London SEO Consultant Integrates AI Search Into Standard Services, Warns Ecommerce Brands Against Standalone GEO Agencies
London, England, Sept. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Charles Travers: SEO Consultant, an SEO agency led by consultant Charles Travers, has made AI Search monitoring and optimization a standard inclusion across all service tiers for ecommerce clients, while issuing a direct warning to online retailers against shifting budgets away from Google Search toward newly formed agencies selling Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as a standalone discipline.
The move comes as a growing number of agencies, many formed within the last eighteen months, market AI Search optimization as a separate specialism at premium rates. Charles Travers, an independent SEO consultant based in London who specializes in search engine optimization for high-SKU Shopify stores, argues that much of the work being repackaged under the GEO label is traditional SEO performed by practitioners with limited organic search track records.
“Every few years the SEO industry invents an acronym and sells it back to brands. This time it is GEO, Generative Engine Optimization. Take the label off and most of it is search engine optimization, done by people who were not doing SEO last year,” said Charles Travers, Ecommerce SEO Consultant. “Across the ecommerce stores I work with, Google Search still drives the largest share of organic traffic and revenue. Optimizing for AI tools matters and they’re growing, but it is still a small slice of the pie. Brands are being sold ChatGPT optimization while Google, the channel actually producing their revenue, gets less attention.”
The integration of AI Search monitoring into his standard service tiers reflects a specific position on how ecommerce brands should approach the changing search landscape.
AI Search Treated as an Evolution, Not a Separate Discipline
For ecommerce stores with large product catalogs, Travers maintains that the work required to earn visibility in AI Search tools overlaps heavily with the work that earns rankings in Google.
By treating AI Search as an extension of existing SEO rather than a new field, his clients receive monitoring and optimization for both channels within a single engagement. Ecommerce brands working with him do not face an additional line item for AI Search visibility work, in contrast to newly formed agencies charging premium rates for GEO as a standalone service.
A Framework for Evaluating GEO Agency Claims
The announcement provides ecommerce store owners with a practical reference point when evaluating agencies pitching AI Search services. Travers’s position that GEO is largely SEO gives retailers a basis for questioning whether an agency’s offering represents genuinely new expertise or repackaged search optimization from practitioners who lack established track records in organic search.
Protecting Primary Revenue Channels
Despite the growing attention around AI-powered product discovery, Google remains the dominant source of organic sales for the ecommerce stores in Travers’s portfolio. His warning centers on the financial risk of moving budget out of a proven channel and into one that, while expanding, still represents a smaller share of overall traffic and revenue. Travers recommends that store owners verify channel performance data before reallocating budgets in response to market pressure to fund emerging channels prematurely.
Acknowledging AI Search as a Growing Discovery Route
Travers is not dismissing AI Search tools. He acknowledges that large language models are becoming a route to product discovery for consumers. His concern is specifically with the timing and structure of budget decisions, not with the relevance of the channel itself.
Solo Practitioner Perspective in a Crowded Market
Operating as a solo consultant rather than an agency, Travers works with a select number of ecommerce clients each year. This structure contrasts directly with the wave of new agencies scaling GEO service offerings, and positions his commentary as practitioner-level observation rather than competitive marketing.
Ecommerce brands interested in understanding how AI Search fits within their existing SEO strategy can learn more through the Ecommerce Marketing Chats podcast, co-hosted by Travers.
About Charles Travers: SEO Consultant
Charles Travers is an independent, London-based SEO consultant specializing in search engine optimization and AI Search for Shopify stores with large product catalogs. He operates as a solo practitioner and co-hosts the Ecommerce Marketing Chats podcast.
Who is the primary audience for Charles Travers’s SEO services?
Charles Travers is a London-based solo consultant who specializes in search engine optimization for ecommerce brands, specifically high-SKU Shopify stores.
How are AI Search services integrated into existing service tiers?
AI Search monitoring and optimization are now included as a standard part of all service tiers, meaning clients do not pay for it as a separate line item or standalone discipline.
What is the consultant’s stance on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) as a separate specialism?
Travers views GEO as an evolution of traditional SEO rather than a new field and warns brands against shifting budgets from proven revenue channels like Google to standalone GEO agencies that may lack established track records.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Company: Charles Travers: SEO Consultant
Contact: Charles Travers
Address: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London, England WC1N 3AX
Email: hello@charlestravers.com
Phone: +442038822709
Website: https://www.charlestravers.com/
Charles Travers: SEO Consultant 27 Old Gloucester Street London England WC1N 3AX United Kingdom +442038822709 https://www.charlestravers.com/
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