How Grounding Queries Work

E997: Most people think "GEO" is replacing SEO, and that getting cited by tools like ChatGPT or Perplexity requires a totally different strategy.

I break down why that narrative is wrong.

Using a real discussion from the SEO subreddit, I walk through what's actually happening behind the scenes in AI search - and why, after six months of testing, even experienced "GEO" practitioners still can't figure out what's moving the needle.

The answer is simpler than most people expect: AI search is not a new system. It is built on top of search.

AI systems are performing live queries, expanding them, validating results, and selecting sources - just like a search engine would.

Once you understand that, the confusion around GEO starts to disappear.

Topics covered in this episode: - Why six months of GEO testing often leads to inconsistent and unmeasurable results - The concept of "query fanout" and how AI systems expand a single prompt into multiple searches - How grounding queries work and why brand mentions across the web matter - Why AI citations are not based on memory or training data in the way most marketers assume - The difference between being indexed, being ranked, and being selected during AI query expansion - Why third-party mentions and reputation signals still play a major role - The idea that much of the GEO industry is built on misunderstandings of how these systems operate - How tools can reveal what AI systems are actually searching behind the scenes

I also cover new data from Promptwatch, based on 1 million citations, showing what types of pages are being cited by AI systems: - Landing pages: 15.2% of citations - Product pages: 14% of citations - Listicles, landing pages, and product pages dominate citation sources

This reinforces a point I have been making for a long time: bottom-of-funnel pages that clearly match user intent are far more effective than generic top-of-funnel content.

We also discuss: - Why traditional "awareness content" often fails to convert or get cited - How SEO landing pages and product pages align directly with what users are searching for - Why reputation management and entity signals are becoming more important, not less - How AI search is pushing SEO back toward fundamentals rather than replacing it

If you've been trying to figure out GEO, AI citations, or how to get mentioned in AI systems, this episode explains what actually matters.

⭐️ Updated Search Query and Reasoning Extractor Bookmarklets (ChatGPT + Claude) - https://theseopub.com/updated-search-query-and-reasoning-extractor-bookmarklets/ ⭐️ The Reddit Thread - https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/1s45fli/comment/ocpdi29/?context=3 ⭐️ The Promptwatch Research - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gijs-de-groot2021_seeing-a-lot-of-talk-about-listicles-losing-activity-7426618883454894080-5kL2/

🚀 Edward's SEO Articles - https://edwardsturm.com/articles/search-engine-optimization/

💎 Compact Keywords - My SEO Course - Get paying customers through SEO - Clear step-by-step video breakdowns - SEO templates to be copied and adapted for your products and services: https://compactkeywords.com/

00:00 GEO Frustration Thread 00:54 WebLinkr Query Fan-Out 02:53 How To Find Fan-Out 03:54 Training Myth Exposed 04:59 GEO Disinfo Lobby 07:11 PromptWatch Citation Data 08:15 What ChatGPT Cites 09:09 Landing Pages Win 11:32 Episode Wrap Up

The Edward Show. Your daily search engine optimization podcast: https://edwardsturm.com/the-edward-show/

#generativeengineoptimization #searchengineoptimization #answerengineoptimization #digitalmarketing