Back in March, I attended an incredible SMX Master Class on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) led by Will Scott, CEO and Co-founder of Search Influence. As an SEO in the apartment marketing world, I've had a front-row seat watching search results completely transform with AI features suddenly dominating the landscape. Going into this master class, I was excited to get answers to my questions:

• What is this whole "GEO" thing?
• What does it all mean for SEO as we know it?
• Should I be scared or excited?
• Who is responsible for creating another freaking acronym?

After two days of in-depth sessions, many fiery discussions in the chat, and 5 Notion pages loaded with notes, I fortunately came out on the excited end of the spectrum. After reading this blog, I hope you're in the same camp.

Long story short: Traditional SEO isn't dead, but it's definitely getting a major facelift. And I'm here for it.

Short story long…

The Search Game Has New Rules

Traffic from organic search is taking a nosedive (cue, zero-click searches). Even if you've scored that (trigger warning) coveted #1 ranking, you're actually sitting further down the page in pixel-land than ever before. Why? Because search engines are turning into answer machines, slapping those AI-generated summaries above everything else. These AI Overviews (AIOs) are dominating prime SERP real estate, pushing organic results further down the page. Enter: me quaking in my SEO boots.

On the flip side, that presents an incredible opportunity. Instead of being one-upped by the AI-generated summaries, our properties can get in them, one-upping everyone else. The best way to do that? GEO.

What is GEO Anyway?

Generative Engine Optimization sounds fancy, but it's basically just optimizing for AI-driven search. Traditional SEO is like crafting the perfect dating profile, hoping to get matched with someone (a searcher) looking for what you have to offer. GEO is like having an AI matchmaker who directly recommends you to searchers without them even seeing your profile.

AI search uses something called Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) – which is just a fancy way of saying it grabs info from all over, mixes it together, and spits out an answer. It's as if your blender could make smoothies out of websites instead of fruit (gross). GEO is optimizing your brand for those AI smoothies.

SEO vs. GEO: Same Same, But Different

Entity Optimization

The biggest mindset shift? Moving from keywords to entities. Keywords are just search terms, but entities have relationships and context that exist in the AI's knowledge web.

For apartment marketers, instead of just stuffing "luxury apartments in downtown Denver" everywhere, we need to think about connecting our properties to concepts AI already understands. That means talking consistently and concisely about our brand alongside concepts we want to be associated with.

It's like the difference between saying "I like eating" versus "I love starting my day with a chorizo breakfast burrito from Catrina's next door to the Digible office." One is vague; the other gives the AI something meaty to work with. Pun intended. 

Practical Steps for GEO in Multifamily Marketing

1. Make Your Property's Content AI-Friendly

• Break everything into bite-sized chunks with clear headings (like I'm doing right now!).
• Create FAQ pages and stuff those with all types of relevant questions (Q: "Does Grace Apartments allow pets?" A: "Yes, Grace Apartments welcomes your furry friends with a one-time $300 pet fee").
• Cut the fluff – if it doesn't spark clarity, thank it and delete it.
• Keep important points concise – we're not shooting for a high word count with AI results, we just want the juicy parts that matter.

2. Play the Entity Game

• Map out all the things connected to your property that prospects might care about and talk about those regularly – think apartments → neighborhood → coffee shops → best coffee shops in the neighborhood right next to your apartments.
• Use schema markup intentionally and often (the behind-the-scenes code that makes AI go "aha, I get what this page is about!").
• Connect your content to authoritative sources – it might be time to revisit those crusty old links on your neighborhood page maps… 

3. Get People Talking About Your Property

• Get your properties on every review site known to mankind (and robots).
• Step up your citation game – consistency is key.
• Repeat your brand message like a broken record: "Grace Apartments offers luxury living in Denver's coveted RiNo neighborhood" – say it everywhere until even you're sick of hearing it.
• Get on YouTube – AI loves YouTube videos, so we love YouTube videos.
• Don't sleep on social media.

4. Keep an Eye on Your AI Performance

• Play around with it – try searching for apartments in Denver and see where ChatGPT takes you, where Perplexity takes you, etc.
• Start tracking now – set up explorations in GA4 to start identifying trends across different AI sources.

The Future is Coming Whether We Like It or Not

Will's master class concluded with a candid discussion about where GEO is heading. Because, as we know all too well in our industry, nothing stays the same for long. That'd be no fun.

1. People will start searching like they're chatting with a friend – we'll need to optimize for "Hey, where can I find a pet-friendly apartment near downtown with a gym under $2000?"
2. Content promotion will be huge – it's not enough to talk about yourself; you've got to get local businesses and news platforms talking about you.
3. Website visits might drop – scary thought, but people might get their answers without ever seeing your beautiful property website, making it all the more important to ensure your external listings are optimized and feeding those AI results properly.
4. Details matter more than ever – we'll have to get deeper than just "1 & 2 bedroom apartments" and focus more on the "dog park" and "covered parking" so AI can match these features to searches as they become more specific.

For multifamily, there's a silver lining: local search is likely to change more slowly because, well, location is still location! Our properties can still compete by being the hyper-specific experts in their little corner of the world.

And on top of that? People take time to search for apartments. Someone might search for the best breakfast burrito in Englewood and go right where the AI overview tells them without searching further. But they aren't signing a lease just because an AI overview tells them Grace Apartments is the best. For now, we can feel confident that our prospects won't have all of their needs met by those AI results. They'll dig deeper, making those baseline on-site SEO efforts all still very worthwhile. 

How GEO Impacts Multifamily Marketing

The shift from SEO to GEO is certainly a change, but as I said, it's a facelift, not a whole new face. Instead of just chasing keywords, we're now building knowledge webs of entities, prioritizing quality citations, and embracing conversational search. 

Is it more work? Probably. Is it confusing sometimes? Absolutely. But is it also kind of exciting? I think so! The properties that adopt GEO strategies the fastest might start showing up in those AIOs while their competitors are still trying to figure out why their keyword rankings aren't bringing in traffic anymore. We want to be on the brands-who-show-up side.

So here's to embracing AI, remaining curious about GEO, and showing these robots what the multifamily hype is all about – may they speak of your sparkling swimming pools and granite countertops with the enthusiasm they deserve!