Do you still need SEO? A practical view for SME websites
Yes. And you still should not stuff keywords into the body. Result pages often show a summary or a chat-style answer. If the site structure is messy, or the service page never says what you do, guests will not click the blue link, and the summary can introduce you with the wrong sentence.
What the industry is arguing about
Many posts talk about optimizing for generative answers (some call it GEO or AEO). The practical point is old: the sentences on the page have to be readable by a person and by a machine. Google’s guidance on generative features in Search still points back to sound site basics. You do not need a separate black-box method for the new abbreviation. Also see AI features and your website.
Practitioner roundups — for example notes from Aleyda Solís (@aleyda) — track tools and policy. Treat them as weather reports. You do not rebuild the site for every note. If a tool story does not touch your service scope, write it down and do not change titles the same day.
Three things that actually change outcomes
1. Wrong summary of your services
Someone asks who can do systems integration or LINE support. If the system picks up an outdated or empty description, it will introduce you with the wrong sentence. The person who maintains the site writes, at the top of the home page and the service page, what you do, what you do not do, and where you work. One sentence that can be copied whole into a summary beats a long slogan. Keep the slogan in the deck. Do not use it as the first paragraph.
2. Broken basics
The phone will not open the page, the same title is reused on many pages, there is no sitemap, or the important sentence lives only inside an image. Search and summaries then cannot read the service you meant to state. Generative features read the words on the page, not the slogan on your slides. The person who maintains the site checks three things: the site is on HTTPS, it opens on a phone, and the HTML contains selectable text. Icons can stay. The service scope cannot live only in a drawing.
3. New names on an abandoned site
If the site was built years ago and nobody has maintained it, leading with a “latest GEO package” is usually backwards. The owner asks: can anyone edit the pages now, who holds the source, which inbox the contact form uses, and whether a person actually reads that inbox. If nobody can answer, a newer optimization name will not save the site. Name the person who can change the site and the person who receives the mail before you talk about structure.
Checklist for this week
The person who maintains the site does this on their own phone, not from a vendor screenshot. Write down the items that fail. Fix those pages on the next edit.
- Open the home page and the service page on a phone. If you cannot say what you sell within ten seconds, rewrite that page’s first paragraph. Do not start by recoloring the whole site.
- Check address, email, and service area. If the footer, the about page, and the service page disagree, make them one set before you talk about summaries.
- Each page title should be different, and it should describe the same thing as that page’s body. A service page should not keep the home page title.
- Publish the FAQ as visible HTML: scope, timeline, maintenance. Do not hide it inside an image that appears only after a tap.
- In Search Console, see whether the sitemap was submitted. A new page that was never submitted is hard for search and for summaries to read.
- Ask ChatGPT and Gemini the same line: what does this company do. Where the answer disagrees with the site, edit that passage on the site.
- Important service pages state the scope in text. An icon can support the paragraph. It cannot replace it.
- Submit the contact form yourself and confirm the named person receives the mail. If they do not, fix the mail before you buy a keyword report.
How the work is split when we build
When we build or rebuild, title hierarchy, FAQs, structured data, and service scope go into the architecture. We do not “add SEO” after launch. You provide what you do, what you do not do, where you serve, and which inbox the form uses. We put those sentences on the right page and in the right title. We do not run a separate project that has an abbreviation and no copy. See SEO/GEO structure and our checklist.
FAQs
Should we care about GEO or AEO labels?
As labels for conversation, fine. You do not need a separate site for the new name. Google’s notes still put the weight on content quality, pages that can be crawled, and sentences on the page that match the guest’s question.
Is retitling pages enough?
No. Service scope, how to write to you, FAQs, and what a case actually covered must sit in selectable text. Search results and summaries are then less likely to describe the company wrong.
We cannot hire a full SEO team. What first?
Do the basics: one title per page that matches that page, one page that states the service, one public FAQ, and a sitemap submitted in Search Console. Then name one person who understands the system and maintains it. That beats buying a pile of keyword reports.
Talk about site structure Services
Sources: Google generative AI optimization guide; AI features and your website; practitioner feed @aleyda. Practical reading, not an official translation.