By Lisa Norman
In Part One, we explored how SEO changed the way we write and how it trained readers to expect that anything they wanted to know could be found online, packaged in a structured, easy-to-skim format. Recently, studies revealed that bots now make up over 51% of all internet traffic, with many AI-driven tools consuming web content without readers ever visiting the source. According to a 2025 report from SecurityWeek, automated traffic has officially surpassed human activity online for the first time in decades. This shift has raised questions about what human engagement on the internet will look like in the coming months.
We’re at the start of a huge shift in how the internet works. One that may feel unsettling, but it might be the best thing that’s happened for fiction writers in years.
Let’s talk about the next evolution of the internet and how to keep connecting with readers in a world where AI now stands between the reader and your website.
What Is GEO?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It’s the next evolution of how readers find content, not through search engines, but through AI assistants that gather and summarize information for them.
Instead of typing a query into Google and clicking through links, readers are increasingly turning to tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, or Google’s new Search Generative Experience, not to mention tools we've already gotten used to like Alexa and other voice search options. Google's competitors are now releasing their own (paid) AI driven browsers to compete with Chrome. These tools pull together answers instantly. Readers get the summary without ever seeing the original article.
Google’s new ad campaign is preparing the world for what an agented search might look like. Meanwhile, people who monitor their traffic are seeing it dropping off dramatically. I’m seeing traffic drops anywhere from 20% to 100% across many of my clients’ websites.
That’s GEO: optimizing your content not for keywords, but for how AI powered tools will understand it and decide whether to include it in their answers.
And for nonfiction writers, this shift is terrifying. But for fiction writers? It’s something else entirely.
What Fiction Writers Need to Know
Readers aren’t asking ChatGPT to summarize your novel and call it a day.
Fiction doesn’t work that way.
Sure, someone might ask, “What happens in The Hunger Games?” and get a rough plot summary. But that’s not the experience fans want. They come to fiction for the voice. The mood. The humor, the heartbreak, the surprise twist that made them gasp. They come for the feels.
And that means something important: fiction writers are still creating something AI can’t replace.
We’re not writing content. We’re building worlds. We’re inviting readers into emotional journeys that aren’t easily summarized. And in an age where AI is everywhere, that human touch becomes your greatest asset.
Your Superpower: Entertainment
If SEO taught us to be informative, GEO is a reminder that readers are hungry for flavor, not just facts.
Readers aren’t craving data. They’re starving for experiences.
That’s where fiction shines. You’re not trying to serve up bullet points. You’re trying to charm someone with a first-line appetizer that sings. You’re building tension, teasing reveals, making people feel something real.
AI can mimic tone, but it doesn’t feel things. You do. Your readers do. That’s the connection you’re writing for.
So don’t chase the algorithm. Write to delight your readers. Write to make them laugh, or cry, or stay up way too late with a book they can’t put down.
In this new world, the most satisfying answer to GEO is voice. Give them something they’ll savor.
Reach Your Ideal Readers
Fiction writers don’t need to reach everyone. We just need to reach our people, the readers who love what we do, who light up when they find our characters, our settings, our sense of humor.
That’s why now, more than ever, it matters to write with clarity, honesty, and flair. We want to be searchable, yes. But more importantly, we want to be memorable.
When readers love your work, they’ll talk about it. They’ll share it in group chats and newsletters and fan forums. They’ll recommend you to others, and that kind of discovery is far more powerful than anything an algorithm can offer.
GEO might change how readers arrive, but what keeps them coming back is the same as it’s always been: your voice.
GEO Isn’t the End. It’s a Shift.
You don’t need to fear this new wave of AI-driven discovery. Many of you have already survived at least one era of digital change, and this one, in many ways, is kinder to fiction.
You’re no longer being asked to stuff keywords or force yourself to churn out blog content on a schedule that steals time from your storytelling. Instead, you’re being asked to do what you do best:
Write stories that feel human.
Because in a world overflowing with machine-made words, the most valuable stories are the ones that nourish a reader’s heart.
What about you? What is it about your stories that no machine could ever imitate? What are you offering your readers that only a human can create?
About Lisa

Lisa Norman's passion has been writing since she could hold a pencil. While that is a cliché, she is unique in that her first novel was written on gum wrappers. As a young woman, she learned to program and discovered she has a talent for helping people and computers learn to work together and play nice. When she's not playing with her daughter, writing, or designing for the web, she can be found wandering the local beaches.
Lisa writes as Deleyna Marr and is the owner of No Stress Writing Academy. She also runs Heart Ally Books, LLC, an indie publishing firm.
Interested in learning more? Sign up for my newsletter or check out my school, No Stress Writing Academy, where I teach social media, organization, technical skills, and marketing for authors! There's an impressive lineup of teachers there to help you conquer your writing challenges.
Want to meet in person? I'll be at WorldCon: August 13–17, 2025, Seattle, WA.
Top image from depositphotos.