What does optimize mean and how is it done?

Optimizing means taking a flawed, incomplete, or inefficient part of any structure and reworking it so it performs the way it should. In digital marketing and GEO work, the word optimize covers improving content, technical infrastructure, user experience, and visibility potential across AI-powered search systems.

What does optimization actually do?

Optimization identifies and resolves the technical, content-related, or strategic issues that stand between you and your goal. On a website, many areas can be optimized: page speed, content quality, heading structure, citability, structured data, user experience, or AI crawler accessibility.

Done well, optimization delivers more than a performance boost. It also makes your brand easier to understand, more trustworthy, and more citable across AI-powered search systems.

What was Google Optimize?

The term "Google Optimize" can be confusing in two ways. It was the name of the A/B testing tool that Google shut down in September 2023. Making your website perform better in Google and AI-powered search experiences, on the other hand, falls under the visibility and GEO optimization covered in this article. We compare current alternatives to the discontinued tool in a separate guide.

What is GEO optimization?

GEO optimization means identifying and fixing the issues that prevent your website from being visible in AI-powered search systems, answer engines, and cited answer surfaces.

GEO optimization goes beyond ranking for specific keywords. It covers matching users' real prompt intent, making sure your content is understood through the right entity structure, becoming citable as a source, and analyzing how competitors are positioned in AI answers.

How is optimization done?

A website can need optimization in more than one area at once. Incorrect meta title tags can cause duplicate content issues. Pagination pages returning 404 status codes can hurt crawl efficiency. Missing structured data can make it harder for AI systems to understand your content. And content that lacks a clear answer structure can reduce its citability.

That is why the exact meaning of optimization depends on the problem at hand. A technical error calls for a technical fix, while content visibility requires evaluating prompt intent, topical coverage, heading structure, freshness, and source credibility together.

Tools for optimizing your website

Before optimizing any area of your project or website, start with research. That research can cover site crawls, content coverage analysis, prompt intent analysis, competitor visibility checks, and backlink and citation network reviews. Some tools that can help at this stage:

• Semrush
• Ahrefs
• Screaming Frog
• KWFinder
• DeepCrawl

Although these tools differ in structure, together they cover most of the data you need throughout a website optimization process. Use KWFinder for query and topic research, Ahrefs or Semrush for competitor visibility and backlink analysis, and Screaming Frog or DeepCrawl for technical crawls and page errors.