GEO is moving from experiment to budget line item. This data shows how much marketers are investing today. Adoption varies sharply by company size.

Essential Statistics

• 42% allocate less than 5% to GEO.
• 31% allocate between 5% and 10%.
• Enterprise teams invest the most.
• Only 9% invest more than 20%.
• SMBs remain cautious.

Key Takeaways

• Most marketers are still testing GEO.
• Enterprise adoption is accelerating.
• SMBs favor experimentation.
• Budgets reflect uncertainty.
• Early movers gain advantage.

Actionable Insights

• Start with a controlled GEO test budget to gather performance data. Small investments provide meaningful insight.
• Benchmark your spend against peers of similar size. Underinvestment can create visibility gaps.
• Measure GEO impact beyond traffic metrics. Citations and assisted conversions matter.
• Plan for future reallocation as GEO performance becomes clearer. Early learning reduces risk later.
• Align GEO spend with content and technical resources, not just tooling.

GEO budgets are small now, but learning early compounds later. — Neil Patel