Neil Patel: 70% of SEO Teams Aren't Restructured for AI (And GEO Basics Are Still Missing)

28 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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In this presentation, Neil Patel highlights that roughly 70% of SEO teams—and many broader organizational divisions—have not been reorganized to fully leverage AI capabilities. He outlines two primary AI-driven approaches for SEO: (1) employing AI tools to boost efficiency and output, and (2) optimizing content for large language models (LLMs), a practice he calls Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Patel shares an anecdote about speaking to CMOs at a Fortune 100 company where Accenture presented on GEO, noting that most attendees lacked even the basic understanding needed for advanced strategies. He argues that without foundational AI readiness, organizations will need to undergo significant restructuring to stay competitive.

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70% of SEO teams haven't been restructured for AI. And I don't think it's just a marketing thing. Most divisions within an organization haven't been restructured for AI to leverage the technology, to harness it. With SEO, it's a little bit different because you have 2 angles. One is using the tools to be more efficient and increase output. The second is to actually go and optimize for these LLMs, right? Because we haven't seen too many organizations adapt. As well internally. And a great example of this is I was speaking at a Fortune 100 company, like literally at their offices to CMOs and marketing, and it was about GEO. They had Accenture give a talk. When Accenture gave the talk, they were like, we want to explain to you about GEO. This stands for Generative Engine Optimization. Imagine when you search on ChatGPT, What if your brand showed up for products related to your space? And they were just like, we kind of already know what a lot of this is. We were expecting you to come in with strategies and tactics, but the reason Accenture gave that talk, and I'm not trying to knock them, is most people don't have the basics even down, right? So it's like, if you don't have the basics down, then, you know, there's no point in talking about advanced stuff. And I think a lot of organizations are going to go through restructuring.