What’s the Best Operating Model for GEO?

Should your organization build an internal Generative Engine Optimization team, hire contractors, or partner with an agency? There is no universally correct answer.

The right GEO execution model depends on the capabilities you already have, how quickly you need to move, how complicated your organization is, and whether someone can coordinate the many disciplines that now influence visibility in generative search.

GEO isn’t the first time marketers have needed to ask themselves this question. I’ve spent 10 years building and leading internal marketing departments — including growing the SEO function at American Greeting from a team of one into a full department — and another 10 years on the agency and contractor side, working to be the kind of strategic, accountable partner I’d always wanted as a client. Having sat on every side of this table, I’ve felt firsthand the strengths, limitations, and hidden responsibilities of each model.

Here is how I would evaluate them for GEO.

How to Build a GEO team 

For many organizations, the answer to “what is the best operating model for GEO?” will eventually be a hybrid:

• An internal leader owns the strategy and organizational relationships.
• An agency provides integrated expertise, execution capacity, measurement, and cross-functional support.
• Contractors fill narrow or highly specialized capability gaps.

But that does not mean every company needs all three.

An internal team may be enough when the organization already has mature SEO, content, PR, development, analytics, and change capabilities.

Contractors may be enough when the strategy is established; the assignments are clearly defined, and a strong internal leader can coordinate their work.

An agency may be the strongest starting point when the company needs to build its GEO strategy, establish a baseline, integrate multiple disciplines, educate the organization, and execute at the same time.

The decision should be based on what the organization needs the operating model to accomplish.

What Does GEO Execution Actually Require? 

GEO is often described as a content or search discipline, but effective execution may involve much more.

Depending on the company and customer journey, GEO can touch:

• SEO and technical search foundations
• Content strategy and editorial production
• Public relations and earned authority
• Brand positioning and entity consistency
• Social and community insights
• Web development
• Product and business data
• Analytics and experimentation
• Conversion strategy
• Legal and regulatory review
• Customer experience
• Internal education and adoption

Google’s official guidance for its generative search features continues to emphasize familiar search fundamentals, including accessibility, indexability, useful content, page experience, structured data accuracy, and strong visual and product information. Google also cautions marketers that many purported GEO shortcuts are unsupported.

Other generative systems expose different mechanisms and different amounts of data. Microsoft’s AI Performance reporting includes citations and cited pages within supported Microsoft AI experiences, while OpenAI provides instructions for allowing OAI-SearchBot and tracking referrals from ChatGPT.

A GEO operating model therefore needs to do more than produce content. It needs to connect strategy, execution, technology, authority, measurement, and learning.

GEO Agency vs. Internal Team vs. Contractors

Choosing between an internal team, contractors, and an agency is rarely as simple as comparing a few line items. The real differences show up in how work gets coordinated, who owns the hard problems, and whether the right expertise is in the room when decisions get made. The table below maps out the key considerations:

The table makes the models look cleanly separated. In reality, the quality of the people and operating practices matters more than whether they are internal, a contractor or an agency.

In reality, the experience of the people and the strength of the team’s operating practices matters more than internal vs. external. A strong internal team will outperform a disconnected agency. An integrated agency will outperform a loosely managed collection of specialists.

The goal is to understand which responsibilities you are gaining and which ones you are keeping.

Aren’t sure where to get started with GEO? Check out our free GEO Assessment tool.