What's a realistic timeline for seeing GEO results? Boss wants improvements next quarter

Here’s the realistic timeline framework I use with clients:

GEO Timeline Phases:

Phase 1: Foundation (Weeks 1-4) Quick wins possible:

• Technical fixes (robots.txt, schema) - Days
• Content restructuring - Weeks
• Monitoring setup - Days
• Initial content updates - Weeks

Phase 2: Initial Traction (Months 1-3) Early signals:

• RAG-based platform improvements (Perplexity) - 4-8 weeks
• Google AI Overview changes - 6-12 weeks
• ChatGPT Search improvements - 4-8 weeks
• Baseline metrics established

Phase 3: Meaningful Growth (Months 3-6) Real results:

• Consistent citation improvements
• Share of voice gains
• Traffic from AI platforms
• Competitive positioning shifts

Phase 4: Authority Establishment (Months 6-12) Compounding effects:

• Training data influence (future models)
• Category leadership in AI citations
• Sustained competitive advantage

What you can promise for next quarter:

• Foundation complete
• Monitoring in place
• Early citation improvements
• Clear trajectory established

What you can’t promise:

• Competitive dominance
• Training data inclusion
• Massive traffic shifts

Agency perspective on setting GEO expectations:

What I tell clients:

“GEO is like SEO - it compounds over time. Quick wins are possible, but sustainable competitive advantage takes 6-12 months.”

The expectation conversation:

1. Month 1: Setup, audit, foundation. No visible results expected.

2. Month 2-3: Early signals. Some citation improvements. “Proof of concept.”

3. Month 4-6: Real growth. Measurable traffic. Competitive movement.

4. Month 7-12: Authority building. Compounding returns. Market position.

Red flags in client expectations:

• “We need to dominate AI search by next quarter” - Unrealistic
• “Can we skip the foundation work?” - Recipe for failure
• “Why isn’t this faster?” - Misunderstanding AI systems

Healthy expectations:

• “We’ll see progress indicators by month 3”
• “Meaningful results by month 6”
• “Competitive position by month 12”

The comparison:

GEO timelines are similar to SEO timelines. Anyone expecting faster is misinformed about how AI systems work.

Data from 20 GEO implementations:

Average timeline to results:

Factors that speed things up:

1. Strong existing authority - 20% faster
2. Good technical foundation - 15% faster
3. Dedicated resources - 25% faster
4. Already in AI training data - 30% faster

Factors that slow things down:

1. Weak third-party presence - 30% slower
2. Technical debt - 20% slower
3. Inconsistent effort - 40% slower
4. New/unknown brand - 25% slower

Your timeline depends on starting point.

Get an honest assessment of where you are, then set expectations accordingly.

For showing early progress, here are the fastest wins:

Immediately (Days):

• Fix AI crawler access (robots.txt)
• Add schema markup to key pages
• Start AI monitoring

Week 1-2:

• Audit and fix brand consistency
• Add FAQ sections to top pages
• Implement FAQPage schema

Week 3-4:

• Restructure top 10 pages for AI extraction
• Launch G2/Capterra review push
• Create first original research piece

What these deliver:

By week 4, you can show:

• “We fixed X technical blockers”
• “We restructured X pages for AI”
• “We’re now tracking citations (here’s baseline)”
• “Early Perplexity citations are appearing”

The story:

“We’ve laid the foundation. Early indicators are positive. Bigger results coming.”

Quick wins build stakeholder confidence while longer-term work progresses.

CMO perspective on managing these conversations:

How I frame GEO timelines to boards:

“This is infrastructure investment, not performance marketing. We’re building visibility in an emerging channel.”

The comparison I use:

“Remember when we invested in SEO? It took 12-18 months to see significant results, but now it drives 40% of our pipeline. GEO is similar - invest now, reap rewards later.”

The metrics evolution:

• Month 1-3: Activity metrics (what we did)
• Month 4-6: Leading indicators (early signals)
• Month 7-12: Outcome metrics (real results)

What kills GEO programs:

1. Pulling resources after month 2 (“where are the results?”)
2. Unrealistic quarterly expectations
3. Comparing to paid advertising speed
4. Not tracking leading indicators

What sustains them:

1. Clear timeline communication upfront
2. Activity + leading indicator reporting
3. Patience with appropriate accountability
4. Celebration of early wins

This gives me what I need for the leadership conversation.

My communication plan:

Setting expectations:

“GEO is like SEO - it’s an investment that compounds. Here’s our realistic timeline:

• Q1: Foundation + early signals
• Q2: Measurable improvements
• Q3-Q4: Competitive positioning”

What I’ll report monthly:

Month 1: Activities completed + baseline established Month 2: Activities + early leading indicators Month 3: Full quarter review with trajectory

Quick wins I’ll prioritize:

Week 1-2: Technical fixes, monitoring setup Week 3-4: Content restructuring, schema implementation Week 5-8: Review push, authority building starts Week 9-12: Measure, report, iterate

Metrics I’ll track:

• AI citation rate (primary)
• Citation by platform (detail)
• Share of AI voice vs competitors
• AI referral traffic trend

The key message:

“We’re building for the future of search. This quarter establishes foundation. Next quarter shows real growth.”

Thanks for helping me set realistic expectations!