Generative engine optimization: What we know so far

SEO is changing. We’re entering a new era of search — the AI age — and with it comes generative engine optimization (GEO), the practice of optimizing content for AI-driven engines such as ChatGPT or Perplexity.

If we want our content to reach the right people, we need to adapt. There’s no need to throw out the SEO principles you’ve spent decades learning. Much of GEO is an extension of these techniques — and it’s not as scary as it sounds.

Let’s take a look at what we know about GEO so far.

Table of Contents

• What is generative engine optimization?
• GEO vs. SEO
• Why is GEO important?
• How does generative engine optimization work?
• How to Do Generative Engine Optimization
• Tips for Navigating the Generative SEO Landscape
• Generative Engine Optimization FAQ

The good news for SEO is that generative engines pull information directly from web content (as well as other sources) to deliver responses to user queries. They use large language models (LLMs) to make sense of the information scraped and provide coherent, relevant answers.

ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and Google AI Search are all examples of generative engines.

Generative engines work by:

1. Interpreting a user’s query.
2. Leveraging personal data it may have on the user, such as preferences or conversation history.
3. Searching to find relevant answers to the query
4. Synthesizing information from these documents into a straightforward response

If you’re new to generative search, start by using it yourself. Try HubSpot’s guide to using ChatGPT for work, which has over 100 prompts.

GEO vs. SEO

GEO and SEO are similar in many ways, as both find relevant, credible content to answer user inquiries. But they also have three key differences. Let’s explore the similarities and differences below.

GEO and SEO Similarities

These four similarities should bring optimism to SEOs because they suggest the good work done so far is transferable.

Designed to help users and provide helpful information.

Whether you’re searching on Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or something else entirely, what’s essential is that you can access the information you need in the easiest and shortest time possible.

One reason Google is so successful is that it has mastered a complex (and ever-changing) algorithm that sorts through content and delivers the best possible result to the person searching. Results meet search intent, and users get what they want.

Why this matters for GEO: If you’re dedicated to providing the best possible content, you have a good chance of gaining visibility in generative AI search engines. These tools need to source the best content to keep users returning.

High-quality content is your gateway to visibility.

High-quality content, in terms of landing pages, informational pages, well-thought-out service pages, etc., gets you visibility in generative search engines. As mentioned above, generative engines, like traditional search engines, pull information directly from web content.

Why this matters for GEO: If you’re achieving page one ranks in SEO, you’re likely producing high-quality content. This content will likely perform well in generative search engines, too.

This leads perfectly to my next point: E-E-A-T signals matter for SEO and GEO.

E-E-A-T signals are important in SEO and GEO.

To demonstrate how E-E-A-T is important for GEO and SEO, let me lead with an example.

If you search “CRM” in Google, you’ll see that HubSpot’s is ranked page one, rank three in the U.S.

I searched ChatGPT to see if HubSpot is recommended as a CRM. It is. HubSpot is the top recommendation in ChatGPT.

Why this matters for GEO: Ranking at the top of Google for any keyword doesn’t come easy. You need to meet a multitude of ranking factors and build E-E-A-T across your site.

Keywords and search terms still matter.

Although people search differently in traditional search engines versus generative search engines, there are similarities; users are inputting keywords and search terms.

While the input into generative search engines uses more natural language and conversation, there are still words and phrases that contextualize the search.

Why this matters for GEO: Understanding how and what people search, and then meeting search intent is still crucial.

GEO and SEO Differences

Now we understand some of the similarities, let’s look at how GEO differs from SEO.

Focus

GEO focuses on making content discoverable to AI, while SEO is about improving SERP rank.

While SEO is generally related to Google and Bing, there are lots of generative engines, so it’ll be interesting to see if different engines use different qualities to determine their sources.

Why this matters for GEO: There are nuances in how GEO and SEO work, and while focusing on GEO is becoming increasingly important, it’s not worth dropping your SEO efforts (yet, and maybe not ever). At the moment, people still use Google for the vast majority of searches. According to Edd Dawson, Google has five billion users versus ChatGPTs 200 million users.

Emphasis

The primary techniques for SEO emphasize things like backlinks and keywords, while GEO techniques emphasize structure.

An AI bot’s job is easier when it can pull clear, concise snippets that are easily synthesized, so it makes sense why structure would be an emphasis.

Chris Long, VP of marketing at Go Fish Digital, has done some testing on visibility in GEO, and his testing suggested that generative search engines do pull clear snippets. Long found success using bullet points.

In a LinkedIn post, he said, “In the past 6 months, we‘ve been doing a lot of testing around optimizing our brand for generative engine optimization. We’ve noticed how AI-driven search tends to pull in content that's extremely structured via bulleted lists, structured headings, and general listicle-style articles.”

Why this matters for GEO: If you’re dedicated to more visibility in generative AI search engines, it could be worth exploring page structure and seeing if it makes a difference.

Top tip: If you want to benchmark your current visibility in generative search engines, you could use HubSpot’s AI Search Grader. It shows you:

• Your brand's visibility and presence in AI.
• Strengths and weaknesses.
• Share of voice.
• And more.

The video below demonstrates how it works.

Use the grader to see where you are now and if anything changes once you GEO your pages.

Output

The key difference is the output of the engines.

GEO optimizes content for AI engines, which produce a summary as the output.

SEO, on the other hand, optimizes content for traditional search engines, which produce a ranked list of sources as the output.

How is GEO impacting SEO?

SEO experts worldwide have cited generative AI as the number one disruptor to SEO. So it’s worth understanding what experts suspect the impact will be.

I spoke with SEO expert Nick Baird to hear his thoughts on GEO and how it impacts SEO and marketing.

“Local SEO remains largely unaffected. When searching for a plumber or a dentist, they still need results tied to maps, reviews, and real-world proximity,” he said.

Secondly, Baird says informational searches have taken a noticeable hit and clicks have reduced.

“Click-through rates are down in places where AI can summarize quickly. For websites that rely on traffic from listicles or how-to content, traffic is definitely thinner.

“However, people still click through when they want depth or to verify that a source actually said what the AI is reporting. So while the volume of clicks may be down, it‘s still important to have quality content on one’s website.”

I agree with everything Baird has said here, though I will add that generative search engines also include map views featuring local businesses. The screenshot below shows what it looks like.

In my experience, many websites' top-funnel (ToFu) clicks have significantly dropped, but the focus should always be more on bottom-funnel clicks anyway.

You can still cover those ToFu topics where it makes sense, and you might find it helps your GEO. Just make sure it has a purpose other than clicks.

Why is GEO important?

In another HubSpot article about the future of SEO, experts shared their opinions and predictions about the future of AI and SEO.

One opinion that stands out to me is from Nate Tower, who stated (and supported with data) that conversions, by percentage, from LLMs are higher. Tower believes that people chat with AI and see the software more as a friend, which is one reason why conversions from GEO are higher.

Important note: While conversions are higher by percentage, we’re still dealing with small data sets. In terms of quantity, conversions are lower.

That said, it could be an indicator of what’s to come. If people respond well to GEO, you want your business to be visible.

Ultimately, people are using generative search to find answers to their questions and meet their needs. All indicators show that GEO isn’t going anywhere, so keeping up and earning visibility in GEO makes sense. Just remember to manage GEO with SEO.

How does generative engine optimization work?

Learning to use GEO is simpler than it sounds and, in many ways, is overlapped with best SEO practices. AI tools respond well to clear, well-structured information that it can easily synthesize.

This means you should:

1. Ensure your content is easy to read and understand.
2. Incorporate credible sources, quotes, and statistics to enhance the content’s richness and authority.
3. Structure your writing to align with the patterns used by generative engines.

When I’m writing an article, I focus on clear headings, concise paragraphs, lists, and well-sourced information. The same is true for best practices when it comes to SEO — so don’t worry about reinventing the wheel.

Other ways to improve GEO are using AI-friendly structured data, focusing on user intent, using easy-to-read/conversational language, and using unique words to make the content stand out.

These best practices aren’t all that different from SEO best practices. And, as with SEO, there’s no indication that AI-created content is ranking poorly.

If your content is high quality, you shouldn’t experience any sort of penalty for leveraging AI content tools, like the ones offered by HubSpot.

Source

How to Do Generative Engine Optimization

GEO is still very new, but we have some early learnings about what’s helping brands secure visibility in AI search.

I’m an SEO consultant working with brands. I’ve been tracking my clients’ visibility in AI search using Kyle Rushton McGregor’s AI report and data from G4.

As you can see from one client’s report, pictured below, AI visibility is growing. All of my clients have graphs that look similar to the one below: Visibility rises most sharply in Q4 2024 and continues.

A lot of my GEO success uses transferable SEO elements.

Here are the details.

Manage your brand narrative.

As we’ve established, generative engines pull information directly from web content. Whatever you or others are saying about your brand is what generative search can share. The content has to exist for generative search to display it.

If it’s possible, find an angle for your product or service.

Think:

• What do you do?
• What problems do you solve?
• Who do you solve problems for?

Remember, people searching in generative AI search engines are searching differently; they’re using more conversational language and getting very nuanced and long-tail.

Take a look at the example below. In generative search engines, products are recommended with links to product pages and a short rationale for why they’re suitable for the searcher's query.

In the image above, all the products listed in generative search have specific messaging about the query. In my experience, generative search relays the messages found commonly across the internet on a range of sources.

Top tip: I’ve mentioned this already, but do use HubSpot’s AI Search Grader to understand how your brand is perceived now and then monitor it as you improve your GEO.

Think about keywords and search terms.

For me, keyword research is still part of the GEO process. I like to know which keywords bring up AI overviews. If you know the features Google is displaying, then you can make an extra effort to secure visibility in them.

Take a look at the screenshot below. My client ranks several times in the AI overviews.

Here’s a breakdown of how keywords influenced this achievement:

• We researched keywords related to the topic.
• Like SEO, we led with one focus keyword (the one pictured).
• We developed a keyword cluster including related keywords and questions.
• An article was briefed using SEO best practices.
• We wrote an in-depth piece (more on this next).

Write great content.

Writing great content involves many components, many of which crossover heavily with SEO.

This is great news because if you’re already writing great content and seeing the results in the form of page one rankings in Google, in my experience, you’re likely getting visibility in generative search, too.

Here are some ways to write great content:

• Write content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T). Don’t be afraid to tell stories that showcase your experience in content.
• Cover topics in full. Generally, detailed articles perform better. Worry less about word count and keywords and more about topical coverage and detail. It’s tempting to create new pages for every topic, but some are better covered together. Learn about keyword intent to do this well.
• Think about NLP keywords. Generative search engines use natural language processing to summarize information and provide responses to prompts. Use natural, conversational language and incorporate NLP-related terms naturally to improve discoverability.
• Have experts write, or at least review, your content. You will have industry experts within your business, so make sure to include them in the writing process. Ask them for quotes, have them write content, and fetch new insights to make your article stand out.
• Answer real user questions, and don’t be afraid to think for yourself. You can use tools like AlsoAsked or Google’s People Also Ask to determine the questions your readers are asking. But you can’t beat your own research and sense of knowing your potential buyers.
• Be visual within your content with infographics, graphs, videos, and more. The more mediums a reader can digest your content, the better (within reason!). Skimmable content helps engage readers online.

Top tip: If you want to do the above, hire great writers; they do it naturally.

Structure your content for humans (and bots!)

Digital content changes how people read. Instead of settling down to read 2,000-word articles, many readers skim-read, looking for headings, bullet points, or images to tell a story.

Of course, many will still read an entire article, but when writing online, you’re looking for a way to hook your reader and draw their interest to the sections they most want to read. Equally, snippets of well-structured text follow patterns (like bullet points) that can be used by generative search engines.

Here are some ways to add more structure to your content:

• Bullet points summarize data.
• Logical heading hierarchy from H1 to H2, H3, and H4 are like the chapters of a book. Use them to help readers skim and bots gain context.
• Stick to short paragraphs where possible.
• Add images to break up sections. Bonus points if you add captions. A series of images with descriptive captions help readers digest your content quickly and succinctly.

Use schema markup.

I love schema markup! It’s not something your readers will notice since it lives in your site's code, but it does allow you to “communicate” with the bots, adding data and context to elements on your page.

We already know that Google uses schema markup to populate rich results, and I think it’s fairly safe to assume that AI overviews also use schema.

Here are some schema examples that might influence GEO:

• FAQs
• Product snippets
• Profile pages
• Q&As
• Recipes
• Review snippets
• Special announcements

Don’t be restricted by the above. There’s a trove of data waiting to be added to your site, and you can see what’s available at schema.org.

Tips for Navigating the Generative SEO Landscape

Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you start writing content for generative AI.

Cite sources and use statistics.

I asked Gemini what digital marketers who are hoping to create AI-scannable content should do, and it recommended that you:

• Write AI-scannable content.
• Diversify language and structure.
• Incorporate human elements such as humour.
• Write clearly.
• Showcase E-E-A-T.
• Include media.
• Understand SEO basics.
• Use tools cautiously.

While you can still use AI tools to write your content, it’s vital that it reads as useful, credible content. Incorporating E-E-A-T is a great way to increase credibility, and that serves to improve your entire domain’s authority.

So what exactly does E-E-A-T look like? I’ve been navigating the shift firsthand for my HubSpot posts.

I start by looking at my own personal experience:

• Do I have lived experience in the subject matter?
• Can I include any personal anecdotes about when I’ve encountered the topic?

Beyond that, I try to showcase my authority on a subject, noting how long I’ve worked in the field.

Obviously, I am not an expert in every topic I want to cover. In that case, I do extensive research:

• I find original statistics with verified information.
• I talk to experts whose quotes I can showcase throughout my work.

These elements enhance the credibility and uniqueness of my content.

Optimize for readability.

Think of AI like a busy student frantically looking for information to use in a paper.

They don’t have time to decipher complicated sentences. They want information that’s clear and easy to understand from the get-go. Which brings me to my next tip: Use clear, concise language and scannable paragraphs.

I’ll be honest: Writing short, clear sentences may not always be my first instinct. When I’m discussing a complicated topic, my first draft often includes lengthy explanations. I then use Hemingway, an app designed to help you write clearly.

Hemingway lets me know which sentences are lengthy, confusing, or overly complicated. I can’t always get every sentence to green, but I make an effort to correct phrases marked as “very hard to read.”

Source

Focus on content quality.

In the past, having the right keywords was enough to win in search. Let’s take a classic example: recipe blogs.

I remember searching for a brownie recipe for a party and finding a promising, top-ranking article.

When I clicked on it, I had to scroll past huge chunks of text about what goes into a brownie, when brownies became popular, how the author's kids loved the brownies, so on and so forth.

Why? The author knew having the word “brownie recipe” as many times as possible would help her rank.

Well, that may no longer be the case. In today’s landscape, knowing that the recipe has been passed down from older generations and won an award in a local competition would be enough to show credibility.

TL;DR: Make sure your content is relevant to potential search engines, and avoid keyword stuffing. Your audience cares more about the quality of your post.

Monitor trends and track your results.

Stay on top of AI engine evolution. GEO is a new technique, so expect best practices to emerge over time. Trends in the search landscape are continuously changing.

Right now, Google is prioritizing E-E-A-T, but that may change as AI overviews take over the scene. Keep an eye on the traffic and conversions of posts you’ve written using GEO best practices.

Generative Engine Optimization FAQ

What is GEO?

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is a method of improving your content’s visibility to AI generative engines, increasing its reach.

How do I structure my content for GEO?

Ensure your content is clear, well-organized, and has credible sources. Take advantage of lists and H2s and incorporate quotes and statistics when possible.

How do I check if my content is optimized for GEO?

Because GEO is so new, there aren’t many tools to measure how successful your content will be with AI generative engines. HubSpot’s AI Search Grader App is the only tool on the market that can scan your content for its GEO performance.

All you have to do is drop your URL into the grader. From there, you’ll have custom suggestions on what areas you can change to optimize your AI search performance.

That may include including more authority and personal experience or shifting the focus area of your page.

What is AI looking for in GEO content?

Large language models (LLMs) are looking for clear, well-structured information that they can pull and summarize to respond to user queries.

AI scanning works best for content that:

• Uses headers and lists.
• Incorporates expert quotes.
• Cites sources.
• Uses simple language and scannable paragraphs.

Is GEO going to replace SEO?

No — search engines aren’t going anywhere, so SEO isn’t, either. It’s best to consider GEO as an extension of SEO practices, as opposed to a replacement.

Best practices (like using H2s and credible citations) are shared between GEO and SEO, as are worst practices. Keyword stuffing, for example, has a negative impact on both SEO and GEO.

How can you measure GEO success?

Liam Carnahan, an SEO coach and content strategist, has a recommendation for how you can leverage existing tools to check if your article is getting picked up by AI engines.

“Of all the popular search-oriented options out there right now, Perplexity does the best job of citation,” Carnahan says.

He continues, “So when I‘m trying to understand whether LLMs are ‘enjoying’ my content, I’ll go there first, and type in questions and prompts I imagine people might ask, using keywords I know my content is ranking for, to see how often it shows up in citations there.”

Carnahan also notes that this isn‘t the most elegant solution, but “for now, it can give me a good idea about which of my clients’ content is ranking in AI results, and which content pieces are missing the mark.”

What’s next for GEO?

My biggest takeaway from exploring GEO is that it emphasizes different things, but in many ways, is similar to SEO. While SEO focuses on keyword optimization and backlinks, GEO focuses more on content structure.

Content writers are going to have to balance both, but thankfully, they click together well. I think we’re going to see clearer, more helpful content as a result of these two strategies — which is something I’m really excited about.

AI isn’t going anywhere. While we’re still learning how to use and measure GEO, it’s clear that keeping an eye on emerging techniques is going to be the key to success in the digital content world going forward.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

from Marketing https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/generative-engine-optimization

SEO is changing. We’re entering a new era of search — the AI age — and with it comes generative engine optimization (GEO), the practice of optimizing content for AI-driven engines such as ChatGPT or Perplexity.

If we want our content to reach the right people, we need to adapt. There’s no need to throw out the SEO principles you’ve spent decades learning. Much of GEO is an extension of these techniques — and it’s not as scary as it sounds.

Let’s take a look at what we know about GEO so far.

Table of Contents

• What is generative engine optimization?
• GEO vs. SEO
• Why is GEO important?
• How does generative engine optimization work?
• How to Do Generative Engine Optimization
• Tips for Navigating the Generative SEO Landscape
• Generative Engine Optimization FAQ

The good news for SEO is that generative engines pull information directly from web content (as well as other sources) to deliver responses to user queries. They use large language models (LLMs) to make sense of the information scraped and provide coherent, relevant answers.

ChatGPT, Perplexity AI, and Google AI Search are all examples of generative engines.

Generative engines work by:

1. Interpreting a user’s query.
2. Leveraging personal data it may have on the user, such as preferences or conversation history.
3. Searching to find relevant answers to the query
4. Synthesizing information from these documents into a straightforward response

If you’re new to generative search, start by using it yourself. Try HubSpot’s guide to using ChatGPT for work, which has over 100 prompts.

GEO vs. SEO

GEO and SEO are similar in many ways, as both find relevant, credible content to answer user inquiries. But they also have three key differences. Let’s explore the similarities and differences below.

GEO and SEO Similarities

These four similarities should bring optimism to SEOs because they suggest the good work done so far is transferable.

Designed to help users and provide helpful information.

Whether you’re searching on Google, Bing, ChatGPT, Perplexity, or something else entirely, what’s essential is that you can access the information you need in the easiest and shortest time possible.

One reason Google is so successful is that it has mastered a complex (and ever-changing) algorithm that sorts through content and delivers the best possible result to the person searching. Results meet search intent, and users get what they want.

Why this matters for GEO: If you’re dedicated to providing the best possible content, you have a good chance of gaining visibility in generative AI search engines. These tools need to source the best content to keep users returning.

High-quality content is your gateway to visibility.

High-quality content, in terms of landing pages, informational pages, well-thought-out service pages, etc., gets you visibility in generative search engines. As mentioned above, generative engines, like traditional search engines, pull information directly from web content.

Why this matters for GEO: If you’re achieving page one ranks in SEO, you’re likely producing high-quality content. This content will likely perform well in generative search engines, too.

This leads perfectly to my next point: E-E-A-T signals matter for SEO and GEO.

E-E-A-T signals are important in SEO and GEO.

To demonstrate how E-E-A-T is important for GEO and SEO, let me lead with an example.

If you search “CRM” in Google, you’ll see that HubSpot’s is ranked page one, rank three in the U.S.

I searched ChatGPT to see if HubSpot is recommended as a CRM. It is. HubSpot is the top recommendation in ChatGPT.

Why this matters for GEO: Ranking at the top of Google for any keyword doesn’t come easy. You need to meet a multitude of ranking factors and build E-E-A-T across your site.

Keywords and search terms still matter.

Although people search differently in traditional search engines versus generative search engines, there are similarities; users are inputting keywords and search terms.

While the input into generative search engines uses more natural language and conversation, there are still words and phrases that contextualize the search.

Why this matters for GEO: Understanding how and what people search, and then meeting search intent is still crucial.

GEO and SEO Differences

Now we understand some of the similarities, let’s look at how GEO differs from SEO.

Focus

GEO focuses on making content discoverable to AI, while SEO is about improving SERP rank.

While SEO is generally related to Google and Bing, there are lots of generative engines, so it’ll be interesting to see if different engines use different qualities to determine their sources.

Why this matters for GEO: There are nuances in how GEO and SEO work, and while focusing on GEO is becoming increasingly important, it’s not worth dropping your SEO efforts (yet, and maybe not ever). At the moment, people still use Google for the vast majority of searches. According to Edd Dawson, Google has five billion users versus ChatGPTs 200 million users.

Emphasis

The primary techniques for SEO emphasize things like backlinks and keywords, while GEO techniques emphasize structure.

An AI bot’s job is easier when it can pull clear, concise snippets that are easily synthesized, so it makes sense why structure would be an emphasis.

Chris Long, VP of marketing at Go Fish Digital, has done some testing on visibility in GEO, and his testing suggested that generative search engines do pull clear snippets. Long found success using bullet points.

In a LinkedIn post, he said, “In the past 6 months, we‘ve been doing a lot of testing around optimizing our brand for generative engine optimization. We’ve noticed how AI-driven search tends to pull in content that's extremely structured via bulleted lists, structured headings, and general listicle-style articles.”

Why this matters for GEO: If you’re dedicated to more visibility in generative AI search engines, it could be worth exploring page structure and seeing if it makes a difference.

Top tip: If you want to benchmark your current visibility in generative search engines, you could use HubSpot’s AI Search Grader. It shows you:

• Your brand's visibility and presence in AI.
• Strengths and weaknesses.
• Share of voice.
• And more.

The video below demonstrates how it works.

Use the grader to see where you are now and if anything changes once you GEO your pages.

Output

The key difference is the output of the engines.

GEO optimizes content for AI engines, which produce a summary as the output.

SEO, on the other hand, optimizes content for traditional search engines, which produce a ranked list of sources as the output.

How is GEO impacting SEO?

SEO experts worldwide have cited generative AI as the number one disruptor to SEO. So it’s worth understanding what experts suspect the impact will be.

I spoke with SEO expert Nick Baird to hear his thoughts on GEO and how it impacts SEO and marketing.

“Local SEO remains largely unaffected. When searching for a plumber or a dentist, they still need results tied to maps, reviews, and real-world proximity,” he said.

Secondly, Baird says informational searches have taken a noticeable hit and clicks have reduced.

“Click-through rates are down in places where AI can summarize quickly. For websites that rely on traffic from listicles or how-to content, traffic is definitely thinner.

“However, people still click through when they want depth or to verify that a source actually said what the AI is reporting. So while the volume of clicks may be down, it‘s still important to have quality content on one’s website.”

I agree with everything Baird has said here, though I will add that generative search engines also include map views featuring local businesses. The screenshot below shows what it looks like.

In my experience, many websites' top-funnel (ToFu) clicks have significantly dropped, but the focus should always be more on bottom-funnel clicks anyway.

You can still cover those ToFu topics where it makes sense, and you might find it helps your GEO. Just make sure it has a purpose other than clicks.

Why is GEO important?

In another HubSpot article about the future of SEO, experts shared their opinions and predictions about the future of AI and SEO.

One opinion that stands out to me is from Nate Tower, who stated (and supported with data) that conversions, by percentage, from LLMs are higher. Tower believes that people chat with AI and see the software more as a friend, which is one reason why conversions from GEO are higher.

Important note: While conversions are higher by percentage, we’re still dealing with small data sets. In terms of quantity, conversions are lower.

That said, it could be an indicator of what’s to come. If people respond well to GEO, you want your business to be visible.

Ultimately, people are using generative search to find answers to their questions and meet their needs. All indicators show that GEO isn’t going anywhere, so keeping up and earning visibility in GEO makes sense. Just remember to manage GEO with SEO.

How does generative engine optimization work?

Learning to use GEO is simpler than it sounds and, in many ways, is overlapped with best SEO practices. AI tools respond well to clear, well-structured information that it can easily synthesize.

This means you should:

1. Ensure your content is easy to read and understand.
2. Incorporate credible sources, quotes, and statistics to enhance the content’s richness and authority.
3. Structure your writing to align with the patterns used by generative engines.

When I’m writing an article, I focus on clear headings, concise paragraphs, lists, and well-sourced information. The same is true for best practices when it comes to SEO — so don’t worry about reinventing the wheel.

Other ways to improve GEO are using AI-friendly structured data, focusing on user intent, using easy-to-read/conversational language, and using unique words to make the content stand out.

These best practices aren’t all that different from SEO best practices. And, as with SEO, there’s no indication that AI-created content is ranking poorly.

If your content is high quality, you shouldn’t experience any sort of penalty for leveraging AI content tools, like the ones offered by HubSpot.

Source

How to Do Generative Engine Optimization

GEO is still very new, but we have some early learnings about what’s helping brands secure visibility in AI search.

I’m an SEO consultant working with brands. I’ve been tracking my clients’ visibility in AI search using Kyle Rushton McGregor’s AI report and data from G4.

As you can see from one client’s report, pictured below, AI visibility is growing. All of my clients have graphs that look similar to the one below: Visibility rises most sharply in Q4 2024 and continues.

A lot of my GEO success uses transferable SEO elements.

Here are the details.

Manage your brand narrative.

As we’ve established, generative engines pull information directly from web content. Whatever you or others are saying about your brand is what generative search can share. The content has to exist for generative search to display it.

If it’s possible, find an angle for your product or service.

Think:

• What do you do?
• What problems do you solve?
• Who do you solve problems for?

Remember, people searching in generative AI search engines are searching differently; they’re using more conversational language and getting very nuanced and long-tail.

Take a look at the example below. In generative search engines, products are recommended with links to product pages and a short rationale for why they’re suitable for the searcher's query.

In the image above, all the products listed in generative search have specific messaging about the query. In my experience, generative search relays the messages found commonly across the internet on a range of sources.

Top tip: I’ve mentioned this already, but do use HubSpot’s AI Search Grader to understand how your brand is perceived now and then monitor it as you improve your GEO.

Think about keywords and search terms.

For me, keyword research is still part of the GEO process. I like to know which keywords bring up AI overviews. If you know the features Google is displaying, then you can make an extra effort to secure visibility in them.

Take a look at the screenshot below. My client ranks several times in the AI overviews.

Here’s a breakdown of how keywords influenced this achievement:

• We researched keywords related to the topic.
• Like SEO, we led with one focus keyword (the one pictured).
• We developed a keyword cluster including related keywords and questions.
• An article was briefed using SEO best practices.
• We wrote an in-depth piece (more on this next).

Write great content.

Writing great content involves many components, many of which crossover heavily with SEO.

This is great news because if you’re already writing great content and seeing the results in the form of page one rankings in Google, in my experience, you’re likely getting visibility in generative search, too.

Here are some ways to write great content:

• Write content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authority, and trust (E-E-A-T). Don’t be afraid to tell stories that showcase your experience in content.
• Cover topics in full. Generally, detailed articles perform better. Worry less about word count and keywords and more about topical coverage and detail. It’s tempting to create new pages for every topic, but some are better covered together. Learn about keyword intent to do this well.
• Think about NLP keywords. Generative search engines use natural language processing to summarize information and provide responses to prompts. Use natural, conversational language and incorporate NLP-related terms naturally to improve discoverability.
• Have experts write, or at least review, your content. You will have industry experts within your business, so make sure to include them in the writing process. Ask them for quotes, have them write content, and fetch new insights to make your article stand out.
• Answer real user questions, and don’t be afraid to think for yourself. You can use tools like AlsoAsked or Google’s People Also Ask to determine the questions your readers are asking. But you can’t beat your own research and sense of knowing your potential buyers.
• Be visual within your content with infographics, graphs, videos, and more. The more mediums a reader can digest your content, the better (within reason!). Skimmable content helps engage readers online.

Top tip: If you want to do the above, hire great writers; they do it naturally.

Structure your content for humans (and bots!)

Digital content changes how people read. Instead of settling down to read 2,000-word articles, many readers skim-read, looking for headings, bullet points, or images to tell a story.

Of course, many will still read an entire article, but when writing online, you’re looking for a way to hook your reader and draw their interest to the sections they most want to read. Equally, snippets of well-structured text follow patterns (like bullet points) that can be used by generative search engines.

Here are some ways to add more structure to your content:

• Bullet points summarize data.
• Logical heading hierarchy from H1 to H2, H3, and H4 are like the chapters of a book. Use them to help readers skim and bots gain context.
• Stick to short paragraphs where possible.
• Add images to break up sections. Bonus points if you add captions. A series of images with descriptive captions help readers digest your content quickly and succinctly.

Use schema markup.

I love schema markup! It’s not something your readers will notice since it lives in your site's code, but it does allow you to “communicate” with the bots, adding data and context to elements on your page.

We already know that Google uses schema markup to populate rich results, and I think it’s fairly safe to assume that AI overviews also use schema.

Here are some schema examples that might influence GEO:

• FAQs
• Product snippets
• Profile pages
• Q&As
• Recipes
• Review snippets
• Special announcements

Don’t be restricted by the above. There’s a trove of data waiting to be added to your site, and you can see what’s available at schema.org.

Tips for Navigating the Generative SEO Landscape

Here are a few tips to keep in mind as you start writing content for generative AI.

Cite sources and use statistics.

I asked Gemini what digital marketers who are hoping to create AI-scannable content should do, and it recommended that you:

• Write AI-scannable content.
• Diversify language and structure.
• Incorporate human elements such as humour.
• Write clearly.
• Showcase E-E-A-T.
• Include media.
• Understand SEO basics.
• Use tools cautiously.

While you can still use AI tools to write your content, it’s vital that it reads as useful, credible content. Incorporating E-E-A-T is a great way to increase credibility, and that serves to improve your entire domain’s authority.

So what exactly does E-E-A-T look like? I’ve been navigating the shift firsthand for my HubSpot posts.

I start by looking at my own personal experience:

• Do I have lived experience in the subject matter?
• Can I include any personal anecdotes about when I’ve encountered the topic?

Beyond that, I try to showcase my authority on a subject, noting how long I’ve worked in the field.

Obviously, I am not an expert in every topic I want to cover. In that case, I do extensive research:

• I find original statistics with verified information.
• I talk to experts whose quotes I can showcase throughout my work.

These elements enhance the credibility and uniqueness of my content.

Optimize for readability.

Think of AI like a busy student frantically looking for information to use in a paper.

They don’t have time to decipher complicated sentences. They want information that’s clear and easy to understand from the get-go. Which brings me to my next tip: Use clear, concise language and scannable paragraphs.

I’ll be honest: Writing short, clear sentences may not always be my first instinct. When I’m discussing a complicated topic, my first draft often includes lengthy explanations. I then use Hemingway, an app designed to help you write clearly.

Hemingway lets me know which sentences are lengthy, confusing, or overly complicated. I can’t always get every sentence to green, but I make an effort to correct phrases marked as “very hard to read.”

Source

Focus on content quality.

In the past, having the right keywords was enough to win in search. Let’s take a classic example: recipe blogs.

I remember searching for a brownie recipe for a party and finding a promising, top-ranking article.

When I clicked on it, I had to scroll past huge chunks of text about what goes into a brownie, when brownies became popular, how the author's kids loved the brownies, so on and so forth.

Why? The author knew having the word “brownie recipe” as many times as possible would help her rank.

Well, that may no longer be the case. In today’s landscape, knowing that the recipe has been passed down from older generations and won an award in a local competition would be enough to show credibility.

TL;DR: Make sure your content is relevant to potential search engines, and avoid keyword stuffing. Your audience cares more about the quality of your post.

Monitor trends and track your results.

Stay on top of AI engine evolution. GEO is a new technique, so expect best practices to emerge over time. Trends in the search landscape are continuously changing.

Right now, Google is prioritizing E-E-A-T, but that may change as AI overviews take over the scene. Keep an eye on the traffic and conversions of posts you’ve written using GEO best practices.

Generative Engine Optimization FAQ

What is GEO?

Generative engine optimization (GEO) is a method of improving your content’s visibility to AI generative engines, increasing its reach.

How do I structure my content for GEO?

Ensure your content is clear, well-organized, and has credible sources. Take advantage of lists and H2s and incorporate quotes and statistics when possible.

How do I check if my content is optimized for GEO?

Because GEO is so new, there aren’t many tools to measure how successful your content will be with AI generative engines. HubSpot’s AI Search Grader App is the only tool on the market that can scan your content for its GEO performance.

All you have to do is drop your URL into the grader. From there, you’ll have custom suggestions on what areas you can change to optimize your AI search performance.

That may include including more authority and personal experience or shifting the focus area of your page.

What is AI looking for in GEO content?

Large language models (LLMs) are looking for clear, well-structured information that they can pull and summarize to respond to user queries.

AI scanning works best for content that:

• Uses headers and lists.
• Incorporates expert quotes.
• Cites sources.
• Uses simple language and scannable paragraphs.

Is GEO going to replace SEO?

No — search engines aren’t going anywhere, so SEO isn’t, either. It’s best to consider GEO as an extension of SEO practices, as opposed to a replacement.

Best practices (like using H2s and credible citations) are shared between GEO and SEO, as are worst practices. Keyword stuffing, for example, has a negative impact on both SEO and GEO.

How can you measure GEO success?

Liam Carnahan, an SEO coach and content strategist, has a recommendation for how you can leverage existing tools to check if your article is getting picked up by AI engines.

“Of all the popular search-oriented options out there right now, Perplexity does the best job of citation,” Carnahan says.

He continues, “So when I‘m trying to understand whether LLMs are ‘enjoying’ my content, I’ll go there first, and type in questions and prompts I imagine people might ask, using keywords I know my content is ranking for, to see how often it shows up in citations there.”

Carnahan also notes that this isn‘t the most elegant solution, but “for now, it can give me a good idea about which of my clients’ content is ranking in AI results, and which content pieces are missing the mark.”

What’s next for GEO?

My biggest takeaway from exploring GEO is that it emphasizes different things, but in many ways, is similar to SEO. While SEO focuses on keyword optimization and backlinks, GEO focuses more on content structure.

Content writers are going to have to balance both, but thankfully, they click together well. I think we’re going to see clearer, more helpful content as a result of these two strategies — which is something I’m really excited about.

AI isn’t going anywhere. While we’re still learning how to use and measure GEO, it’s clear that keeping an eye on emerging techniques is going to be the key to success in the digital content world going forward.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in August 2024 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

via Perfecte news Non connection

Why you shouldn't buy Instagram followers (& what experts say to do instead)

You might know your Instagram content is good, but imagine how much better it will seem if it looks like 10,000 people agree.

Whether you’re trying to become a social media celebrity or simply looking to spread brand awareness on Instagram, it can be tempting to take shortcuts wherever you can in order to expand your audience, including 'buying' Instagram followers.

Here, I’m covering all the questions you have about buying Instagram followers. I’ve also explored the pros and cons, so you can decide for yourself if it’s a good move for your brand.

Table of Contents

• Can you buy Instagram followers?
• How to Buy Instagram Followers
• Why You Shouldn't Buy Instagram Followers
• Risks of Fake Followers
• Alternatives to Buying Instagram Followers
• Buying Instagram followers FAQs

1,000 followers seems like a good deal for the price of a small Starbucks latte. But of course, if it really was that cheap and easy, everyone would be doing it.

So what’s the catch? Is buying Instagram followers legal and safe for your business? Is it a worthwhile investment? And how much do these fake followers cost anyway?

How much do Instagram followers cost?

The price you pay for Instagram followers can range from a few dollars to thousands, depending on how many you buy and how often you buy them.

I’ve seen a few websites offer different types of followers to purchase (like active profiles vs. bots), and the price differs for each. 

Remember that buying followers violates Instagram’s Community Guidelines, so the price you pay could be more than monetary.

Buying followers could cost you your Instagram account, at worst, and at a minimum, decrease in engagement and reach.

How to Buy Instagram Followers

The vast majority of purchasable followers are either bots or inactive accounts. Here's how it works:

The Fake Follower Vendors

Instagram has cracked down on accounts that violate its terms of service, but it’s still relatively easy to buy Instagram followers nowadays. 

You simply conduct a search, choose a vendor whose price range you like, and wait for it to deliver the bots—sorry, I mean followers—to your account.

I won’t link to any here because I don’t think you should buy Instagram followers, but if your final decision is to buy them, then a simple Google search will get you what you need. 

But what happens once you’ve paid for your followers?

Sellers roll out your followers over time to not alert Instagram that something fishy is going on (which is a red flag).

Assuming the vendor is legitimate (as legitimate as can be for this type of service) you’ll wait anywhere from a few minutes to a few days for your followers to trickle in. Some sellers let you pick a delivery schedule for your followers to arrive.

Once you have your brand new automated followers, I wouldn’t expect much. Engagement is not guaranteed (or even likely), and you’re mostly paying for a number despite having purchased them.

Instagram Bots

Instagram bots are everywhere, and some companies have automated the process of creating bots so well that they can sell them as followers. Bots might even assume the identity of a real person, using stolen images and names.

Some services might offer organic dummy accounts, running on automation to share and like content. Some might even produce content.

But, because they’re not really people, the follow-to-follower ratio will not look organic, and the engagement they produce will have little impact. 

Without real followers who engage, your posts are essentially hidden from everyone except your inauthentic audience.

Plus, your bot followers won’t discuss your brand with their friends or family because they don’t exist in real life (no offense, bots).

Inactive Accounts

Some companies sell followers in the form of genuine accounts managed by real people. Typically, their only goal is to get followed in return, so while they might engage initially, they’ll ultimately become dormant once they get a follow-back or simply go inactive. 

After all, if their account was created for the sole purpose of fulfilling sponsorship requests, the real person behind the account has little reason to dwell on the newsfeed, interact with content, or purchase the goods and services being advertised.

You’re left with inflated follower counts but none of the value that true organic followers will bring. 

Demographic Accounts

In addition to buying followers directly, you can also pay services to strategically follow other accounts on your behalf based on your preferences (location, hashtag usage, account type, and gender).

Ideally, those followed accounts will then follow you back.

With this option, your followers are more likely to be real people, but engagement is still unlikely. Since you can't even guarantee these accounts will follow you back, it’s a risky investment.

Most accounts won’t follow you back, and even if they do, they probably aren’t going to be long-term, loyal, or active followers.

Here’s how I can put it simply: any engagement you get from buying followers will taper off over time. 

Purchased Instagram followers also provide no long-term value to your profile's content or your Instagram marketing strategy.

You might get views, likes, and comments early on, but attention does nothing in terms of helping you understand and report on your Instagram performance. 

Engagement is also a key factor in how Instagram’s algorithm displays posts to users. Without likes or comments, real people probably won’t see your posts in their feed, especially not on Explore Pages. 

Below I’ll go over a few more reasons why I wouldn’t recommend buying Instagram followers.

Why You Shouldn't Buy Instagram Followers

1. You wont know if your content sucks. 

I know this sounds harsh, but it’s true: the worst thing about buying followers is that you won’t know if your content sucks.

Likes from fake followers don’t mean someone likes your content, and comments might not even be related to what you’ve posted. 

If a majority of your followers are bought, there’s a pretty good chance that the content you continue to share won’t meet the needs of or be interesting to your real human followers because fake accounts overshadow their engagement.

You might actually turn your real followers away if they get tired of seeing posts that aren’t relatable. 

With real followers, you can build an effective Instagram strategy that actually helps you meet your goals. You share content, see how followers interact with it and adjust to better meet their needs. The feedback you get from real people on Instagram is what helps you succeed on the app.

2. Fake followers don't help to build real influence or sales.

Purchased followers are usually bots or inactive accounts, so you’re not reaching people who are interested in your brand, products, or content.

For businesses, they won’t buy from you; for aspiring influencers, you can’t actually influence or inspire fake accounts. This means your follower count looks bigger, but you gain no value such as sales, genuine referrals, or meaningful interactions from them.

3. You might get spam or inappropriate bot comments.

Many fake followers or bots may post irrelevant, inappropriate, or even embarrassing comments on your posts (sometimes in languages you don’t understand or containing spam and ads). This could make your page look unprofessional or off-putting to legitimate followers and brands considering working with you.

And I've seen comments like these get even more pesky. Not only are they annoying to scroll through, but sometimes bot comments can aim to redirect users to another profile looking to make money off you or anyone looking for exposure. For example, take a look at this screenshot from a gaming IG page:

Source

Which, if you ask me, that doesn't quite align with what you're aiming for when growing your audience.

Risks of Fake Followers

1. Fake followers could hurt your credibility.

A high follower count might convince users to follow you organically, but it’s not guaranteed. 

I tend to follow accounts if I like their content, not based on their number of followers. I wouldn’t be convinced to follow an account if I hated its posts but saw it had 1M followers. I’d decide it wasn’t for me and move along. 

Think of it this way: would you keep following an account if you saw that most of its “loyal audience” was made up of inactive accounts or bots? I’m guessing not. 

One of the biggest benefits to Instagram is being able to build trust, community, and relationships with your audience.

If people realize you have fake followers, you can damage that trust. You might lose real followers and risk people wondering if they should be skeptical of anything related to your brand/business overall.

2. Your engagement rate can suffer.

Fake followers are typically inactive or automated accounts, meaning they don't engage with content (liking, commenting, sharing). This drastically reduces the engagement rate (a key metric for Instagram's algorithm and for brands looking to collaborate). Low engagement is a red flag for Instagram, which may result in the platform limiting the reach of posts.

And on a personal level, I'd rather spend money on improving my content to meet my target audience than spend money so my content can reach an artificial crowd.

3. Your account can face suspension or ban.

If you’re buying followers, you’re violating Instagram’s community guidelines, which read: “Help us stay spam-free by not artificially collecting likes, followers, or shares, posting repetitive comments or content, or repeatedly contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent…”

If you violate Community Guidelines, Instagram has the right to take action against your account, which can be anything from actually losing your account to getting suspended. 

While it doesn’t really take that long to buy Instagram followers, the time, energy, and money you’d spend on buying them is much better spent focusing on creating an Instagram marketing strategy that helps you interact and build genuine relationships with a real audience.

If your content is good, your loyal followers will engage with you, no bribes necessary.

Alternatives to Buying Instagram Followers

Looking for an alternative to buying Instagram Followers? Look no further than, well, creating an Instagram marketing strategy, and using good Instagram marketing practices. 

By doing both, you can better reach the nearly 2 billion monthly active users and build an authentic audience that gives authentic engagement. 

Here are some alternatives I suggest.

1. Make your account public.

First, make your account public so that users can see your profile and content. This way, you can grow your audience organically when your content pops up on users' explore pages, attracting and delighting your target viewership.

You can easily make your account public by unchecking the Private Account Box in your Privacy and Security settings.

2. Engage with other Instagram users. 

Results from the Instagram Engagement Survey I ran found that, overall, marketers say the most effective strategy for growing your following. Interacting with your audience is also the most popular Instagram marketing strategy.

Source

Whether you like, comment, save, or share their posts, every interaction counts for you and them.

Instagram’s algorithm favors engagement, which means the more you interact (and the more people interact with you), the more likely it will be that your content appears on more news feeds.

That means more visibility and growth for your page.

It also pays off: marketers told me that interacting with your audience brings in the second-highest ROI of all strategies. 

Source

Engagement in Action

GoSimplified does a great job of responding to comments on its posts. This example shows that the comments don't have to be detailed or long, but a simple acknowledgment goes a long way for engagement.

Source

Pro tip: Before you go overboard, remember that Instagram does have a limit to this “rule.” There have been cases where the social media platform blocked users from engaging with content if they liked and commented on more than a few hundred posts in an hour.

3. Give users a reason to follow you by publishing quality content.

You really won’t gain followers unless you’re sharing high-quality content.

When it comes to the type of content to post, results from that same survey show that Instagram marketers most often share content that showcases a brand's products/services, funny content, and relatable/authentic content.

The top three remain the same regarding ROI (which includes engagement). 

Whatever type of content you choose to share, you can do it in the form of images, GIFs, Reels, videos, Boomerangs, quizzes on your story, how-tos, user-generated content (UGC), and so much more.

Source

Depending on your brand personality, it can help to be funny or witty in your content, especially since consumers say funny content is the most memorable type of content brands can post on social media. 

Whatever kind of content you share, aim to build trust and excitement among your followers by using high-quality photos, writing catchy captions, posting consistently, and keeping up a unique style to differentiate yourself from other accounts. 

Overall, being aware of how your brand is perceived and the trends on Instagram will help you choose content to post and interact with your Instagram community.

Quality Content in Action

HeytonyTV became an overnight viral sensation during the pandemic when he released skits where he plays the role of a school administrator.

In a short period of time, he amassed hundreds of thousands of followers who couldn't get enough of his creativity and wholesome, nostalgic humor.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Antonio Neville (@heytonytv)

You don't have to be a comedian to gain followers, though. Being relatable and providing value to your audience is the number one goal. When looking at the top Instagram posts of all time, the content is engaging and relatable, rallying followers to like, comment, and share these posts.

My pro tip: Most marketers use organic content over paid content and say that organic content is best for growing your following. Why not leverage their advice?

4. Set a regular posting schedule. 

In my survey, I also asked Instagram marketers for their top recommendation for gaining the first 1K followers on Instagram, and the number one result was setting a regular posting schedule.

This makes sense to me: the more content you share, the more visible you are, and the more visible you are, the more engagement you get, and so on. 

Source

To drive home the importance of posting consistently, those same marketers said that not posing enough is the #1 reason they’ve lost followers. 

Source

I understand that reaching the first 1K followers on Instagram can be challenging. It requires patience, as it most often takes 4 to 6 months for a brand to go from zero to 1K followers on Instagram.

It’s not a huge amount of time, but it is enough that I get why the alternative of buying followers is more appealing. But, as I mentioned, those fake followers bring in fake engagement, which doesn’t help you meet your goals.

5. Try Instagram Reels.

In terms of key engagement metrics, marketers told us that Reels shine in terms of getting reach/views and impressions.

This makes sense because Reels are known for increasing the reach of a post beyond the audience that already follows you. 

So, Reels are a great opportunity for your content to attract people who don’t follow you but already engage with similar posts. 

A bonus is that consumers care more that the content they see is authentic and relatable vs. having a high production value, so you don’t need an expensive camera and editing set up to start posting Reels. 

To get started, I recommend recording a simple video, adding a few relevant hashtags, and choosing a trending sound. Even if you don’t see an immediate bump in followers, consistency and monitoring view counts let you know how many people are watching and what people enjoy the most.

Reels in Action

Hickory Lane Home uses Reels to show her followers more relatable content that draws the viewer in. As a result, the comments are flooded with relatable responses and amusement that you just can't get from purchased followers.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Hallie | Home Interiors (@hickorylanehome)

6. Use Instagram stories.

The audience for Instagram stories is simply waiting and watching for the next viral video or meme to slide across their screens. What makes stories arguably even better for growth than the traditional Instagram feed is the ability for users to interact with the content in a story.

Polls, quizzes, and questions on Stories are engagement magnets — the more people interact with those elements, the more people Instagram will share your story with. Marketers who leverage Stories say they share them multiple times per week (33%) — 14% post multiple times per day.

Leverage their advice to get the most out of engagement when sharing Stories on your profile. 

Stories in Action

RMW.Home uses a series of stories to gauge her audience's taste in home decor. Not only does this help her understand her audience better, but the polls are also helping expand the reach of her story and her profile to potential followers.

7. Use hashtags.

But don’t start adding random hashtags to all your content. You’ll need a hashtag strategy to target the right people.

Do research on which hashtags generate a lot of buzz and which are aligned with your brand. The key for hashtags is to be intentional.

Ideally, I recommend using a mix of broad and niche hashtags to reach your entire potential audience.

For example, a broad hashtag like #recipe can help you gain exposure, and one like #tacorecipe can help you meet a more specific audience. 

The maximum amount of hashtags you can use is 30, and the sweet spot for Instagram hashtags is between 6 and 11.

That might seem like a lot, but if you have a strategy for using them, you’ll likely find more than 30 that will work for you, and you can switch up the ones you use post-by-post. 

Source

Hashtags in Action

Take a look at the hashtag #dogsofinstagram for example. With over a quarter of a million posts, this hashtag has the potential to reach a wide audience.However, it's a great idea to pair that hashtag with a smaller, niche one like #ridgebackpuppy to reach people who love your particular breed of dog.

8. Conduct market research.

Each of the alternatives we mentioned above is native to the Instagram app.

However, a solid Instagram strategy begins with comprehensive market research, and there's no shortcut to hearing directly from your audience about what content they want to see.

We also conduct our own market research to dive deep into Instagram and how it’s used. Here are some high-quality pieces I recommend reading: 

• 2024 Instagram Engagement Report
• 100+ Instagram Stats You Need to Know in 2024
• The HubSpot Blog’s 2024 Instagram Marketing Report [Data from 600+ Instagram Marketers] 

Market Research in Action

Stephanie Morgan, Founder and CEO at Social Lock stands by market research as an alternative to buying followers and says, "The alternative to buying followers is doing market research on what your ideal customer will resonate with, then posting that content in order to naturally accumulate [a] large following."

Check out her methods for conducting market research on Instagram in the image below.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Social Media Manager 🔒 (@sociallock)

Buying Instagram followers FAQs

So we know you can buy followers on Instagram. But I really wouldn’t recommend it. The followers you can buy are typically bots or inactive accounts, and 99% of the time, they don’t engage with the content you share. Here's some final questions to consider before you make the purchase.

Is it illegal to buy Instagram followers?

It’s not illegal to buy Instagram followers, but it violates the community guidelines you agree to when signing up for an account.

A section of its guidelines says, “Help us stay spam-free by not artificially collecting likes, followers, or shares, posting repetitive comments or content, or repeatedly contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent.” 

Instagram monitors for community guidelines violations and says overstepping them can result in deleted content, your account being disabled, or other possible restrictions. Multiple violations can lead to account deletion. 

Will Instagram ban you for buying followers? 

Your Instagram account can be disabled (banned) for buying followers. Instagram wants to be spam-free, and it considers buying followers spammy behavior.

Violating guidelines leads to account restrictions (like losing access to features) or your account being disabled. 

Why would someone want to buy Instagram followers?

Someone trying to succeed on Instagram might turn to buy followers because a high follower count can lend credibility, and brands/accounts/influencers who are seen as trustworthy are more likely to gain followers.

The more followers you have (if they’re real), the more engagement you’ll have, and higher engagement is favored by the algorithm and brings even more visibility. 

How much do you pay for Instagram followers?

How much you pay for Instagram followers depends on where you buy them.

When I search ‘buy Instagram followers’ on Google, prices listed on the top result are $2.25 for 50 ‘real’ followers, or $1.50 for 50 ‘high quality’ followers.

Which I find funny because I would hope that, if I’m buying followers, they would be both real and high-quality. 

Can people tell if you buy Instagram followers?

I think it’s easy to tell if someone has bought Instagram followers because the ratios are off. They’ll have a high follower count, but the engagement (likes and comments) doesn’t match up.

For example, if an account has 10K followers but averages less than 200 likes per picture, it could be a sign that something is up.

There’s a Better Way to Grow on Instagram

Instagram has been one of the fastest-growing social media platforms for several years and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. 

I understand the pressure and temptation you might feel to keep up with growth by buying followers, but if you’ve made it to the conclusion, you can probably tell I don’t recommend buying Instagram followers. 

The repercussions are too great (you can lose your account entirely), and these fake followers don’t help you reach your desired engagement benchmarks.

The alternatives I mentioned above will help you navigate a path toward organic follower growth that's more valuable than 10,000 fake followers could ever be.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

from Marketing https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/buy-instagram-followers

You might know your Instagram content is good, but imagine how much better it will seem if it looks like 10,000 people agree.

Whether you’re trying to become a social media celebrity or simply looking to spread brand awareness on Instagram, it can be tempting to take shortcuts wherever you can in order to expand your audience, including 'buying' Instagram followers.

Here, I’m covering all the questions you have about buying Instagram followers. I’ve also explored the pros and cons, so you can decide for yourself if it’s a good move for your brand.

Table of Contents

• Can you buy Instagram followers?
• How to Buy Instagram Followers
• Why You Shouldn't Buy Instagram Followers
• Risks of Fake Followers
• Alternatives to Buying Instagram Followers
• Buying Instagram followers FAQs

1,000 followers seems like a good deal for the price of a small Starbucks latte. But of course, if it really was that cheap and easy, everyone would be doing it.

So what’s the catch? Is buying Instagram followers legal and safe for your business? Is it a worthwhile investment? And how much do these fake followers cost anyway?

How much do Instagram followers cost?

The price you pay for Instagram followers can range from a few dollars to thousands, depending on how many you buy and how often you buy them.

I’ve seen a few websites offer different types of followers to purchase (like active profiles vs. bots), and the price differs for each. 

Remember that buying followers violates Instagram’s Community Guidelines, so the price you pay could be more than monetary.

Buying followers could cost you your Instagram account, at worst, and at a minimum, decrease in engagement and reach.

How to Buy Instagram Followers

The vast majority of purchasable followers are either bots or inactive accounts. Here's how it works:

The Fake Follower Vendors

Instagram has cracked down on accounts that violate its terms of service, but it’s still relatively easy to buy Instagram followers nowadays. 

You simply conduct a search, choose a vendor whose price range you like, and wait for it to deliver the bots—sorry, I mean followers—to your account.

I won’t link to any here because I don’t think you should buy Instagram followers, but if your final decision is to buy them, then a simple Google search will get you what you need. 

But what happens once you’ve paid for your followers?

Sellers roll out your followers over time to not alert Instagram that something fishy is going on (which is a red flag).

Assuming the vendor is legitimate (as legitimate as can be for this type of service) you’ll wait anywhere from a few minutes to a few days for your followers to trickle in. Some sellers let you pick a delivery schedule for your followers to arrive.

Once you have your brand new automated followers, I wouldn’t expect much. Engagement is not guaranteed (or even likely), and you’re mostly paying for a number despite having purchased them.

Instagram Bots

Instagram bots are everywhere, and some companies have automated the process of creating bots so well that they can sell them as followers. Bots might even assume the identity of a real person, using stolen images and names.

Some services might offer organic dummy accounts, running on automation to share and like content. Some might even produce content.

But, because they’re not really people, the follow-to-follower ratio will not look organic, and the engagement they produce will have little impact. 

Without real followers who engage, your posts are essentially hidden from everyone except your inauthentic audience.

Plus, your bot followers won’t discuss your brand with their friends or family because they don’t exist in real life (no offense, bots).

Inactive Accounts

Some companies sell followers in the form of genuine accounts managed by real people. Typically, their only goal is to get followed in return, so while they might engage initially, they’ll ultimately become dormant once they get a follow-back or simply go inactive. 

After all, if their account was created for the sole purpose of fulfilling sponsorship requests, the real person behind the account has little reason to dwell on the newsfeed, interact with content, or purchase the goods and services being advertised.

You’re left with inflated follower counts but none of the value that true organic followers will bring. 

Demographic Accounts

In addition to buying followers directly, you can also pay services to strategically follow other accounts on your behalf based on your preferences (location, hashtag usage, account type, and gender).

Ideally, those followed accounts will then follow you back.

With this option, your followers are more likely to be real people, but engagement is still unlikely. Since you can't even guarantee these accounts will follow you back, it’s a risky investment.

Most accounts won’t follow you back, and even if they do, they probably aren’t going to be long-term, loyal, or active followers.

Here’s how I can put it simply: any engagement you get from buying followers will taper off over time. 

Purchased Instagram followers also provide no long-term value to your profile's content or your Instagram marketing strategy.

You might get views, likes, and comments early on, but attention does nothing in terms of helping you understand and report on your Instagram performance. 

Engagement is also a key factor in how Instagram’s algorithm displays posts to users. Without likes or comments, real people probably won’t see your posts in their feed, especially not on Explore Pages. 

Below I’ll go over a few more reasons why I wouldn’t recommend buying Instagram followers.

Why You Shouldn't Buy Instagram Followers

1. You wont know if your content sucks. 

I know this sounds harsh, but it’s true: the worst thing about buying followers is that you won’t know if your content sucks.

Likes from fake followers don’t mean someone likes your content, and comments might not even be related to what you’ve posted. 

If a majority of your followers are bought, there’s a pretty good chance that the content you continue to share won’t meet the needs of or be interesting to your real human followers because fake accounts overshadow their engagement.

You might actually turn your real followers away if they get tired of seeing posts that aren’t relatable. 

With real followers, you can build an effective Instagram strategy that actually helps you meet your goals. You share content, see how followers interact with it and adjust to better meet their needs. The feedback you get from real people on Instagram is what helps you succeed on the app.

2. Fake followers don't help to build real influence or sales.

Purchased followers are usually bots or inactive accounts, so you’re not reaching people who are interested in your brand, products, or content.

For businesses, they won’t buy from you; for aspiring influencers, you can’t actually influence or inspire fake accounts. This means your follower count looks bigger, but you gain no value such as sales, genuine referrals, or meaningful interactions from them.

3. You might get spam or inappropriate bot comments.

Many fake followers or bots may post irrelevant, inappropriate, or even embarrassing comments on your posts (sometimes in languages you don’t understand or containing spam and ads). This could make your page look unprofessional or off-putting to legitimate followers and brands considering working with you.

And I've seen comments like these get even more pesky. Not only are they annoying to scroll through, but sometimes bot comments can aim to redirect users to another profile looking to make money off you or anyone looking for exposure. For example, take a look at this screenshot from a gaming IG page:

Source

Which, if you ask me, that doesn't quite align with what you're aiming for when growing your audience.

Risks of Fake Followers

1. Fake followers could hurt your credibility.

A high follower count might convince users to follow you organically, but it’s not guaranteed. 

I tend to follow accounts if I like their content, not based on their number of followers. I wouldn’t be convinced to follow an account if I hated its posts but saw it had 1M followers. I’d decide it wasn’t for me and move along. 

Think of it this way: would you keep following an account if you saw that most of its “loyal audience” was made up of inactive accounts or bots? I’m guessing not. 

One of the biggest benefits to Instagram is being able to build trust, community, and relationships with your audience.

If people realize you have fake followers, you can damage that trust. You might lose real followers and risk people wondering if they should be skeptical of anything related to your brand/business overall.

2. Your engagement rate can suffer.

Fake followers are typically inactive or automated accounts, meaning they don't engage with content (liking, commenting, sharing). This drastically reduces the engagement rate (a key metric for Instagram's algorithm and for brands looking to collaborate). Low engagement is a red flag for Instagram, which may result in the platform limiting the reach of posts.

And on a personal level, I'd rather spend money on improving my content to meet my target audience than spend money so my content can reach an artificial crowd.

3. Your account can face suspension or ban.

If you’re buying followers, you’re violating Instagram’s community guidelines, which read: “Help us stay spam-free by not artificially collecting likes, followers, or shares, posting repetitive comments or content, or repeatedly contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent…”

If you violate Community Guidelines, Instagram has the right to take action against your account, which can be anything from actually losing your account to getting suspended. 

While it doesn’t really take that long to buy Instagram followers, the time, energy, and money you’d spend on buying them is much better spent focusing on creating an Instagram marketing strategy that helps you interact and build genuine relationships with a real audience.

If your content is good, your loyal followers will engage with you, no bribes necessary.

Alternatives to Buying Instagram Followers

Looking for an alternative to buying Instagram Followers? Look no further than, well, creating an Instagram marketing strategy, and using good Instagram marketing practices. 

By doing both, you can better reach the nearly 2 billion monthly active users and build an authentic audience that gives authentic engagement. 

Here are some alternatives I suggest.

1. Make your account public.

First, make your account public so that users can see your profile and content. This way, you can grow your audience organically when your content pops up on users' explore pages, attracting and delighting your target viewership.

You can easily make your account public by unchecking the Private Account Box in your Privacy and Security settings.

2. Engage with other Instagram users. 

Results from the Instagram Engagement Survey I ran found that, overall, marketers say the most effective strategy for growing your following. Interacting with your audience is also the most popular Instagram marketing strategy.

Source

Whether you like, comment, save, or share their posts, every interaction counts for you and them.

Instagram’s algorithm favors engagement, which means the more you interact (and the more people interact with you), the more likely it will be that your content appears on more news feeds.

That means more visibility and growth for your page.

It also pays off: marketers told me that interacting with your audience brings in the second-highest ROI of all strategies. 

Source

Engagement in Action

GoSimplified does a great job of responding to comments on its posts. This example shows that the comments don't have to be detailed or long, but a simple acknowledgment goes a long way for engagement.

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Pro tip: Before you go overboard, remember that Instagram does have a limit to this “rule.” There have been cases where the social media platform blocked users from engaging with content if they liked and commented on more than a few hundred posts in an hour.

3. Give users a reason to follow you by publishing quality content.

You really won’t gain followers unless you’re sharing high-quality content.

When it comes to the type of content to post, results from that same survey show that Instagram marketers most often share content that showcases a brand's products/services, funny content, and relatable/authentic content.

The top three remain the same regarding ROI (which includes engagement). 

Whatever type of content you choose to share, you can do it in the form of images, GIFs, Reels, videos, Boomerangs, quizzes on your story, how-tos, user-generated content (UGC), and so much more.

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Depending on your brand personality, it can help to be funny or witty in your content, especially since consumers say funny content is the most memorable type of content brands can post on social media. 

Whatever kind of content you share, aim to build trust and excitement among your followers by using high-quality photos, writing catchy captions, posting consistently, and keeping up a unique style to differentiate yourself from other accounts. 

Overall, being aware of how your brand is perceived and the trends on Instagram will help you choose content to post and interact with your Instagram community.

Quality Content in Action

HeytonyTV became an overnight viral sensation during the pandemic when he released skits where he plays the role of a school administrator.

In a short period of time, he amassed hundreds of thousands of followers who couldn't get enough of his creativity and wholesome, nostalgic humor.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Antonio Neville (@heytonytv)

You don't have to be a comedian to gain followers, though. Being relatable and providing value to your audience is the number one goal. When looking at the top Instagram posts of all time, the content is engaging and relatable, rallying followers to like, comment, and share these posts.

My pro tip: Most marketers use organic content over paid content and say that organic content is best for growing your following. Why not leverage their advice?

4. Set a regular posting schedule. 

In my survey, I also asked Instagram marketers for their top recommendation for gaining the first 1K followers on Instagram, and the number one result was setting a regular posting schedule.

This makes sense to me: the more content you share, the more visible you are, and the more visible you are, the more engagement you get, and so on. 

Source

To drive home the importance of posting consistently, those same marketers said that not posing enough is the #1 reason they’ve lost followers. 

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I understand that reaching the first 1K followers on Instagram can be challenging. It requires patience, as it most often takes 4 to 6 months for a brand to go from zero to 1K followers on Instagram.

It’s not a huge amount of time, but it is enough that I get why the alternative of buying followers is more appealing. But, as I mentioned, those fake followers bring in fake engagement, which doesn’t help you meet your goals.

5. Try Instagram Reels.

In terms of key engagement metrics, marketers told us that Reels shine in terms of getting reach/views and impressions.

This makes sense because Reels are known for increasing the reach of a post beyond the audience that already follows you. 

So, Reels are a great opportunity for your content to attract people who don’t follow you but already engage with similar posts. 

A bonus is that consumers care more that the content they see is authentic and relatable vs. having a high production value, so you don’t need an expensive camera and editing set up to start posting Reels. 

To get started, I recommend recording a simple video, adding a few relevant hashtags, and choosing a trending sound. Even if you don’t see an immediate bump in followers, consistency and monitoring view counts let you know how many people are watching and what people enjoy the most.

Reels in Action

Hickory Lane Home uses Reels to show her followers more relatable content that draws the viewer in. As a result, the comments are flooded with relatable responses and amusement that you just can't get from purchased followers.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Hallie | Home Interiors (@hickorylanehome)

6. Use Instagram stories.

The audience for Instagram stories is simply waiting and watching for the next viral video or meme to slide across their screens. What makes stories arguably even better for growth than the traditional Instagram feed is the ability for users to interact with the content in a story.

Polls, quizzes, and questions on Stories are engagement magnets — the more people interact with those elements, the more people Instagram will share your story with. Marketers who leverage Stories say they share them multiple times per week (33%) — 14% post multiple times per day.

Leverage their advice to get the most out of engagement when sharing Stories on your profile. 

Stories in Action

RMW.Home uses a series of stories to gauge her audience's taste in home decor. Not only does this help her understand her audience better, but the polls are also helping expand the reach of her story and her profile to potential followers.

7. Use hashtags.

But don’t start adding random hashtags to all your content. You’ll need a hashtag strategy to target the right people.

Do research on which hashtags generate a lot of buzz and which are aligned with your brand. The key for hashtags is to be intentional.

Ideally, I recommend using a mix of broad and niche hashtags to reach your entire potential audience.

For example, a broad hashtag like #recipe can help you gain exposure, and one like #tacorecipe can help you meet a more specific audience. 

The maximum amount of hashtags you can use is 30, and the sweet spot for Instagram hashtags is between 6 and 11.

That might seem like a lot, but if you have a strategy for using them, you’ll likely find more than 30 that will work for you, and you can switch up the ones you use post-by-post. 

Source

Hashtags in Action

Take a look at the hashtag #dogsofinstagram for example. With over a quarter of a million posts, this hashtag has the potential to reach a wide audience.However, it's a great idea to pair that hashtag with a smaller, niche one like #ridgebackpuppy to reach people who love your particular breed of dog.

8. Conduct market research.

Each of the alternatives we mentioned above is native to the Instagram app.

However, a solid Instagram strategy begins with comprehensive market research, and there's no shortcut to hearing directly from your audience about what content they want to see.

We also conduct our own market research to dive deep into Instagram and how it’s used. Here are some high-quality pieces I recommend reading: 

• 2024 Instagram Engagement Report
• 100+ Instagram Stats You Need to Know in 2024
• The HubSpot Blog’s 2024 Instagram Marketing Report [Data from 600+ Instagram Marketers] 

Market Research in Action

Stephanie Morgan, Founder and CEO at Social Lock stands by market research as an alternative to buying followers and says, "The alternative to buying followers is doing market research on what your ideal customer will resonate with, then posting that content in order to naturally accumulate [a] large following."

Check out her methods for conducting market research on Instagram in the image below.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by Social Media Manager 🔒 (@sociallock)

Buying Instagram followers FAQs

So we know you can buy followers on Instagram. But I really wouldn’t recommend it. The followers you can buy are typically bots or inactive accounts, and 99% of the time, they don’t engage with the content you share. Here's some final questions to consider before you make the purchase.

Is it illegal to buy Instagram followers?

It’s not illegal to buy Instagram followers, but it violates the community guidelines you agree to when signing up for an account.

A section of its guidelines says, “Help us stay spam-free by not artificially collecting likes, followers, or shares, posting repetitive comments or content, or repeatedly contacting people for commercial purposes without their consent.” 

Instagram monitors for community guidelines violations and says overstepping them can result in deleted content, your account being disabled, or other possible restrictions. Multiple violations can lead to account deletion. 

Will Instagram ban you for buying followers? 

Your Instagram account can be disabled (banned) for buying followers. Instagram wants to be spam-free, and it considers buying followers spammy behavior.

Violating guidelines leads to account restrictions (like losing access to features) or your account being disabled. 

Why would someone want to buy Instagram followers?

Someone trying to succeed on Instagram might turn to buy followers because a high follower count can lend credibility, and brands/accounts/influencers who are seen as trustworthy are more likely to gain followers.

The more followers you have (if they’re real), the more engagement you’ll have, and higher engagement is favored by the algorithm and brings even more visibility. 

How much do you pay for Instagram followers?

How much you pay for Instagram followers depends on where you buy them.

When I search ‘buy Instagram followers’ on Google, prices listed on the top result are $2.25 for 50 ‘real’ followers, or $1.50 for 50 ‘high quality’ followers.

Which I find funny because I would hope that, if I’m buying followers, they would be both real and high-quality. 

Can people tell if you buy Instagram followers?

I think it’s easy to tell if someone has bought Instagram followers because the ratios are off. They’ll have a high follower count, but the engagement (likes and comments) doesn’t match up.

For example, if an account has 10K followers but averages less than 200 likes per picture, it could be a sign that something is up.

There’s a Better Way to Grow on Instagram

Instagram has been one of the fastest-growing social media platforms for several years and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. 

I understand the pressure and temptation you might feel to keep up with growth by buying followers, but if you’ve made it to the conclusion, you can probably tell I don’t recommend buying Instagram followers. 

The repercussions are too great (you can lose your account entirely), and these fake followers don’t help you reach your desired engagement benchmarks.

The alternatives I mentioned above will help you navigate a path toward organic follower growth that's more valuable than 10,000 fake followers could ever be.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in March 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

via Perfecte news Non connection