GEO vs SEO: What charity digital teams need to know

What's actually changed?

People are still searching for information. They're just doing it in new and different places. Some are typing into Google. Others are asking ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini. The tools have expanded, but the fundamental question remains the same: when someone looks for information in your area, how do you ensure your charity is visible, trusted, and the preferred result?

That's been the core of good SEO practice for years. And it remains the core now.

GEO recommendations, you're probably already actioning

Most GEO audits recommend work that sits comfortably within modern SEO practice:

• Schema and structured data help search engines and LLMs understand your content better. If you've added NGO schema and been working on schema for fundraising events, for example, you've been doing this.
• Authority and entity optimisation includes making sure your charity is well-represented on Wikipedia and Wikidata. If you've reviewed these as part of content audits, this is covered.
• Technical SEO focused on discoverability ensures your content can be found and understood by both traditional search engines and LLMs. Technical refreshes that protect organic performance during rebrands or site changes are part of this.
• Trust and misinformation safeguards like Patient Information Forum (PIF) tick accreditation, clear standards signposting, and expert authorship strengthen credibility signals. If you've been working on any of these with your content or clinical teams, it contributes to how AI tools assess your reliability and E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
• Visibility in AI search is about understanding how often your charity appears in AI-generated responses. At Torchbox, we've been testing this and sharing insights about citation patterns with clients since earlier this year. If your agency has been doing similar work, this is already part of your SEO programme.

Where to focus your energy

Rather than treating GEO as a separate workstream, focus on what makes your charity genuinely valuable in this changing landscape. Focus on what your core audiences and communities need. Interactive tools that can't be replicated in AI summaries, unique expertise from your specialist teams, and direct engagement opportunities on your site are all strategic assets worth promoting.

Central to this is doubling down on E-E-A-T. By showcasing the credentials of your frontline staff and the lived experiences of those you support, you provide the high-quality signals that both search engines and AI summaries use to verify your charity as a definitive source of truth.

The search landscape is evolving, but your response doesn't need to be complicated. Keep doing the foundational work that makes your content discoverable, trustworthy, and valuable. If you're working with an agency, ask them to show you what's already covered in your roadmap and what genuinely adds value.

Of course, as AI-led search continues to evolve, new tactics will inevitably be discussed across the industry. Many of them are niche, experimental, or still unproven. We see these developments as part of the same challenge SEO has always addressed: improving your website’s ability to be discovered, understood, and trusted by both search engines and LLMs.

Moving forward

If your team is being asked about GEO, or if you're seeing it mentioned in sector guidance, take it as a useful prompt to review your existing search strategy. But don't assume you need to start from scratch.

Good SEO has always been about ensuring you're found by people seeking help and information. The channels are changing, but that mission hasn't. And if you're focusing on the foundations, you're already doing the work.