Balancing GEO with your existing SEO strategy and content starts with one simple truth. No matter how you spin it, it is impossible to do GEO without performing SEO. Balancing GEO with SEO is not about transitioning from one to another. It is about understanding how LLMs search via the query fan out and adjusting your SEO strategy so you are eligible to be included in as many of those searches as possible.
SEO Still Reigns Supreme
LLMs do not operate in a vacuum. They lean on traditional search engines and web sources to gather and verify information. If your content does not rank, get crawled, or earn authority signals, it has fewer pathways to be found and referenced. GEO should reinforce your SEO foundation, not replace it. Focus on topical authority, content depth, internal linking, and backlinking, then map those assets to the topics you want LLMs to pull from.
Search Console Tips for Uncovering Query Fan Outs
One practical way to spot LLM driven discovery is to monitor longtail queries in Google Search Console that do not look like natural human searches. Query fan outs often look like keyword stuffed, jumbled jargon. Filter queries using regex like (\b\w+\b\s){7,} to isolate queries that are 7 words or longer. LLMs commonly use longer phrases when fanning out to search engines. Once you find them, look for patterns, then fill content gaps where possible, both within your site and across the broader Google ecosystem.
Is GEO Just SEO Repackaged?
In most cases, yes. GEO does not mean doing something entirely new. It means putting a bigger emphasis on what pages you need on your site that you do not have already, and structuring them to match how search and AI retrieval actually works.