Sean Walsh
Sean is a Director at Intelligency heading up our digital marketing and client services operations. Sean has 15+ years experiencing working both in-house and agency with brands including Lloyds, Alstom, Hitachi, Lufthansa, Viaplay, DFDS Seaways and Mercedes-Benz.
A recent study by digital marketing agency Seer Interactive suggests a connection between brands ranking on Google’s first page and their mentions in AI-generated answers, such as those from ChatGPT.
What is generative engine optimisation?
Generative engine optimisation (GEO) is a new approach to improving brand visibility in AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT, Google’s Bard, or Bing’s AI-powered search. Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on improving rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs), GEO is about ensuring that a brand’s content is referenced in the responses generated by large language models (LLMs).
Why is this important? As AI assistants become a go-to source for information, users may bypass search engines altogether, relying on concise answers provided by these tools. For SEO professionals, this shift means adapting strategies to ensure content is not just searchable but also preferred by AI systems. This involves creating highly relevant, authoritative, and user-focused content that these models are likely to reference when answering queries.
GEO is still evolving, but it’s already clear that it matters for:
- Brand visibility: LLMs have the potential to shape consumer awareness and decisions directly through their answers.
- Future search trends: As user behaviour changes, optimising for AI-generated responses could become as critical as traditional SEO.
- Content relevance: GEO prioritises producing content that aligns with how AI tools process and prioritise information, keeping brands ahead of the curve.
Methodology for the study
Seer Interactive conducted a detailed analysis to explore the connection between Google rankings and brand mentions in AI-generated responses. They began by gathering over 300,000 keywords from the finance and SaaS industries, sourced from both paid and organic data. These keywords were then used to analyse rankings and search engine result page (SERP) data from both Google and Bing.
From this dataset, the researchers identified nearly 600,000 “People Also Ask” (PAA) questions, which served as proxies for real user queries. This list was then narrowed to 10,000 highly relevant questions that were most likely to trigger brand mentions. Using OpenAI’s GPT-4o API, the team submitted these questions to observe which brands were mentioned in the generated responses. To focus the study, the questions were designed to naturally elicit brand mentions, such as “What’s the best CRM for small businesses?” rather than generic or non-commercial queries like “How do I open a bank account?”.
Finally, brand mentions were extracted from the AI responses and analysed to determine the frequency with which specific brands appeared across the dataset. This approach allowed the researchers to measure how Google rankings influenced visibility in AI-generated answers.
What brands need to do to optimise for ChatGPT
As language models like ChatGPT become more influential, brands must adapt their strategies to ensure they are included in AI-generated answers. Here are some actionable steps to optimise for ChatGPT and similar tools:
Focus on high-quality, authoritative content
LLMs prioritise content that is accurate, comprehensive, and well-written. Brands should create content that addresses common user queries in a clear and concise manner, using language that is easy to understand.
Answer specific user questions
Since LLMs are often used to answer direct questions, brands should produce content that focuses on solving problems or providing recommendations. FAQs, how-to guides, and content targeting “People Also Ask” queries are especially valuable.
Optimise for search engines
While backlinks and content variety seem less important for LLMs, traditional SEO factors like strong rankings on Google and Bing still matter. Brands that rank well on search engines are more likely to appear in AI-generated responses.
Build brand authority
AI models tend to favour brands that are perceived as experts in their field. Establishing authority through thought leadership, partnerships, PR efforts, and consistent messaging can increase the likelihood of being referenced.
Provide structured data
Including structured data and schema markup on your website can help AI systems identify and extract relevant information more efficiently, improving the chances of your brand being featured in responses.
Monitor AI mentions and refine strategies
Regularly check how your brand is being referenced in AI-generated content. Use this information to adjust your approach, focusing on the types of content and topics that yield the best results.
By implementing these strategies, brands can improve their chances of being featured in the answers provided by ChatGPT and similar AI tools, ensuring they stay visible as user behaviour evolves.
Why this matters
As brands strive to be seen in AI-driven platforms, generative engine optimisation is quickly becoming a new frontier. While it’s not identical to traditional SEO, both approaches share a common goal: delivering high-quality, relevant content to users.
This study’s findings may be good news for those already producing strong content, as success in Google search seems to improve AI visibility too.
Key findings
The study, led by Christina Blake and Nick Haigler, analysed 10,000 questions in the finance and SaaS industries to explore what influences brand mentions in AI responses. Here’s what they found:
- Google rankings matter: Brands appearing on Google’s first page showed a strong correlation (~0.65) with mentions in ChatGPT answers.
- Backlinks are less important: Surprisingly, backlinks had little to no impact on AI visibility.
- Content variety is overrated: Multi-modal content (e.g., combining text, images, and video) didn’t significantly boost mentions.
