GEO: what’s changing and why it matters for your brand

AI is changing how people discover, compare and make decisions about brands. Tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and other generative search experiences are rapidly becoming a normal part of the buyer journey, not a novelty.

Recently, Axonn’s Head of Strategy, Dan Cartwright, delivered a training session on generative engine optimisation (GEO) for a medical device manufacturing company. While the session focused on that firm’s specific challenges, many of the themes that came out of it apply to any organisation that relies on digital visibility to generate demand.

This article brings together some of the key talking points from that session, emphasising why they matter if you want to stay visible as AI-driven search continues to evolve.

The scale and speed of GEO growth

One of the biggest misconceptions about GEO is that it’s still a ‘niche’ consideration, or at least in the very early stages of development. In reality, generative AI has been adopted faster than many digital platforms that have come before it.

OpenAI’s tools alone are now used by hundreds of millions of people every week. Google has rapidly integrated AI into its search experience, and many users now default to AI answers rather than clicking through multiple links.

Just as importantly, AI search reduces the number of steps people take to find information. When users rely on AI to summarise, compare or recommend, they need fewer touchpoints and interactions to get what they want. In Google’s AI Mode, the vast majority of these experiences now end without a click to a website at all, as Semrush research has shown.

If your visibility strategy still assumes that discovery always leads to a visit, you’re working with an outdated model.

Why a lack of AI traffic can be misleading

A common response from marketing teams is that they’re not seeing much traffic coming directly from AI tools, so GEO feels like something that can wait. That’s an understandable conclusion, but it’s also a big risk.

AI-led discovery rarely shows up in analytics in any meaningful way. Conversations with AI don’t appear in your website data as sessions, bounce rates or conversion paths. Yet it’s in those interactions that potential customers are increasingly forming early opinions, shortlisting options or ruling suppliers out.

For high-consideration products and services, this matters even more. Buyers can use AI to understand terminology, compare approaches, explore pros and cons, and sense-check claims long before they’re ready to speak to a supplier.

The absence of measurable traffic doesn’t mean these conversations aren’t happening, it just means you can’t see them.

Why owning your narrative matters more than ever

If people choose to talk to AI about your brand, product or industry, the AI has to get its answers from somewhere. If your own content doesn’t clearly provide those answers, the likes of ChatGPT and Google AI Mode will rely on other sources across the web, or attempt to infer them.

This can create a problem many brands are not prepared for. Traditional B2B practices – such as withholding pricing, burying key information in technical documents or assuming a high level of prior knowledge – leave gaps. As it seeks to answer its users’ queries, AI will fill those gaps, whether the information is accurate or not.

Once an AI-generated view of your brand exists, it’s difficult to undo. You can’t simply remove a page or ‘kill’ a story. The smarter strategy is to be proactive and take a clear, deliberate and consistent approach to how you present information, so AI tools can accurately reflect your intended positioning.

This isn’t about publishing more content for the sake of it. It’s about being explicit, readable and unambiguous.

How to keep pace with GEO

Keeping up with GEO doesn’t mean starting from scratch, but it does require a shift in how you think about content and visibility.

A good place to start is to put yourself in your buyer’s position and use AI tools the way they do. Ask the questions you know prospects are asking and see what comes back. Pay attention to what’s missing, what’s unclear or what feels inaccurate.

From there, focus on clarity. Summarise complex information so it can be easily understood and reused by AI. Make key details explicit rather than implied, whether that’s pricing ranges, use cases, limitations or comparisons.

Structure your content so it’s easy to understand and reuse, for example by:

• Using clear, descriptive headings
• Keeping explanations concise and direct
• Adding FAQ sections that address common buyer questions
• Presenting comparisons or key information in simple tables

Finally, remember that AI doesn’t rely solely on your website, so consistency across the wider web matters. Accurate, aligned information in credible external sources helps reinforce the narrative you want AI to reflect.

The cost of waiting

Generative engine optimisation is already influencing how people discover and evaluate brands, even if you can’t see it in your own data yet. The biggest risk isn’t getting GEO wrong, but falling into the trap of assuming you have more time to tackle it than you do.

If you want to understand how AI currently represents your brand and what to prioritise next, Axonn can help you assess where you stand and how to move forward.

Contact us to discuss your GEO strategy.