Why SEO Is No Longer Enough – and What You Need to Know About International GEO

What Is GEO – and Why Is SEO No Longer Sufficient?

GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) means optimising content not only for search engines, but for AI systems such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google SGE.
These systems do not provide search results – they deliver answers. And these answers are based on what they assess as credible and relevant.
If you do not appear in those answers, you lose visibility – regardless of how well your website performs.

Five Challenges for International GEO

1. Ensuring Linguistic Visibility

Many generative AI systems favour English-language content – even when the query is submitted in German.
 This is because most training data and reference sources are in English. Businesses that are only locally visible are easily overlooked in international responses.

Tip:
 Publish your key content in at least two languages. English-language landing pages, blog articles or studies significantly increase your chances of being cited.

2. Domain Authority Is Regionally Limited

Even strong .de domains carry relatively little weight internationally. Instead, AI systems prioritise links and mentions on globally recognised platforms.

Tip:
 Build citations in international media – for example through PR, expert articles or study publications in English-language sources.

3. Review Platforms & Forums Differ by Region

What OMR Reviews or Kununu represent for the DACH region, G2, Capterra or Reddit represent internationally. Relying solely on national platforms makes you invisible to global models.

Tip:
 Focus on international platforms where your target audience is active – and encourage customers to leave reviews and contribute there.

4. Machine Readability Must Be Standardised

Structured data (Schema.org, OpenGraph, JSON-LD) is the technical key to ensuring your content is recognised across languages.

Tip:
 Use international standards for structured content – and regularly test with tools such as Google Rich Results or ChatGPT plug-ins to see how well your pages are understood.

5. Global Visibility Requires Strong Author Profiles

LLMs increasingly evaluate personal authority and verifiability – for example via LinkedIn profiles, studies, expert publications or mentions in reputable sources.

Tip:
 Maintain core profiles (e.g., on LinkedIn or Google Scholar), ideally in English. Consistently link to these profiles from your content – including international pages.

Conclusion: International GEO Requires More Than Just Translation

Visibility in AI-driven search is not simply a linguistic question. It is about:

• Trust through citations
• Region-specific platform strategies
• Global technical readability
• Relevance across language boundaries
  

If you want to appear in generative AI answers, you must be visible, citable and credible in every relevant market – and beyond your own domain.