Definition
Search Engine Optimization is the set of practices that help a website be found and ranked in search engines such as Google and Naver: crawlable pages, clear structure, relevant content and links from trusted sites.
GEO builds on the same foundations. Answer engines retrieve pages from the open web, so a page that search engines cannot reach or understand rarely becomes a source for an AI answer either. What changes is the goal: not only a ranking, but being mentioned and cited inside the answer.
Why it matters
A high ranking no longer guarantees a mention. SEO keeps your pages reachable; GEO makes them the evidence an engine chooses to repeat.
How it is applied
Keep the SEO basics in place, then check the GEO layer on top: whether each key page answers a customer question directly, states facts with evidence, and is cited in AI answers.
