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You can build a great product, write great content or be great at your job, and still be invisible if nobody can find you. Search engines and AI assistants both decide who to show. As a digital marketer and tutor, I see talented people lose opportunities every week simply because their online presence is unclear. Here is how to make sure it is you who gets found.

SEO and GEO in One Minute

SEO (search engine optimization) is how you help pages rank on Google and similar engines. Google’s own SEO Starter Guide explains that it is mostly about helping search engines understand your content and helping people decide whether your page is right for them.

GEO (generative engine optimization) is how you help AI assistants understand, trust and cite your content when they answer questions. Google also publishes guidance on how your content appears in its AI features, and the core message is reassuring: good SEO practice is still the foundation.

They overlap more than they differ. Clear, accurate, well-structured content wins in both. No one can guarantee that an AI tool will cite you, but you can make it easy for them to do so.

Seven Practical Steps to Rank on Google and in AI Search

1. Choose a main keyword per page

Think of what someone would type to find you. For my own work, that might be a short-tail phrase like “health tech speaker” or a long-tail one like “health tech speaker Cameroon” or “social media marketing tutor for beginners.” Long-tail keywords are less competitive and bring people who know what they want.

2. Write a clear title and meta description

The title should contain your keyword, and the description (about 155 characters) should explain the benefit of clicking. Google may rewrite it, but a good meta description still improves your chances, as its guide to snippets explains.

3. Use headings that answer questions

A heading like “How do I start in health tech?” helps both people and AI tools, because it matches how people actually search and ask assistants.

4. Say who you are plainly

Put your name, role, location and what you do in the first paragraph of your About page. For example: “I am Akwo Trinity, a midwife-trained health-tech founder and digital marketer based in Cameroon.” No riddles, no vague slogans.

5. Keep your details consistent

Use the same name, bio and job titles on your website, LinkedIn and speaker profiles so search tools can connect them. If you are “CEO” in one place and “freelancer” in another, you look like two different people.

6. Publish real experience

Case studies, numbers and first-hand stories are harder to copy than generic advice. Google’s guidance on helpful, people-first content highlights first-hand experience and expertise as signs of quality. When I wrote about building Mommity, real results made the story credible.

7. Earn links and mentions

Speaking at events, guest posts and being listed in partner pages all signal trust. Every credible page that mentions you adds weight to your name.

Common SEO Mistakes to Avoid

• Leaving the meta description empty. You give up control of what people see in results.
• Using photos without alt text. Alt text helps accessibility and image search, as Google’s image guidance explains.
• Writing for search engines instead of for a person. Stuffing keywords makes content unreadable and does not help you.
• Publishing once and never updating. Outdated pages lose trust. Mine at akwotrinity.com is a reminder to keep refreshing.

A Simple Test You Can Do Today

Search your own name and your main service. If the results are missing, outdated or wrong, you know what to fix first. You can also ask an AI assistant who you are and what you do, and see whether the answer is accurate.

Then follow this order: fix your homepage, then your About page, then publish one blog post a month. Free tools like Google Search Console show you which searches already bring people to your site, and Moz’s Beginner’s Guide to SEO is a good next read.

Final Thought: Clarity Beats Budget

You do not need a big budget to be found. You need clarity, consistency and content that helps people. Do those well, and both Google and AI assistants will have good reasons to point to you.

If you want to follow more of my digital marketing and health tech work, connect with me on LinkedIn.