The GEO Scramble Is Real. So Is the Budget Problem.

2026-09-23 — SME marketing Bengaluru

I watched a freelancer on our team get three GEO requests last week. Three. Six months ago, she'd get maybe one a quarter.

That shift — from "nice to know" to "we need this now" — is becoming real in the data. More freelance search specialists are reporting rising demand for generative engine optimization than for traditional Google search optimization. One survey of hundreds of top-rated freelancers found 67% saw more GEO requests, versus 56% seeing more Google SEO work.

Which sounds like it's time to ditch Google SEO entirely. It's not.

Here's the messy part that most consultants get wrong, including us sometimes. The specialists surveyed still name traditional search as the stronger long-term investment. They're recommending clients fund both, not choose one. Visibility now means showing up in results across both systems. The freelancers aren't confused about this. They're just telling us where the immediate pressure is coming from.

Actually, that's not quite right. Let me reframe. The pressure isn't coming from clients who've thought this through. It's coming from retailers who panicked. They read that ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews are eating search traffic, and now they want someone to make their site show up in AI answers. Yesterday. For less money than SEO costs.

Which brings us to the hardest part of the conversation.

Clients expect lower prices when AI is involved. Sixty-one percent of search specialists report this. Not "they'd prefer lower prices." Not "some clients negotiate." They expect it as a baseline, the way they expect a discount when you mention automation.

This mismatch — between rising demand and shrinking budgets — is where the real work sits. Getting a brand to show up in AI answers isn't just about discovery. Retailers are starting to understand that once a shopper finds their brand, they still have to earn that shopper's trust. That takes time and expertise. It's not cheaper. But try telling that to a client who just learned that AI search exists.

The market is moving. GEO is getting hired faster than traditional search optimization. But the investment case for both isn't settled yet, and the price war is just getting started.

Source: "Specialists still name traditional search the stronger long-term investment and recommend retailers invest in both rather than choosing one over the other." — GlobeNewswire