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SEO vs. GEO: What Healthcare Brands Must Know to Stay Visible.

Updated: Jun 6

Healthcare brands risk becoming invisible if they focus only on traditional SEO. AI-powered platforms like Google Overviews and ChatGPT prioritize sources they can summarize and cite. This insight shows how SEO and GEO differ—and why both are now essential for patient discovery.


SEO Still Matters—But It’s No Longer Enough

SEO helps you rank. GEO helps you get mentioned. This insight explains the difference between search engine optimization and generative engine optimization—and why healthcare brands need both to stay visible in today’s evolving search landscape.
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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is what most clinics and agencies know best: ranking on Google through keyword-rich pages, backlinks, local listings, and well-structured websites.

It’s still critical for:

  • Google Maps visibility

  • Local search (e.g., “urgent care near me”)

  • Earning trust from patients searching manually

  • Showing up in review sites and directory links

But here’s the problem: AI-powered search platforms are bypassing traditional links and showing summarized answers instead.


GEO Is the New Layer of Visibility

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) focuses on visibility inside AI-generated answers from tools like:

These platforms don’t just list websites—they synthesize content from high-authority sources and present it as a complete answer. If your brand or content isn’t recognized, you won’t be included in the response.

That means patients can ask, “Where can I get a semaglutide shot in Atlanta?”—and your clinic may be skipped, even if you rank #1 on Google.


Key Differences Between SEO and GEO

Feature

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)

Focus

Rank in search engine results

Be included in AI-generated answers

Optimized for

Google, Bing, directories

ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Copilot

Strategy involves

Keywords, schema, backlinks

Trust, citations, factual clarity

Typical outputs

Web page rankings

Paragraphs with sources and summaries

Visibility depends on

Search volume and position

AI’s understanding of your authority

Why This Matters for Healthcare

Healthcare search behavior is changing. Patients no longer read 5 articles—they ask an AI and trust the answer. If that answer doesn’t mention your clinic, you don’t exist in their eyes.

What affects GEO performance:

  • Your clinic being cited on trusted medical or local sources

  • Your website containing natural-language answers to real questions

  • Use of structured data (e.g., schema.org/Physician)

  • Factual, current, and linkable content that LLMs can pull from

Roxford Digital structures content and web presence to optimize for both SEO and GEO, giving healthcare clinics a chance to appear in AI search results and traditional listings.


What Happens If You Ignore GEO?

Even clinics with strong SEO are disappearing from search visibility because:

  • AI Overviews answer the question without showing their website

  • Competitors are cited in summaries—even if their care isn’t better

  • Traffic from traditional search is dropping with every update

This isn’t about being future-ready—it’s about not being invisible today.


Prepare Your Brand for Both

To compete in today’s environment, healthcare clinics and service providers must:

  • Continue optimizing for SEO (on-page, technical, local)

  • Create structured, scannable content that answers real patient queries

  • Improve citation signals across high-authority platforms

  • Ensure your clinic is seen as a trusted source—not just a name on a map

AI is changing how people discover care. GEO ensures your clinic shows up in the answers patients trust.


Get a Strategic Review of Your Visibility

If your clinic or agency isn’t showing up in AI-generated search or if traditional SEO isn’t driving results, we can help.


Roxford Digital offers a Brand Awareness Review that shows:

  • How visible your brand is in both traditional and generative search

  • What AI search sees—or doesn’t see—about your clinic

  • How competitors are being featured in AI answers

  • Strategic fixes to improve both SEO and GEO positioning


If your brand is strong but your visibility is weak, it’s time to find out why. The Brand Awareness Review gives you a clear look at where you stand in both human and AI-driven discovery—and what steps will move you forward.


To your success,

Roxford Digital



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