How mature is your GEO program? Just took a maturity assessment and we're apparently at Level 2 of 5

Level 2 is actually where most companies are. You’re not behind - you’re normal.

Industry benchmarks (from 200+ assessments):

The Level 3 milestone:

Level 3 is where you start seeing significant business impact. That should be your near-term target.

What differentiates Level 2 from Level 3:

Your path forward:

Focus on the biggest gap first (Authority at 1.9) - it’s pulling down your overall score and limiting AI citations.

Let me share our assessment framework in detail.

The five dimensions, 25 criteria:

Strategic Foundation (5 criteria):

• Documented GEO strategy
• Dedicated budget allocation
• Cross-functional team or owner
• Executive sponsorship
• Competitive GEO analysis

Content Optimization (5 criteria):

• Q&A structured content
• Semantic topic clusters
• Conversational language
• Clear information hierarchy
• Regular content updates

Technical Implementation (5 criteria):

• Comprehensive schema markup
• AI crawler access
• Core Web Vitals optimized
• Mobile optimization
• Content rendering verification

Authority Building (5 criteria):

• Author credentials displayed
• Original research/data
• Thought leadership content
• Third-party citations
• Industry recognition

Measurement (5 criteria):

• AI visibility tracking
• Competitive benchmarking
• Attribution modeling
• Regular reporting
• Optimization feedback loop

Scoring:

Each criterion: 0 (not started) to 1 (fully implemented) Sum criteria per dimension, divide by 5 = dimension score Average all dimensions = overall maturity level

Measurement maturity is where most programs fail. Here’s how to level up:

Level 2 measurement (basic):

• Manual AI visibility checks
• No competitive tracking
• Basic traffic reporting
• No attribution

Level 3 measurement (optimized):

• Automated citation tracking (Am I Cited or similar)
• Competitive share-of-voice monitoring
• AI platform-specific reporting
• Basic attribution (AI-influenced conversions)

Level 4 measurement (integrated):

• Predictive analytics
• Multi-touch attribution
• Revenue attribution
• Real-time dashboards

Our measurement stack:

The measurement ROI:

Investment in measurement infrastructure enabled us to:

• Prove GEO ROI to leadership
• Justify budget increases
• Prioritize high-impact work
• Catch issues early

Without measurement, you’re optimizing blind.

Enterprise perspective on maturity progression:

Our journey:

Time to level up:

• Level 1 → 2: 3-6 months
• Level 2 → 3: 6-12 months
• Level 3 → 4: 12-18 months
• Level 4 → 5: 18-24 months

What accelerated our progress:

1. Executive champion: CMO made GEO a priority
2. Dedicated resources: Not “added to SEO’s plate”
3. Quick wins: Early results built momentum
4. Measurement: Data convinced skeptics

What slowed us down:

1. Organizational silos
2. Budget debates
3. Measurement challenges
4. Talent gaps

Maturity improvement is as much about organization as tactics.

Content optimization maturity often limits overall GEO performance.

Content maturity progression:

Level 2 → 3 content improvements:

1. Topic clusters: Group related content with clear pillar pages
2. Semantic relationships: Link concepts, not just keywords
3. Comprehensive coverage: Address full user intent
4. Multiple formats: Same topic in different structures
5. Regular updates: Quarterly content refresh

Our content audit revealed:

• 60% of content was keyword-focused (Level 1)
• 30% was Q&A structured (Level 2)
• 10% was semantically rich (Level 3)

Action:

Prioritized upgrading top 20% of content to Level 3 structure. That 20% drove 80% of our AI citations.

Technical maturity assessment checklist:

Level 1 (Basic):

• Site is crawlable
• HTTPS implemented
• Mobile responsive

Level 2 (Foundation):

• Basic schema (Article, Organization)
• AI crawlers not blocked
• Core Web Vitals in “Good” range
• Sitemap submitted

Level 3 (Optimization):

• Comprehensive schema (FAQ, HowTo, Author)
• Schema validation passing
• llms.txt implemented
• Server-side rendering
• Structured internal linking

Level 4 (Integration):

• Automated schema generation
• Real-time performance monitoring
• AI crawler activity tracking
• Predictive performance optimization

Level 5 (Advanced):

• Dynamic schema optimization
• AI-specific content delivery
• Predictive crawl optimization

Common blockers at each level:

Level 1→2: Schema implementation skills Level 2→3: JavaScript rendering issues Level 3→4: Automation infrastructure Level 4→5: Data science capabilities

How to prioritize maturity improvements:

The impact vs effort matrix:

Our 90-day maturity improvement plan:

Month 1 (Quick wins):

• Add author bios to all content
• Implement FAQ schema on top 20 pages
• Set up basic AI visibility tracking

Month 2 (Foundation):

• Restructure 10 key pieces for Q&A format
• Begin competitive monitoring
• Document GEO strategy

Month 3 (Momentum):

• Launch thought leadership content series
• Implement comprehensive schema
• Establish monthly reporting

Expected improvement: Level 2.4 → Level 3.0 in 90 days

This discussion gave me a clear improvement roadmap. Summary:

Current state:

Level 2.4 overall, with Authority (1.9) as biggest gap

Target state:

Level 3.0+ within 6 months

Improvement plan by dimension:

Priority actions (next 90 days):

1. Week 1-2: Author bios on all content
2. Week 3-4: FAQ schema implementation
3. Week 5-6: Set up Am I Cited tracking
4. Week 7-8: Begin original research project
5. Week 9-12: Content restructuring program

Investment required:

• Tools: $500/month (tracking)
• Content: $15K (research project)
• Time: 20 hours/week dedicated

Expected ROI:

At Level 3, expecting 3:1 to 5:1 ROI based on benchmarks shared.

Tracking:

• Monthly maturity re-assessment
• Weekly AI citation monitoring
• Quarterly business impact review

Thanks everyone for the frameworks and benchmarks. Level 3 here we come.