both SEO and GEO without making things complicated, Shortkut can help.
We support local businesses with a clear, simple, efficient, and results-driven approach, exactly what you expect from a web agency in Montreal and across Quebec.
To contact us, you can call 855 461-3411 or reach us through the online contact form.
