13 Business Leaders Explain Why GEO Is the Future of Online Visibility

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Key Takeaways

• Visibility now depends on whether your brand can be clearly understood and confidently summarized inside AI-generated answers.
• GEO rewards brands that communicate consistently, demonstrate real expertise, and show up accurately across the web.
• The teams that win next are the ones adapting early, testing how they appear in AI results, and refining their message before visibility gaps widen.

Think about the last thing you searched. Not the keyword, but the actual question. Maybe it was something simple like, “Why does my Wi-Fi keep dropping?” or “How do I remove a stain from my favorite shirt?” You probably skimmed one clear answer and moved on. That’s the experience people now expect from search.

What makes this possible is a new kind of search technology, often called generative engines (GEs), and the way brands show up inside those results is known as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).

“At its core, GEs offer users more than just answers—they deliver insights,” explained Adam Binder, Founder & Creative Director of Creative Click Media. “For businesses, this is a major shift. If you’ve spent years perfecting your SEO game, GEO is here to take things to the next level.” 

That reality is already changing how brands get discovered. Below, business leaders explain why GEO is becoming essential for online visibility.

1. Why Rankings No Longer Tell The Whole Story

For years, rankings were the clearest signal of success. If a page ranked well, traffic followed. Now, many answers appear before a visit ever happens. Brands are seeing impressions without clicks, mentions without sessions, and influence that does not show up neatly in analytics dashboards.

“Team may start asking why performance feels different, even when rankings stayed strong,” said Terry Davison, CEO of Juvonno, a company known for its clinic management software. “The work could be landing, but the clicks might not always be there, forcing a rethink of how visibility actually works.”

The practical move is to broaden what gets measured. Look beyond sessions and track brand mentions, citations, and how often key ideas get referenced. Visibility today is about being present where decisions form, even when no one clicks through.

2. Where GEO Actually Shows Up In Real Life

GEO is not limited to one platform or moment. It appears when a brand is summarized in an AI search answer, referenced in a chat response, or pulled into a comparison before a buyer ever reaches a website. These moments happen quietly, but they shape opinions early.

“Brands are being judged before anyone visits their site,” explains Justin Soleimani, Co-Founder of Tumble, a company that specializes in washable rugs. “People are forming opinions based on summaries, recommendations, and explanations they never had to click for.”

To show up more often, brands should map where customers ask questions. That includes search, AI tools, forums, and review platforms. Make sure explanations, positioning, and proof points are consistent across those spaces, so that summaries remain accurate.

3. How Generative Engines “Choose” Who Shows Up

Generative engines rely on patterns, not one-off wins. They surface brands that appear consistently across trusted sources and explain ideas clearly. When information aligns across websites, articles, and third-party mentions, it becomes easier for AI to reuse confidently.

“The brands that show up most are the ones with the same positioning everywhere,” points out Max Baecker, President of American Hartford Gold, a company that helps you buy gold. “Consistency builds trust, and trust determines inclusion.”

The most effective step is alignment. Audit how your brand is described across your site, press, profiles, and partnerships. Use the same language, define expertise plainly, and update outdated pages. The clearer and more consistent the signal, the more likely it is to be picked up.

4. The Trust Signals That Matter Most For Visibility

Visibility now depends on whether a brand feels trustworthy to an AI system. That trust is built through clear expertise, consistent positioning, and a solid reputation across the web. It is less about volume and more about whether the same message holds up wherever the brand appears.

“AI systems look for confidence and credibility, not noise,” highlights Shaunak Amin, CEO and Co-Founder of Stadium, a company that offers an employee recognition platform. “When a brand explains its expertise clearly and gets reinforced elsewhere, it becomes easier to include.”

To strengthen trust signals, focus on depth over breadth. Publish content that displays real expertise, use plain language to explain complex ideas, and make sure credentials and proof points are easy to find. Authority grows when clarity and reputation reinforce each other.

5. How Content Needs To Change To Be Reused In Answers

Content is no longer just read but reused. Generative engines pull snippets, summarize explanations, and quote ideas directly inside answers. Content that is dense, vague, or overly clever is harder to reuse accurately.

“Content now has to survive being summarized,” explains Brandon Adcock, Co-Founder and CEO of Nugenix, a company known for its Instaflex Advanced joint supplement. “If the main point gets lost when shortened, your message won’t travel far.”

The fix is using simple writing, clear headings, single questions, and tight sentences. Define terms plainly and avoid burying the takeaway. Content that works well as a standalone explanation is far more likely to be pulled into an answer.

6. Why Off-Site Presence Now Carries More Weight

AI systems do not rely on brand websites alone. They look outward to confirm what they see, using press mentions, reviews, forum discussions, and partner content. These help validate whether a brand’s claims hold up beyond its own channels.

“Third-party signals act like references,” highlights Tyler Zanini, Founder of Memoryboard, a company known for its dementia reminder board. “When others describe your brand the same way you do, it builds confidence.”

To improve off-site presence, prioritize quality mentions over sheer volume. Earn coverage in relevant publications, encourage detailed reviews, and participate where real conversations happen. The more consistent the message across independent sources, the safer it becomes to surface.

7. How Leaders Are Measuring GEO Without Relying On Clicks

When clicks no longer tell the whole story, leaders are changing how they measure success. Instead of solely focusing on traffic, they look at whether their brand is being referenced, summarized, or cited across AI-driven experiences. The goal is understanding presence, not just performance.

“Leaders are getting comfortable with signals that feel less familiar,” says Brianna Bitton, Co-Founder of O Positiv, a company that specializes in women’s vitamins. “Being mentioned in an answer or comparison can matter just as much as a visit, even if it is harder to track.”

To measure this, teams monitor brand mentions, track how often core ideas appear across platforms, and watch search queries tied to brand lift. Some also run manual checks in AI tools to see how their brand is represented. The focus is consistency over time, not one-off spikes.

8. What To Do First If a Team Is Starting From Zero

For teams new to GEO, the hardest part of the process can be knowing where to begin. Leaders recommend starting small and focusing on clarity before scale. GEO is about tightening what already exists.

“The biggest mistake is trying to fix everything at once,” points out Titania Jordan, CMO of Bark Technologies, a company that offers a safer kids cell phone, the Bark Phone. “The fastest progress comes from getting the basics right.”

The first steps are simple. Audit how your brand is described across key pages, align language across teams, and identify the top questions customers ask. Rewrite one or two core pieces to answer those questions clearly. Avoid chasing tools or hacks early. Strong foundations make everything else easier.

GEO Best Practices: Where To Focus First

After hearing what business leaders have to say, the next question is usually practical: “Okay, but what should a team actually do?” GEO does not require a full rebuild, but it does benefit from a few intentional shifts in how content, teams, and systems work together. 

Here are three high-impact ways leaders recommend getting traction quickly.

Design Content For Questions

Generative engines respond to questions, not page titles. Content that is organized around real, specific questions is easier to pull into answers than broad, topic-heavy pages built for browsing.

“Teams often realize their content sounds fine to humans but not to machines,” highlights Erin Banta, Co-Founder and CEO of Pepper Home, a company known for its custom curtains. “If a question is not clearly answered in one place, it gets skipped.”

To fix this, restructure content around the exact questions customers ask. Use question-based headers, answer them directly in the first few sentences, and avoid burying the point. Each section should stand on its own, even if it gets pulled out of context.

Reduce Internal Fragmentation Before Scaling GEO

One of the biggest blockers to GEO is internal inconsistency. Marketing, product, PR, and support often describe the same offering in slightly different ways. That fragmentation makes it harder for AI systems to understand and repeat a brand accurately.

“Most brands don’t realize how many versions of their message exist internally,” says Alexa Buckley Roussel, Co-Founder of Margaux, a company that offers ballet flats. “That inconsistency shows up quickly in AI summaries.”

The solution starts internally. Create a shared reference doc with approved language, core definitions, and key explanations. Align teams around it and update it regularly. When everyone speaks from the same source, external visibility improves naturally.

Test How Your Brand Is Represented, Not Just Where It Ranks

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GEO success is not just about appearing, but how a brand is described when it does appear. Leaders are paying closer attention to accuracy, tone, and completeness in AI-generated answers.

Run regular spot checks in AI tools using common customer questions. Look for gaps, vague phrasing, or incorrect descriptions. Use those findings to tighten language across your site, FAQs, and third-party content. 

What Visibility Looks Like Next

By now, the message from business leaders is clear. GEO is not a passing trend or a buzzword layered on top of SEO. It is the next chapter of how visibility works when answers arrive before clicks and discovery happens everywhere at once.

“As long as people have been searching the internet, SEOs have been adapting,” said Helen Eckhard from Elysium Marketing Group. “That’s no different in the age of AI. GEO is about teaching these new models to understand who you are and what you offer.”

Focus on clarity before scale. Make sure your brand is easy to understand, easy to summarize, and consistently represented wherever it appears. GEO rewards brands that communicate well, show real expertise, and stay adaptable as search keeps evolving.

The rules are changing, but the opportunity is familiar. The brands that adjust early are the ones that stay visible next.