Geometric measure of entanglement and geometric phase have recently been used to analyze quantum phase transition in the spin chain. We unify these two approaches by showing that the geometric entanglement and the geometric phase are respectively the real and imaginary parts of a complex-valued geometric entanglement, which can be investigated in typical quantum interferometry experiments. We argue that the singular behavior of the complex-value geometric entanglement at a quantum critical point is a characteristic of any quantum phase transition, by showing that the underlying mechanism is the occurrence of level crossings associated with the underlying Hamiltonian.