Marketers lack GEO skills as consumers embrace AI-generated results

The news: The vast majority (89%) of US adults use generative AI (genAI), per a Centerfield GenAI Consumer Survey commissioned by Search Engine Land.

But not everyone uses it the same way.

• 87% read AI summaries in search results, and the same percentage have used AI for shopping.
• 50% read genAI summaries but then look up further information somewhere else.
• 41% click on a source link after reading a summary, but 34% go no further.

This means brands that aren’t ensuring their content is visible in genAI output are missing out on a large segment of the population.

Optimizing for AI: A separate Centerfield study shared with Search Engine Land found that almost all marketers (93%) are struggling to implement generative engine optimization (GEO).

• While 72% of US marketers say they have a “good or expert understanding” of search engine optimization (SEO), just 33% said the same for GEO, indicating a large segment has fallen behind on search best practices.
• And 63% of marketers say their company isn’t investing time or budget in GEO. Only 9% said marketing resources are allocated to GEO.

But it’s not all bad news: 41% expect their companies to devote more resources to GEO in the next year.

A shift in measurement: Key metrics are no longer organic traffic, clickthrough rates, or bounce rates. With GEO, marketers need to focus on how often and where their brands are mentioned in results and how accurate those mentions are.

Our take: Training and education are top next steps. Keyword research will become less important as competitor analysis ramps up. SEO/GEO specialists need to understand specific user needs and the companies surfacing in AI results to adopt their methods.

Chunks of content need to be quotable and easily understood by generative search engines. Minimalistic websites need to ramp up content that’s written conversationally and without filler, whether that’s in product descriptions, “about” pages, or charts and graphics. Use headers, divide content into mods, and as with SEO, constantly monitor performance to make adjustments on the fly.

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