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GEO and CMS: What We Know and What We Can Recommend

Changes in Web Traffic

For more than thirty years, it was crucial to appear at the top of search results on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and other search engines. For millions and later billions of internet users, search engines were the main entry point for discovering and visiting websites.

Compelling content, SEO (Search Engine Optimization), and active promotion helped websites earn high rankings and clicks from visitors. “Organic search” and “top rankings” drove traffic and, ultimately, revenue.

AI is changing this formula.

With the rise of AI chatbots and AI-powered search – think ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Mistral, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot – user behavior is shifting. People now search for and find information directly within chatbots. There are fewer reasons to visit the original websites that provided the piece of information one was looking for.

We’re seeing a shift of web traffic from traditional websites to chatbots. That doesn’t mean ranking on classic search result pages has lost its importance, as said pages still drive a major share of visits. But as more people use chatbots and AI summaries, it’s worth thinking seriously about GEO.

What GEO Involves

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is about preparing content so that AI systems can find it and represent it correctly in their responses. In other words: we want the content on our websites to appear as part of chatbot answers.

The same idea goes by other names, LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) or AEO (Answer Engine Optimization). Whether users ask about summer fashion, fruit salad ingredients, or hybrid headless CMS, your website’s products, services, or information should show up in the chatbot’s answer.

If this sounds like SEO, that’s no coincidence. GEO has the same goals: visibility, reach, conversions, and sales. The difference is the channel, optimizing for AI engines instead of search engines, and reaching the i.e. 700 million weekly users of ChatGPT.

So how can you optimize your content for GEO ideally right where it’s created: in your CMS (Content Management System)?

GEO Best Practices

Because GEO is still new compared to SEO, best practices are evolving. Here are some recommendations that already work well:

All of this increases the chance that AI crawlers and AI searches will capture your content and use it in their answers. It also boosts the likelihood of qualified traffic returning to your site; visitors who already found useful information are more likely to engage and convert.

Taking Action in the CMS

Today, many tools can check how well your content is optimized for discovery by AI search systems. Traditional SEO metrics like clicks are being replaced with new ones, i.e. brand visibility scores within your market segment. Some content management systems are already integrating such tools or developing their own.

At FirstSpirit , we’re responding to the shift in traffic and the opportunities created by the rapid growth of chatbot use. Our CMS uses AI to evaluate how easily your content can be found by AI systems and how strong it is in terms of quality before it’s published on your live site.

Feel free to get in touch if you’d like to see how this works in practice!

Timo Klattenhoff
Head of Product
FirstSpirit – A Crownpeak Solution


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