If you've noticed a dip in your website traffic over the past year, you're not imagining it. Google changed the game — and most businesses don't even know it yet.
In 2025, Google rolled out AI Overviews across nearly half of all search queries, a 58% year-over-year increase. What that means in plain English: Google now answers your customers' questions directly at the top of the search results page, before they even see your website listing. Click-through rates for top-ranking pages dropped by as much as 64% when an AI Overview appeared above them.
The old SEO playbook — stuff in some keywords, build a few backlinks, wait six months — is officially dead. So what actually works now?
The New Game: Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)
GEO is the evolution of SEO for the AI era. Instead of just trying to rank on page one, the new goal is to become a source that Google's AI, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI engines actually quote and reference when answering questions.
To do that, your content needs to be structured so that AI systems can read, trust, and cite it. That means clear headings, direct answers to specific questions, authoritative writing, and what Google calls E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.
What This Means for Accountants in the UK and USA
If you're an accounting firm, your clients are searching things like 'best accountant for a small business near me' or 'what can I claim as a tax deduction this year' — and AI is answering those questions. The firms that show up in those AI answers are the ones with well-structured, authoritative content on their website. The ones that don't? Invisible.
Research from Whitehat SEO confirms that SEO delivers the lowest cost per lead for accountants — between £15 and £35 — and inbound SEO leads convert at 14.6%, compared to just 1.7% for outbound methods. The ROI case is enormous. But only if your strategy is built for 2026, not 2019.
How Triomatic Approaches This
We build GEO-ready content strategies from the ground up. That includes structured service pages, FAQ sections written to match conversational search queries, and blog content that establishes your authority in your specific niche and location. We don't just get you traffic — we get you cited.