GEO agency vs SEO agency:
which does your business need?
An SEO agency gets you onto Google's blue links. A GEO agency gets you into AI recommendations — ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. They are separate channels with different signals, and the right answer for most Malaysian businesses depends on one question: where do your customers actually search?
The short answer
Hire an SEO agency if your customers still find you through traditional Google results and you're not ranking. Hire a GEO agency if customers in your category ask AI tools for recommendations and your business never gets mentioned. Established businesses increasingly need both — they're complementary channels, not competing ones.
Side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | SEO agency | GEO agency |
|---|---|---|
| Optimizes for | Google's ranked blue-link results | AI-generated answers and recommendations (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Claude) |
| Core signals | Backlinks, keywords, page authority, Core Web Vitals | AI citability, brand mentions, structured data, AI crawler access, E-E-A-T |
| Typical deliverables | Keyword research, link building, on-page optimization, technical fixes | GEO score audit, schema markup, llms.txt, robots.txt AI configuration, citable content rewrites, brand authority building |
| Success looks like | Ranking on page one for target keywords | Being named when someone asks AI for a recommendation in your category |
| Measurement | Rankings, organic traffic, impressions | AI mention frequency, GEO score movement, lead quality |
| Time to first results | Typically 3–6 months | Technical fixes: 2–4 weeks. Brand authority: 2–3 months |
When an SEO agency is the right call
- Your website doesn't rank for your own brand name or core services
- Your traffic comes mainly from traditional Google searches and it's underperforming
- You have fundamental technical problems — slow pages, broken indexing, no mobile support
When a GEO agency is the right call
- You've asked ChatGPT or Perplexity for a recommendation in your category and competitors appear — but you don't
- Your Google rankings are fine, but enquiries are declining anyway (AI answers are absorbing the clicks)
- Your customers are professionals, younger consumers, or researchers — the groups adopting AI search fastest
- You operate in a recommendation-driven category: legal, healthcare, F&B, property, education, professional services
Not sure where you stand? Here's how to check if your business appears in ChatGPT or Perplexity in five minutes.
Why most businesses end up needing both
Search behaviour is splitting, not switching. Some customers still Google. A growing share ask AI. The two channels reward different signals, so winning one doesn't win the other — a page-one Google ranking doesn't make ChatGPT recommend you, and AI visibility doesn't lift your Google position much either.
The practical setup we see work: keep your SEO agency owning Google, add GEO for the AI channel. The work doesn't overlap or conflict — GEO deliverables like structured data and clearer content tend to help SEO as a side effect. For a deeper explanation of how the two disciplines differ, read GEO vs SEO: What's the Difference?
Frequently asked questions
Should I hire a GEO agency or an SEO agency in Malaysia?
It depends on where your customers search. If your customers still find you through Google's traditional results, an SEO agency covers that. If they ask ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews for recommendations — which a growing share of Malaysians do — you need a GEO agency. Most established businesses benefit from running both.
Can one agency do both GEO and SEO?
Some can, but verify they treat them as distinct disciplines. GEO requires specific work — AI citability optimization, llms.txt, AI crawler configuration, brand mention building — that traditional SEO playbooks don't include. Ask any agency claiming to do GEO what specific GEO deliverables they produce.
Will GEO conflict with my existing SEO agency's work?
No. GEO work is largely additive — structured data, llms.txt, robots.txt configuration, and content citability improvements don't interfere with SEO. Good GEO often improves SEO as a side effect.
Find out exactly where you stand in AI search.