Multimodal AI processes text, images, audio, and video simultaneously. As AI evolves from “text-only” to “see and hear,” image ALT tags, video structured descriptions, and chart text annotations are becoming new GEO optimization dimensions.
Three Specific GEO Impacts
Impact 1: ALT tags upgrade from “SEO basics” to “GEO essentials”
In GEO, ALT tags are AI’s key signal for understanding non-text page content.
❌ alt="image1" / alt="product photo"
✅ alt="Brand X Model Y gas chromatograph front view, equipped with FID detector and autosampler"
Good ALT tags include: product name, model, key features — letting AI understand the image’s information even without “seeing” it.
Impact 2: Text inside images may be invisible to AI
Many companies present product specs as designed image tables. Humans see them clearly, but for AI these words don’t exist in the HTML source code.
This is the “image tables: the biggest extractability killer” issue emphasized in Get AI to Speak for You: The Definitive Guide to GEO, Chapter 4. Core product parameters must use native HTML tables, not images.
Impact 3: Video content needs structured descriptions
AI can’t yet “watch” videos at scale. But if you provide structured text descriptions (titles, chapter timestamps, content summaries, key quotes), this text information can be retrieved and cited by AI.
What This Means for GEO
Currently, text remains GEO’s primary channel. But image ALT tags and video structured descriptions are low-cost, high-return supplementary actions — doing them won’t show immediate results, but not doing them may leave you behind in future multimodal retrieval.
Further Reading
- Get AI to Speak for You: The Definitive Guide to GEO, Chapter 4 — Image table extractability issues
- Get AI to Speak for You: The Definitive Guide to GEO, 35 Strategies · Strategy 28
English ▾
Chinese (Simplified)