Is This the End of “Just Google It”?

There’s a quiet shift happening in how we search, and it’s changing generative engine optimisation from a nice-to-have into something every business needs a plan for. The sooner we get our heads around it, the better off we’ll be.

So what is it? Basically, we’re asking ChatGPT instead of Googling.

Google’s not going anywhere yet, but it’s got real competition now. Here’s a small example. Previously, customers would Google “cheapest coffee bean subscription,” open five roasters’ websites, scroll through every one hunting for prices. Now they ask ChatGPT and get an answer in under ten seconds.

That’s the shift. Instead of typing keywords into Google and clicking through blue links, people are just asking. They ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Google’s own AI Overview a full question in plain English, and get one tidy answer handed straight back.

No scrolling, no tabs, and often no visit to your website at all.

Which raises the question we’re tackling today. If AI is answering the questions your customers used to Google, is your business part of that answer? Or have you gone invisible?

Let’s clear up the jargon first.

In this post:

• What even is “LLM-driven discovery”?
• Does Google ranking still matter?
• What should you actually do about it?
• The bit nobody wants to hear
• Quick questions about GEO
• Where does that leave you?

What even is “LLM-driven discovery”?

“LLM” stands for Large Language Model, the technology behind tools like ChatGPT and Claude. “LLM-driven discovery” is simply the term for people finding businesses, products, and answers through those AI tools instead of a traditional search engine.

Here’s the difference in plain terms.

Old way (Google): You type “best digital content creation agency in Hamilton.” Google shows you ten links. You click a few, read a lot, and decide.

New way (ChatGPT): You ask “who should I get to write content for my business?” The AI pulls from sources across the web and gives you a comprehensive answer, naming a few options. You might never click a single link.

See the problem? In the old world, you just had to show up on the list. In the new world, you have to be the answer. If the AI doesn’t know you exist, you’re not in the conversation at all.

A few more acronyms you’ll hear thrown around:

• SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): making your website attractive to Google so you climb the blue-link results.
• GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation): shaping your content so AI tools like ChatGPT actually mention and recommend you in the answers they generate.
• AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation): GEO’s more specific cousin, focused on becoming the direct answer rather than just a link in a list.

They overlap heavily, but don’t get too stressed about which is which. The point is to be the thing people find, however they’re searching.

Does Google ranking still matter?

The short answer is yes. 

SEO and generative engine optimisation aren’t rivals, they share most of the same habits. Google’s official 2026 guidance says optimising for its generative AI features “is still SEO” at heart, and most experts treat GEO as an extra layer on top of strong SEO rather than a separate discipline.

So ranking well on Google still helps, but it no longer guarantees you’ll show up in AI answers. Being a top Google result makes ChatGPT more likely to cite you, but plenty of businesses ranking beautifully on Google have zero visibility in ChatGPT. Pages in Google’s Position 1 are cited by ChatGPT 3.5x more often than pages outside the top 20, yet only 12% of URLs cited by ChatGPT also rank in Google’s top 10.

Ranking number one used to be the finish line. Now you need to be the source an AI trusts enough to quote. That’s the shift in how you should think about content strategy.

What should you actually do about it?

A lot of this is what a decent content writer should be doing anyway. AI just rewards it harder now.

1. Answer real questions, in plain human language. AI mirrors how people actually talk, so content built around genuine questions (“how much should I spend on marketing?”) gets pulled into answers far more than keyword-stuffed waffle. Write like a person helping a person, which has been our whole approach since day one. See: why you should start blogging, not blagging.
2. Lead with the answer, not the warm-up. AI grabs the first sentence or two of a section to decide whether you’ve actually answered the question. Skip the three paragraphs of scene-setting and say the thing, then explain it.
3. Back yourself up where you can. AI trusts and quotes content that’s specific and credible over vague, hand-wavy claims, so a real example, a bit of proof, or a concrete detail gives it a reason to name you when someone asks.
4. Be consistent and credible everywhere, not just your own site. AI builds its picture of your brand from reviews, social media, your Google profile, and other sites talking about you, not just your homepage. The more consistent you look across the board, the more likely AI is to name you.
5. Keep it fresh, not stale. AI tools favour recently updated content, and so does Google. Regular, useful blogs and website content signal that you’re active and worth citing, rather than a business that stopped updating in 2019.

The bit nobody wants to hear

More than half of brands still have no GEO strategy.

Depending on how you look at it, that’s either terrifying or the best news you’ll hear all week, because the businesses that start now get to claim their spot in AI’s answers before the space gets crowded. The brands an AI learns to trust and name today will be hard to shove out of the way tomorrow.

We’re not an SEO or GEO specialist agency, and we won’t pretend to be. But we understand how this shift is already changing the way we run Google Ads and write content for our clients. Whether it’s Google or an AI doing the searching, the goal’s the same, make sure your business is the one that gets found.

Quick questions about GEO

1. What is generative engine optimisation (GEO)? It’s the practice of shaping your content so AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini actually mention and recommend you when someone asks a relevant question, rather than just ranking you on a search results page.
2. Does SEO still matter if I’m doing GEO? Yes. Google’s own 2026 guidance treats optimising for generative AI features as still fundamentally SEO, and most experts see GEO as an extra layer on top of solid SEO rather than a replacement for it.
3. Is ChatGPT replacing Google Search? Not yet, and not entirely. People are increasingly asking AI tools full questions instead of Googling keywords, but Google still matters, it’s just no longer a guarantee you’ll show up when AI answers a question instead.
4. What’s the difference between GEO and AEO? AEO (Answer Engine Optimisation) is GEO’s more specific cousin. GEO is about showing up and being recommended across AI-generated answers generally; AEO is about becoming the direct answer when someone asks a specific question.

Where does that leave you?

Google isn’t dead and SEO isn’t pointless, but the goalposts have moved. Getting there means doing genuinely useful, human content, consistently, with a real strategy behind it, which is exactly why a content strategy agency exists.

If your content’s currently feeling very set-and-forget, or you’re not sure whether AI would recognise your brand at all, then it’s worth a chat. Our content writers spend their days turning businesses into the kind of brand that both Google and the robots want to talk about.

Come say hi. We’ll answer in plain English, no jargon, maybe just a bad pun or two.