AI Visibility (or GEO) isn't just an extension of SEO. Your rankings can hold steady while your traffic drops and the reason probably isn't a competitor overtaking you.

The search result itself is now doing the job your content used to do.

Your clicks are getting lost to an AI answer box, not a competitor's search ranking.

Zero-click searches already make up roughly 58 to 60% of US Google searches, according to Neotype's 2025 analysis of SparkToro-style data.

Even if your SEO ranking holds, you're probably seeing a reduction in click throughs. SEO still earns its place in your marketing mix, but AI Visibility and GEO need to be part of it, too. They aren't the same thing.

GEO asks a different question to SEO, whether the AI quoting an answer knows your business, location, what you do, your name.

Worth checking where you stand: go to Ghostart homepage (link in comments) and enter your URL to see where you stand.

++ I'm Nigel, I help SMEs optimise their businesses in the age of AI. I created Ghostart, an AI Visibility/GEO platform and The Foundry, helping SMEs implement AI to make their business easier to run.