Seismic risk analysis, either deterministic or probabilistic, along with the use of a GIS environment to represent the results, are helpful tools to support decision making for planning and prioritizing seismic risk management strategies. This paper focuses on the importance of an appropriate geotechnical hazard representation within a seismic risk analysis process. An overview of alternative methods for geotechnical zonation available in literature is provided, with a level of refinement appropriate to the information available. It is worth noting that in such methods, the definition of the site effect amplifications does not account for the characteristics of the built environment affecting the soil-structure interaction. Alternative methods able to account for both the soil conditions and the characteristics of the built environment have been recently proposed and are herein discussed. Within a framework for seismic risk analysis, different formulations would thus derive depending on both the intensity measure and the vulnerability approach adopted. In conclusion, an immediate visualization of the importance of the geotechnical hazard evaluation within a seismic risk analysis is provided in terms of the variation of the expected damage and consequence distribution with reference to a case-study.