Recommendation is preferred over simple traditional classification. AI prefers authentic, structured content and regular activity. Visibility depends in part on a strong brand, built on diverse ecosystems.
“New” brought by the local GEO compared to the local SEO, the “ranking” counts less than the presence or the fact of being “recommended”. “Personalization will also profoundly change the way we think about AI search compared to traditional search, even on Google,” says Greg Sterlingco-founder of Near Media. “The fundamentals of SEO are essential and necessary, but no longer sufficient on their own. However, this field is currently so dynamic that every advice should be taken with skepticism and tested.”
Generally speaking, the visibility criteria of local GEO and local SEO are similar in many ways. For Jamey Lee, co-founder of Local Ranker, “brands already performing well in local SEO and on social networks are more likely to be recommended by LLMs like ChatGPT, Gemini or Perplexity.” Google also states in substance that good practices in terms of natural referencing correspond to those of optimization for AI. However, AI optimization goes beyond traditional SEO, which has implications for content and overall strategy.
Editorial: added value and connection
Regarding content, the proximity between SEO and local GEO is striking. “In both cases, we have unique, authoritative and structured content,” assures Greg Sterling. Content creation should aim to answer real customer questions and add value, rather than just trying to guess Google’s algorithm. This recalls the notions of Uniqueness, authenticity, specificity for AI recently highlighted by Googlea sort of counterpart to the EEAT, for Expertise, Experience, Authority and Reliability for SEO. Note that, according to a recent studyintegrating direct quotes and accurate structured data into local content can increase the chances of being cited by generative engines by more than 25%.
Google also recommends using all of its tools and features, including Google Business Profile and Merchant Center optimization. In this context, AI favors companies that show regular “signs of life”. “For a healthcare professional, I developed: hyperlocal content, Google Posts and photo additions every week and blog articles in the form of thematic clusters,” says Stephanie Bargelocal SEO consultant. “The goal: to try to answer fan out queries during a prompt. Result: the entity has become much more often associated with its city in the conversational engines and in the suggestions generated by AI. This shows that the AIs are less looking for “the best optimized page” than “the most credible actor in a given territory”.”
Regarding authority, the NAPs, for “Name, Address, Phone number”, are still to be worked in GEO, to guarantee consistency. “Our establishment network clients who maintain complete and consistent local records improve their visibility in AI recommendations,” supports Jamey Lee.
Establish your notoriety
Branding is another major factor that can make you think about local SEO. But it takes on particular importance with local GEO. “Building an authoritative brand takes time, but it’s essential for AI optimization,” says Greg Sterling. “Thanks in particular to the consolidation of the local identity of the brand, a client positions itself very well in the traditional Google ecosystem and comes first on Perplexity,” adds Stéphanie Barge.
Diversification of opinions is also important. “It’s important to not just focus on Google, but also other review sites in your industry,” says Greg Sterling. Regarding ratings, “AIs favor companies with high ratings as we noticed at Local Ranker,” expresses Jamey Lee. “Our partners who have the highest ratings and consistently receive positive reviews appear more often in ChatGPT and Perplexity responses.”
For the quotes, according to AlphaTech SolutionAI semantic analysis makes it possible to identify textual mentions of the brand in the local press or on community platforms such as Reddit. Even in the absence of hypertext links, these mentions constitute major notoriety indicators which confirm the legitimacy and impact of your company within its community. According to Stéphanie Barge, “local visibility now depends heavily on Google Business Profile, Bing Places, review platforms, data aggregators and third-party media. A company can produce excellent content but remain poorly visible if its external ecosystem is weak.”
A watch on pause
Regarding monitoring, “AI data sometimes remains imprecise. For example, ChatGPT and Perplexity display less good information than Gemini for local data,” concedes Jamey Lee. “Unlike classic SEO, it is difficult to precisely identify which signals are weighted, which sources are prioritized, how the responses are constructed,” laments Stéphanie Barge. “Indeed, each prompt is different depending on the language, history and geographic position. Local GEO therefore remains largely empirical.” Tools can help, such as Otterly.ai, the classic Semrush or the Uberall platform.
