BY Kathy Crosett
Is SEO or GEO the better strategy for your accounts? Whether your accounts like it or not, more consumers are using AI to search the web. This shift in behavior means it’s time to pay attention to generative engine optimization services. Your accounts will be looking for guidance on this topic. Here are a few points to consider.
How Many Consumers Are Abandoning Traditional Search?
As you decide whether to offer GEO services to your accounts, it's worth learning about the market size. About 5.6% of all desktop searches are going to AI, but it’s growing quickly. Early adopters are shifting more of their searching to a platform. The growing interest in AI-based search is alarming marketers.
How Are Marketers Responding to New Consumer Search Activity?
As consumers change how they search online, BrightEdge analysts report that 68% of marketers are making changes to how they deploy SEO. The first step has been to task their existing SEO team with ensuring that the company is visible in AI search. 54% of marketers are on this path. And 14% have asked their content creators to “lead AI search efforts.” This rapidly changing landscape is opening an opportunity for agencies to sell their generative engine optimization services.
How Has GEO Impacted Traditional Search Marketing?
New reports point out that the number of zero-click searches is growing. This news is not appealing for any marketer trying to connect with target audiences through search. One reason for the change ties to changes made by Google last year.
AI Overviews
Today’s Google searchers are presented with an AI Overview at the top of their results page. That overview often presents what they need to know. And they don’t find it necessary to click through to a marketer’s site to learn more.
The Google AI Overviews (AIOs) have been around since May 2024. Since their introduction, BrightEdge analysts report that they appear in around 11% of Google queries. Other analysts say the number is lower: Keep in mind that only 13.14% of all searches currently show an AI Overview.
Some industries have a bigger presence on AIOs. These are health care, education, B2B tech, and insurance.
Should Your Accounts Try for AIO Listing Placement?
Your accounts, along with other marketers, want to be listed in the AI Overview. Around 57% of surveyed marketers feel “cautiously” optimistic about these overviews. 20% feel overwhelmed.
SEO has always been a challenge and, for many, achieving success in this more competitive level will be harder. You can help your accounts by selling your generative engine optimization services.
Your accounts may feel comfortable with their SEO practices but they should begin planning for a future where GEO is part of their strategy.
Instead of obsessing about keywords, researchers point out that marketers must “focus on context, clarity and topical authority.”
Doing so will help them increase their chances of AI Overview placement and more. The right content strategy will help them appear in searches being done with AI tools. The BrightEdge report shows that marketers are already taking action. In addition to adjusting content for ranking on Google, 27% are tweaking content to appear on ChatGPT and 18% are trying to improve their position in Perplexity and Claude.
How to Shape Content for the New World of Search
The experts suggest making the following changes to content to improve placement on search findings.
- Create quality content that answers questions or finds solutions. “…best GEO optimization practices include using statistics, showcasing expert quotes, and citing sources.”
- Answer questions that the target audience may have. Bullet points and short paragraphs are key. Linking to academic resources or proprietary data shows authority.
- Repurpose content across multiple platforms, including social media.
Conclusion
AudienceSCAN from AdMall reveals that 19% of U.S. adults are considered AI Searchers. These consumers most frequently search online using ChatGPT or another AI tool. In the next year, 25% of these consumers plan to attend a concert featuring a popular band and 31% want to go to a music festival.
When you work with your accounts on GEO planning, remind them of how search results differ between the tools consumers use. Analysts indicate that most AI searches fall into the “information or productivity” categories. Traditional search has long intended to send consumers to another online site.
You can sell them your generative engine optimization services to complement traditional SEO as technology continues to change.
Image by Tara Winstead on Pexels
