Insights

If you’ve noticed your organic traffic dropping recently – even though your SEO performance looks fine – you’re not alone. In fact, we’re seeing this across multiple B2B software brands right now.

The scary part? Traditional SEO metrics might tell you everything’s improving. You’re climbing rankings. Visibility is up. But clicks are falling off a cliff.

So what’s going on?

Google AI overviews are cannibalising your clicks

Google’s AI Overviews are now occupying serious real estate at the top of many search result pages - and appearing for more and more searches. They summarise answers to user queries before anyone even gets to the blue links. Which means:

• Even if you rank #1, you’re further down the page under the AI Overview
• The answer is already there, users don’t need to click
• Your content is fuelling the overview, but you’re not getting the visit

In short: in certain cases you may be being used but not rewarded.

Look at this data if you really want to see the impact:

Users are moving to AI assistants for search

In lots of cases, users are increasingly skipping Google altogether.

Read our stats on the rise of AI search over Google here.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude - these tools are fast becoming the default research assistants for B2B buyers. They’re asking prompts, not typing keywords. They’re getting citations and brand names straight from the LLM’s mouth – no links, no visits, no traceable click path. AI tools are changing the B2B buyer journey, acting as buyer enablement co-pilots across the journey.

How to diagnose what if AI Overviews is causing the traffic drop

Here’s how to investigate whether AI search is to blame for your organic traffic fall.

Step 1: Head to Google Search Console

In GSC, go to the Performance section.

Google recently confirmed that AI Overviews data is now included in total impressions and clicks – but it’s not filterable (yet).

So here’s what to look for:

• If visibility (impressions) is flat or increasing…
• But clicks are falling…
• That’s a strong signal that Google’s AI Overviews are satisfying the query before users reach your site.

A classic symptom: rising visibility, plummeting click through rate.

Step 2: Analyse Specific Queries

Focus on your key commercial and high converting queries.

Look for:

• No change in ranking position (it may still say '1', but the entire SERP has shifted down because of AI overviews)
• Decline in clicks with no ranking drop
• Higher impressions but flat engagement

These are red flags that the SERP layout has changed – and you’ve been pushed out by AI.

Step 3: Watch for Brand Mentions with No Attribution

LLMs like ChatGPT often mention brand names without including a link.

This creates 'dark' branded search behaviour: users hear about you in AI responses, then Google your brand later or go direct.

To check this:

• Look in GSC for rising branded queries even as generic queries decline
• Compare your brand name traffic against your SEO targeted pages

If branded searches are up but overall organic traffic is down, the LLM dark funnel could be at work.

Step 4: Audit Your AI Visibility

Take your most important keywords or content themes, and translate them into prompts that buyers might use mapped onto stages of their buyer journey.

Then:

• Use a tool like Peec AI to check if your content is being cited in ChatGPT, Perplexity or Google AI Overviews
• Compare your visibility to key competitors
• Note which content shows up in AI answers vs what performs in Google

This is where the gap becomes obvious.

Summary: your AI search visibility checklist

If you can answer yes to three or more of the below, it’s time to take GEO seriously:

• Organic traffic down, but rankings or impressions stable
• Drop in CTR across top queries
• Google Search Console shows higher impressions, fewer clicks
• Spike in branded searches despite drop in generic traffic
• You don’t appear in AI answers for key prompts

The world of search is changing - fast and forever. In fact, much of the change has already happened.

If you’re a B2B marketer still focused solely on Google rankings, you’re missing the new front lines of visibility: AI search assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews along with Gemini..

We call it GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation) and it's changing how B2B buyers discover, research, and evaluate software.

This post tackles the most common (and important) questions we hear from marketers trying to get their heads around GEO. No fluff, no hype, just sharp answers grounded in what’s happening now.

What actually is GEO?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) or AI Search is the process of improving your visibility, influence, and presence inside AI powered search tools.

That includes tools like:

• ChatGPT with browsing enabled
• Perplexity (which combines LLMs with real-time search)
• Claude, Gemini, and more
• Google's Search Generative Experience (SGE)

Unlike traditional SEO, where keyword volumes were easy to measure and rankings were static and predictable, GEO is probabilistic - every prompt gets a slightly different answer, pulled from different sources, depending on how it’s phrased and who’s asking.

We believe in a B2B marketing context, GEO is:

• Prompt driven, not keyword driven
• Built for LLMs, not legacy search engines
• A process of buyer journey orchestration across the full length of the B2B buyer journey, not just a measure of brand visibility

Is it called GEO or AIO or AEO or LLMO?

Marketers and agencies (let's be honest, mainly agencies) are throwing all sorts of acronyms around:

• GEO = Generative Engine Optimisation
• AIO = AI Optimisation
• LLMO = Large Language Model Optimisation
• AEO = Answer Engine Optimisation (typically used in voice/search)

We use GEO because it reflects a broader truth: search has shifted to generative engines. It’s not about optimising for one tool. It’s about understanding how AI systems are generating answers, and making sure you’re present when they do.

We also feel GEO is a nice natural next iteration of SEO.

What is a GEO agency?

Think of a GEO agency like the next generation of a SEO agency. A GEO agency should help you:

• Understand how your buyers are using AI search assistants
• Track your brand’s visibility across generative tools
• Map prompts to buyer journey stages
• Influence the sources LLMs pull from
• Build content strategies optimised for prompt driven journeys
• Monitor and adapt visibility over time

At FirstMotion, we specialise in B2B software. Our methodology is built around deep audience intelligence and buyer context, prompt mining, and influence intelligence - not just guessing prompts and writing blog posts.

How does GEO differ from SEO?

At a foundational level, SEO was about rankings. GEO is about probabilities.

In SEO, you aimed to get on page one of Google. Ideally position number one. In GEO, there’s no single ranking - just the likelihood of your brand or content being surfaced in response to a prompt.

GEO is more dynamic, more contextual, and more dependent on structured data, semantic language, and trust signals from third party sources.

That said, there are plenty of areas of overlap. In some verticals we've seen strong correlation between 'traditional SEO performance' and AI search performance. And some of the 'tactics' we use to improve a brand's visibility and performance in GEO will be similar to SEO.

It's not about one or the other - it's about understanding your customers, the tools they use to search, discover and evaluate, and shaping strategies to influence their journeys in the right way and the right time.

How does AI search or GEO change the B2B buyer journey?

It compresses it. Blurs it. Personalises it. Makes it harder to measure. But also presents lots of opportunities for B2B software brands to accelerate the sales cycle, influence it earlier and turn AI search into a channel that drives growth.

B2B buyers now use ChatGPT and Perplexity as buyer enablement co-pilots - not just top of funnel discovery tools.

GEO doesn’t just influence top of funnel. It influences:

• How buyers shortlist vendors
• What features they evaluate
• What reviews or use cases they see
• What integrations or differentiators get mentioned
• What questions they ask vendors
• How they evaluate and make a final decision

Our own framework, PromptPath™, aligns GEO strategy to the full buyer journey:

1. Problem Identification
2. Solution Exploration
3. Requirements Building
4. Supplier Evaluation

And we then map ICPs, personas and prompts to every B2B buyer journey stage using our ContextualJourney™ technology platform.

What are the best analytics tools for measuring AI visibility?

Right now, the most useful tool in our stack is Peec AI which is a purpose built analytics tool for AI prompt visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and other platforms.

We also use our own ContextualJourney™ platform for the audience intelligence, prompt mining and some of the content strategy parts of our work and to help us reverse engineer generative engine visibility success for our clients.

GEO visibility is harder to measure than SEO - but it’s possible, it's essential, and it should be happening consistently.

What’s the most important part of a GEO strategy?

Without question, our perspective at FirstMotion is that it's audience intelligence.

You can’t optimise for prompts if you don’t deeply understand your ICPs, personas, and buyer journey, along with some strong competitor analysis.

At FirstMotion, our ContextualJourney™ platform uses millions of B2B buyer data points, enrichment, intent data and AI to:

• Deeply understand B2B buyer pain points and goals
• Building buying units
• Understand the buyer journey
• Translates those insights into likely AI prompts (searches)
• Builds a Prompt Matrix mapped across journey stages

No prompt strategy is complete without deep, enriched buyer context - and we don't believe it's possible to define a winning AI search content strategy without deep audience intelligence.

Will AI tools like ChatGPT eventually overtake Google?

Maybe not entirely. But in many B2B software categories, they're already the first stop - especially for:

• Problem framing
• Tool comparison
• Feature evaluation
• Writing RFPs or spec sheets
• Identifying possible risks/red flags
• Asking what to ask on a demo call

Think less in terms of Google vs ChatGPT. Think more in terms of parallel influence. Either way, we believe AI tools are playing an active role in the decision making unit.

GEO is already shaping decisions - and that's only going to increase.

Is GEO just about discovery and top of funnel?

Not at all. We strongly believe AI tools are buyer enablement co-pilots across the full B2B buyer journey. We think less in easy to attribute linear funnels, and more in non-linear journeys that are complex, considered and hard to measure.

GEO can influence:

• What problems buyers prioritise
• Which tools they consider
• How they build shortlists
• What questions they ask during demos
• How confident they feel in supplier selection

That’s not top of funnel. That’s revenue impact.

Are sources like G2, Gartner, Reddit & Quora more important for GEO?

Yes, massively. At FirstMotion we're doing lots of search into the sources that influence B2B software related search queries.

LLMs don’t just crawl your homepage. They pull trusted, cited content from:

• G2, Capterra, TrustRadius
• Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn Pulse
• Forrester, Gartner and other analyst reports
• Niche industry media sources
• Third party blogs, integrations directories, and guest posts

We call this influence intelligence - knowing which sources AI tools cite for prompts in your category, and earning visibility in those locations.

Do I need to focus on Bing for to improve visiblity in ChatGPT?

If you want to be visible in ChatGPT’s web search mode, then yes, 100%.

When ChatGPT doesn't have a confident answer within its training data (the knowledge already built into the model), it uses Bing to search the web. If your content isn’t ranking on Bing, ChatGPT may never find it.

We cover this in detail in this post.

How do I figure out what prompts my buyers are using?

That’s the million dollar question, and the heart of GEO.

At why at FirstMotion, we start with strong audience intelligence that considers:

• Not just job titles, but buying behaviour
• Use lots of data enrichment and intent data sources
• Use AI to reverse map likely prompts by persona and journey stage
• Analyse source language from reviews, Reddit, LinkedIn, etc
• Feed all this into our Prompt Matrix for each client

It’s not about guessing or simply taking 'SEO keywords' and converting them easily into prompts. Prompts are much more contextual, and often much longer than a keyword.

We wrote this post exploring the type of prompts B2B software companies should think about being visible for.

How can I track clicks from AI answers in ChatGPT?

Not reliably, and that’s part of the dark funnel problem we unpack in this post.

ChatGPT often paraphrases your content without linking. It might mention your brand name, but not include a link to your site. Buyers may then search your brand separately in Google after seeing a mention. That means no attribution, no UTM, no referrer from ChatGPT - even through ChatGPT was where the discovery moment happened, or what prompted the user to come to your site.

One thing to keep an eye out for is an increase in branded searches to your site. Maybe a tool like ChatGPT is recommending your brand name, but the 'referrer' is still organic search because the user still has to Google you.

We'll keep this page regularly updated with some of our most frequently asked questions about AI search and the shift from SEO to GEO - let us know if you have questions you want answering.

If you want to keep up to date with all the latest GEO research, studies and data driven insights, check out our GEO research database.

The world of search has shifted. Again.

But this time, it’s not a Google algorithm tweak or a new SERP layout. This is bigger and more fundamental.

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a new reality. And if your growth team is still treating SEO like it’s 2018, you’re not just missing traffic. You’re missing influence.

In this post, we break down the core differences between SEO and GEO, and why the smartest B2B software brands are already planning for both.

What Is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of increasing visibility in traditional search engines like Google. For years, the playbook was simple (but not easy):

• Research keywords
• Optimise your site
• Write content
• Build backlinks
• Climb the rankings
• Get clicks

SEO’s strength was predictability. You knew what people were searching for. You had tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush to estimate volumes. You could reverse engineer what worked. And everything was deterministic - keyword volumes were easy to measure and rankings were precise.

What Is GEO, and why is it different?

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is about visibility inside AI generated answers, not just on a list of blue links. When users ask questions in ChatGPT or Perplexity they often get direct and contextual answers, personalised to them - sometimes without any links at all.

And those answers? They’re not always sourced from the biggest domain. Or the page with the most backlinks. They’re generated from what the model believes is most relevant and trustworthy source.

GEO is how you show up in those answers.

SEO vs GEO: The core differences

Why GEO is important now

We’re seeing a shift in buyer behaviour, especially in B2B software purchase journeys:

• Buyers use tools like ChatGPT to compare tools, shortlist vendors, generate RFP questions, shape evaluation scorecards and summarise reviews.
• They don’t always click.
• They trust the answer, not the link.

GEO doesn’t replace SEO, it runs in parallel. But it rewards different actions.

How GEO and SEO work together

Here’s what we’re seeing across our clients at FirstMotion:

1. Great SEO = solid foundation.
   • Sites with high authority and well structured content often perform well in GEO too, but not always.
2. But GEO rewards clarity and context, not just authority.
   • LLMs extract meaning. They want structure, factual statements, semantically rich formatting, and trusted sources.
3. Offsite brand mentions matter more than ever.
   • Tools like ChatGPT pull heavily from G2, Gartner, Reddit, LinkedIn Pulse, Quora, and more.
   • GEO success means showing up in the right ecosystem, not just your own site.

GEO vs SEO: FAQs

1. What actually is GEO?

GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation, the art and science of being visible in AI generated answers, not just search engine results.

2. Is it called GEO or AIO or LLMO?

There’s lots of noise in the space. You’ll hear terms like AIO (AI Optimisation), LLMO (LLM Optimisation), and AISEO. We call it GEO, and we think that’s the clearest framing for what's really happening.

3. What is a GEO agency?

A GEO agency helps you understand how generative engines work, mine the prompts your buyers use, analyse where you're cited (or not), and build a strategy to show up in those answers.

4. How does GEO differ from SEO?

SEO = rank for keywords in Google. GEO = be cited in answers from AI tools like ChatGPT. Different discovery methods. Some different optimisation techniques. Different outcomes.

5. How does GEO change the B2B buyer journey?

AI assistants are now embedded in how B2B buyers research. They’re being used for comparisons, evaluation frameworks, and supplier shortlisting, not just discovery. GEO influences every stage of the buyer journey. AI assistants are buyer enablement co-pilots.

6. What are the best analytics/visibility tools for GEO?

We use Peec AI to track brand visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overviews and others. It shows which prompts you’re visible for, which influence sources are cited, and how competitors are performing in AI search.

7. What's the most important part of a GEO strategy?

Audience intelligence. At FirstMotion, we believe GEO must start with understanding how your buyers behave, what prompts they use, and how they evaluate vendors. That’s why we built our ContextualJourney™ platform, to help us map and enrich ICPs, personas, stages, and prompts to guide everything else.

8. Will AI tools eventually overtake Google?

Not immediately, but the shift is underway. We're seeing high intent search behaviour migrating to generative engines, but also lots of research and evaluation too. Here are some stats on AI's rise over Google.

9. Is GEO just about top of funnel?

Not at all. AI tools are becoming buyer enablement co-pilots - used throughout the journey, from problem identification to supplier evaluation. GEO helps you influence across the funnel - potentially at more opportunities than ever before.

10. Are sources like G2, Gartner, Reddit, and Quora more important for GEO?

Yes. These sources are frequently cited by LLMs. Being present, and well positioned, on them increases your chances of inclusion in generative answers.

11. Do I need to focus on Bing for GEO?

Yes, especially if you want to be visible in ChatGPT with web search enabled, since it pulls results via Bing’s API. Our full write up on this is here.

12. How do I figure out what prompts my buyers are actually using?

That’s the art of prompt mining. We analyse buyer roles, intent, and stage of journey to build a Prompt Matrix. You can’t guess your way into AI visibility, in a keyword-less world you need to unlock insights first.

13. What kinds of content get cited in AI answers?

Structured, well formatted contentListicles, comparisons, Q&As, frameworksContent hosted on trusted domainsClear statements of fact, statistics, or expert insight

14. How often should I monitor AI search visibility?

At a minimum monthly. Models update fast. Tools like Peec let us see which prompts you’re visible for, and when that changes.

15. Can I repurpose SEO content for GEO?

Sometimes, but it often needs reframing. GEO content should answer specific prompts, be highly contextual, and often live in or be repurposed in third party ecosystems too. There will be overlap in a SEO and GEO content strategy, but also some subtle but important differences.

16. Can I track clicks from AI answers?

Sometimes, but often, you can’t. Some AI tools don't include links to products they recommend in their answers. That’s why we talk about the AI-powered dark funnel.

This article was updated on 18th March 2026

Google's dominance in search is being challenged faster than most expected. AI-powered tools led by ChatGPT are driving measurable shifts in how people search, what they click, and whether they click at all. This post was originally published in July 2025 with six statistics. We have now expanded it to ten, updated all figures to reflect primary research from late 2025 and early 2026, and added a last-updated date.

Here are some stats showing just how quickly the adoption of AI tools like ChatGPT are driving a change in search behaviour and usage - and potentially undermining Google's dominance.

1. Google drops below 90% share of the search engine market for first time

Google has always had the majority share of the search engine market, with over a 90% share. But in mid 2024, its share dropped below 90% for the first time. At the time of writing this post in July 2025, it has a 89.54% share of the market.

In a similar time period, Bing has increased its share from 3.32% in February to just under 4% in July 2025. Whilst this change might not seem significant, it's interesting to think about when considering that OpenAI has a partnership with Bing and it uses Bing's index to search the web inside ChatGPT.

2. Gartner predicts a 50% drop in organic search by 2028 due to AI search

Based on its research and surveys, Gartner believes that the 'rapid adoption of GenAI in search engines will significantly disrupt CMOs’ ability to harness organic search to drive sales.'

Emily Weiss, Senior Principal Researcher in the Gartner Marketing Practice, added “Marketing leaders whose brands rely on SEO should consider allocating resources to testing other channels in order to diversify.”

3. Similarweb shows ChatGPT is now the 5th most visited website in the world

In April 2025 ChatGPT took over X to become the 5th most visited website in the world. Impressive by any measure, but even more so when you consider it wasn't even 3 years old at this point.

And what's just as impressive is the ongoing growth and just how quickly they are adopting new users.

4. AI Overviews now appear in around 25% of all Google searches

AI Overviews appear on approximately 25% of Google searches as of November 2025, up from around 4% in January 2025. In health and science categories the figure can reach 40% or higher, according to this research from Conductor.

5. Ahrefs confirms AI Overviews reduce clicks by 58% for the top-ranking page

Ahrefs' study of 300,000 keywords (December 2025) found that AI Overviews correlate with a 58% lower click-through rate for the page ranking first. The effect is present even for pages that own the AI Overview citation — they see more impressions but fewer clicks per impression.

6. AI search traffic converts at significantly higher rates (but context matters)

Seer Interactive's case study (October 2024 to April 2025, B2B software client): ChatGPT converted at 15.9%, Perplexity at 10.5%, Claude at 5%, Gemini at 3%, versus Google organic at 1.76%. ChatGPT users also viewed 2.3 pages per session versus 1.2 for organic. Ahrefs reported internally that AI traffic drove 12.1% of all signups from just 0.5% of visits — a 23x conversion rate advantage. Semrush's broader July 2025 research found LLM visitors convert 4.4x better than organic on average. The effect is strongest for B2B and high-consideration purchases; it is weaker or neutral for impulse ecommerce.

7. Being cited in an AI Overview dramatically improves all search performance

Seer Interactive found that brands cited in AI Overviews earn 35% higher organic CTR and 91% higher paid CTR compared to brands that are not cited. The implication: the goal has shifted from ranking to being cited, with being cited unlocking compounding performance advantages across both organic and paid.

8. Referring domains are the single strongest predictor of AI citation

SE Ranking's study of 129,000 domains found referring domains are the strongest predictor of ChatGPT citation. Sites with more than 350,000 referring domains average 8.4 citations per response. Domains active on Trustpilot, G2, and Capterra earn 3x more citations than those without profiles. This means link-building for traditional SEO and AI search visibility are largely the same investment.

Marketers love to say “no one uses Bing.” And in the old world of SEO, they were probably right - for most brands, Google was the only search engine to think about. After all, Google has consistently had about a 90% share of the search engine market, whilst Bing has had less than 4%.

But if you care about visibility in ChatGPT and the world of generative engine optimisation, especially GPT-4o and later models with browsing enabled - you’re going to want to pay attention to Bing. There's lots of evidence showing AI tools rising in usage and potentially overtaking Google.

Why is Bing important for being more visible in ChatGPT? Because when ChatGPT doesn’t know something: it asks Bing.

The OpenAI, Microsoft, Bing Partnership

Microsoft has invested around $13 billion in OpenAI. In return, OpenAI’s technology now powers Microsoft’s Copilot experiences across Bing, Edge, Windows, and Office. But the partnership works both ways and one of the most important consequences is that when ChatGPT  browses the web, it does it through Bing.

• ChatGPT’s web browsing plugin is powered by Bing’s API
• Bing's index is what's used when ChatGPT browses the web
• Microsoft’s infrastructure underpins OpenAI’s deployment at scale
• Bing and Edge are increasingly integrated into how and where GPT-4o retrieves real time data

What triggers ChatGPT to do a web search?

ChatGPT doesn’t always search the web, sometimes instead relying on its own knowledge acquired through its training data, but here are common scenarios where it does:

• Questions about recent updates or that rely on new information
• “Best tools for X” where the model is uncertain
• Certain pricing, availability, or comparison requests
• Some region specific queries
• Niche or lesser known areas where training data is sparse

It is also possible for users to explicitly request ChatGPT to do a web search, which they may want to do if they want ChatGPT to look beyond its own training data in order to give a better answer.

In these cases, ChatGPT uses Bing’s index to fetch results - and so if you’re not indexed in Bing, you're not making it into the answer.

Bing is a hidden GEO lever

Bing's search index and ranking algorithms are leveraged to ground ChatGPT's responses and provide citations, enhancing the reliability and transparency of the information provided. 

So Bing’s index is now the backbone of ChatGPT’s real time search. From product data to pricing, news to reviews, Bing gives ChatGPT access to a broad and constantly updated slice of the web. While it’s long been seen as Google’s second act, the OpenAI–Microsoft partnership has pushed Bing back into strategic relevance, especially for brands that want to be visible inside generative answers.

What kind of prompts might trigger a ChatGPT web search?

Whilst B2B software brands may not be as worried about real time information as other types of product or service provider, there are certain prompts relating to the B2B buyer journey that may leverage a Bing search.

Recent Information

For example ChatGPT's training data has a cut off. So if the prompt asks about anything updated recently, it’ll often go to the web.

Examples:

• “What are the newest features in HubSpot’s Service Hub as of Q2 2025?”
• “Did Salesforce just announce new AI functionality for Slack integration?”
• “Latest comparison between Gong and Chorus for 2025?”

Comparisons

Another example is product comparisons, especially less mainstream or niche areas.

Examples:

• “What’s the difference between Mutiny and Intellimize for website personalisation?”
• “Compare ContractPodAi vs Malbek vs LinkSquares for CLM features and integrations.”
• “How does Paddle stack up against Stripe for SaaS billing in Europe?”

Reviews & case studies

When a prompt calls for third party opinion, LLMs often browse forums, review sites, and user-generated content. Some of this information might be in the LLMs training data already, but some prompts might trigger a web search.

Examples:

• “What do G2 reviews say about Chili Piper’s onboarding experience?”
• “Are there any customer case studies for using Apollo.io with HubSpot?”
• “What are the pros and cons of using Notion as a company knowledge base?”

Pricing, Licensing, and Packaging

LLMs typically do not retain accurate or up-to-date pricing info in training data, so often they’ll try to fetch it live.

Examples:

• “What’s the latest pricing model for Contentful in 2025?”
• “Is WorkRamp priced per seat or per module?”
• “How much does an enterprise plan for Heap Analytics cost?”

Regional or Industry-Specific Queries

If the user adds context like geography or industry niche, ChatGPT may need to pull in more specific info.

Examples:

• “Best CRM platforms for government contractors in the UK”
• “CLM tools suitable for fintech companies with data residency in Europe”
• “Local implementation partners for NetSuite in Dubai”

Security, Compliance & Technical Specs

When users ask detailed technical or compliance related questions, ChatGPT may decide to try and find the most current documentation.

Examples:

• “Is AirTable SOC 2 compliant in 2025?”
• “What kind of role-based access controls does Amplitude support?”
• “Does Klaviyo store data in AWS or GCP?”

Event-Driven Prompts

These might relate to product launches, announcements, or market changes.

Examples:

• “Which B2B software vendors announced funding rounds in June 2025?”
• “Was Vanta featured in the latest Gartner Magic Quadrant?”
• “Who’s sponsoring SaaStr 2025?”

What can you do to ensure visibility in Bing?

There are a number of steps you can take to think about your website's relationship with Bing, including first and foremost, making sure you submit your site to Bing Webmaster Tools.

Doing so will allow you to build a full picture of how Bing currently understands and indexes your content, and along with prompt visibility analytics enables you to start planning the steps to make sure Bing has the best chance possible to index your content. And most importantly, increase your chances of being included in an answer by ChatGPT.

Check out our FAQs page for your questions answered on GEO and AI search.

The world of SEO has changed - fast and forever. Optimising for AI search is a whole new world - and whilst there is certainly some overlap with old school SEO, there are also lots of areas requiring a fresh approach and a mindset shift.

As a B2B software focused AI SEO agency, here is an overview of some of the things we look at when improving a B2B software brand's AI answer visibility.

1. Deeply Understand Your Audience

Before you write a single word of content and before you start tracking prompts or trying to optimise anything, you need to know who you’re optimising for.

Really this is true of any marketing strategy - it's definitely not new because of AI SEO. But it is often overlooked, and now more important than ever as part of a GEO strategy.

But in the world of SEO, we had keyword volumes. In the world of GEO, we don’t.

Which means we believe everything must start with deep buyer intelligence.

At FirstMotion, we’ve built a platform focused on B2B software buyer journeys designed for exactly this:

• Map your ICPs, their personas, their roles in the buying unit
• Understand the stages of their journey, use cases, and evaluation triggers
• Analyse competitor reviews to semantically understand buyer language
• Enrich the data using intent data, millions of B2B buyer data points and AI to deeply understand buyer behaviour

No prompt strategy is complete without deep, enriched buyer context.

2. Mine Prompts

Only once you have a deep audience and buyer behaviour understanding can you begin to 'mine' prompts that might be being used at the various stages of the buyer journey. Our platform takes all of the audience intelligence data and uses AI to help with this process.

Our methodology at FirstMotion is to align prompts by B2B buyer journey stages, building Prompt Matrix that maps prompts across ICPs, personas and stages.

By default we use the following buyer journey stages, but customise this for each client, ICP and decision making unit. Here is an example of a General Counsel in a mid size tech company exploring contract lifecycle management software solutions:

Notice that prompts are much longer and more contextual than 'SEO keywords' - and whilst the above are just examples, we would expect to see even longer prompts on a real client engagement.

3. Analyse Prompt Visibility

Once you’ve 'mined' your prompts, the question becomes: are we showing up in generative answers currently for these prompts?

This is where prompt visibility tools like Peec come in. Peec is our analytics and visibility monitoring partner at FirstMotion.

We use Peec to:

• Track brand’s visibility across AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews
• Compare visibility against competitors for the same prompts
• Monitor how visibility shifts over time

A key mindset shift for marketers to make here that there are no “rankings” in generative search - there are only probabilities.

4. Run Influence Intelligence

If your brand isn’t showing up, you don't just need to know who is - you need to know why,

LLMs pull from sources they trust. And increasingly, that’s not your homepage.

Using Peec we are able to analyse citations and sources - the content that is influencing the answers tools like ChatGPT may give users.

Here is an example from one of the prompts relating to the contract lifecycle management software example above, showing the specific URLs the various models have cited and how frequently:

As we specialise in B2B software, we often see sources like Gartner Magic Quadrants, Forrester Wave reports, LinkedIn Pulse, G2 and Capterra reviews and niche forums like Quora or Reddit being referenced by LLMs. If you would like to know more about how these sources might be influencing your own AI SEO visibility, get in touch.

5. Create a Prompt Aligned Content Strategy

Aligning content with your prompt matrix and based on your influence intelligence is worthy of its own post that would be thousands of words long, so we're not going to go deep into the process here.

In the GEO era, the most effective content is shaped by the actual language and context your buyers use when interacting with AI assistants. So here are a few things to think about for now:

• Stay niche and really break down content by ICP, persona and buyer stage - journey context is key
• Don't just mirror the prompt - answer the users intent with scannable, citable, contextual content
• Think about how content can be easily parsed and summarised by LLMs and if summaries, clear headers, lists and schema markup might help
• Focus on semantic richness over keyword stuffing
• Ensure content remains fresh and up to date with your own citations and references
• Think about your offsite content strategy and where content could be republished

6. Define an Offsite Strategy

Our research has shown that, for certain types of prompt at certain buyer journey stages, LLMs often prefer third party citations over your own site's content. This is one of the most large and complex areas of a generative engine or AI search optimisation strategy.

Branded mentions in locations beyond your own website are a factor we're tracking carefully.

So some areas to think about might include:

• G2, Capterra, TrustRadius - high-quality reviews and clear positioning
• Reddit, Quora, LinkedIn Pulse - authentic content and commentary
• Analyst reports from Gartner and Forrester
• Integration directories, analyst blogs, product roundups

Tactics:

• Review campaigns on trusted platforms
• Create content for third party guest publications
• Comment and contribute to the discussion where LLMs learn in places like Reddit and Quora
• Think about content republishing and repurposing, and if it makes sense to build authority in other places beyond your own website

5. Monitor Visibility Continuously

GEO isn’t static and models are updating regularly. Prompt phrasing shifts. Citations change. And monitoring visibility is therefore both more complex and more important than in the old school days of SEO, when Google was really the only search engine you had to worry about.

You need ongoing visibility monitoring to:

• Track how often your brand is showing up for your selected prompts
• See which models favour your content
• Spot shifts in competitors’ inclusion rates
• Identify which content or source changes lead to visibility changes

7. Don’t Abandon SEO Fundamentals

This isn’t a binary choice between SEO and GEO. In lots of our research we see positive correlation between brands with historically good SEO also performing well in AI search.

But hopefully it's also clear from our post that there are lots of new things to think about and some mindset shifts that need to happen in the new era of AI search and generative engine optimisation. Maybe it's time to build the business case to invest in AI SEO.

One important note: OpenAI has a partnership with Bing through it's relationship with Microsoft - meaning when a ChatGPT prompt triggers a web search, it relies on Bing's index. So whilst your previous SEO strategy might have only focused on Google, it may be worth thinking about how your site is indexed in Bing too.

If you're a B2B software brand looking for help understanding the shifting landscape of SEO and AI search, we would love to talk.

LLMO. AIO. AI SEO. GEO.

The buzzword soup around 'AI search' is growing by the day, and lots of it is noise. So many acronyms... all describing the same thing?

At FirstMotion, our definition of a Generative Engine Optimisation agency is currently:

A GEO agency (Generative Engine Optimisation agency) helps brands become

• Visible in generative search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude
• Credible across trusted third party sources that LLMs rely on
• Influential at key moments in the AI-native buyer journey

Why is it called GEO?

We like the term Generative Engine Optimisation because we feel it puts a strong lens on visibility + context being at the centre of the strategy, whilst feeling like a natural next iteration of SEO.

As the new category of GEO and AI search optimisation evolves, we expect to see multiple terms still being used to talk about a brands AI search visibility and performance.

Is it it really different from 'normal SEO'?

In much of our research so far, there are some areas of correlation between 'traditional SEO' performance and GEO performance, but also many areas where there is much less overlap. We've seen some brands with what may be considered strong SEO performance metrics perform much worse in AI search results than we might expect, and been able to identify how some underdogs are punching above their weight in AI search.

Another important consideration is just how many different AI search engines there actually are, When we talk about SEO, we really only mean Google usually. But when we talk about GEO, the list of tools is extensive and they're all releasing new features at enormous pace.

Lastly, with SEO the process of 'keyword research' is fairly straightforward. There are no shortage of tools that will tell you how many monthly searches a certain keyword query will get. But with GEO, this same data doesn't exist. Prompts are much more contextual than keywords, much longer and much more personalised. Which is why at FirstMotion, our ContextualJourney™ technology platform sits at the heart of our process, using millions of B2B buyer data points, intent data and data enrichment along with AI to power some very deep audience intelligence. It's our firm belief that in a keyword-less world, you can't nail an AI search strategy without this.

Marketers are having to go through a big shift in mindset from 'rankings' to 'probabilities'.

So yes, some of the 'tactics' a GEO agency might use will often overlap with those we have used in SEO  for a long time. But there are plenty of differences needing a change in approach, mindset and lots of smart technology.

Rethinking the agency model

Part of building a B2B GEO agency proposition at FirstMotion is also about rethinking what brands really need and want from their agency relationships.

We're building FirstMotion as a new breed of consultancy rather than agency - faster, smarter, more technology, fewer layers of inefficiency, deeper B2B specialism - and therefore better value - than any search agency that has come before us.

A proper GEO partner should help you:

• Understand your audience’s real AI search behaviour
• Map prompts across your buyer journey
• Optimise your presence on third party platforms LLMs trust
• Create citability ready content, both on-site and off
• Run regular visibility audits across tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude
• Shift your attribution thinking - because not all influence leaves a trail

Check out our FAQs page for your questions answered on GEO and AI search.

If you’re still talking about keywords, rankings and SERPs, it's time to catch up.

Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is reshaping how B2B buyers discover, compare, and decide - the next phase of AI SEO.

We've put this glossary together to help B2B marketers get their head around all the AI search optimisation lingo they need to know.

These are the terms that matter now, in a world where prompts replace queries, AI assistants replace search engines, and visibility doesn’t always equal traffic.

Let’s get fluent.

Foundational concepts of GEO

How AI models work when it comes to search

Generative Engine Optimisation techniques & tactics

Challenges & limitations

Bonus: some SEO terms you should rethink...

Check out our FAQs page for your questions answered on GEO and AI search.

Let’s cut straight to it: if you’re still chasing 'position one', there's a chance you might be left behind.

GEO - Generative Engine Optimisation - doesn’t care about rankings. Because whilst AI tools like ChatGPT might make recommendations in a certain order, rankings in the traditional SEO sense don't really exist any more.

B2B marketers need to shift mindset - from rankings to probabilities - as the rise of AI search engines takes place.

The old world of SEO: deterministic, trackable, predictable

Traditional SEO was a closed circuit.

You targeted a keyword.
You optimised a page.
Google showed ten blue links in a fixed order.
Your goal: get to position one and stay there.

The whole ecosystem - from Ahrefs to Semrush to every SEO agency on the planet - was built around rankings as the metric of visibility. You could track them. You could report on them. You could screenshot your client’s “#2 position” and pat yourself on the back.

That world has changed.

The new reality: GEO is probabilistic

Generative search doesn’t serve up fixed, repeatable, consistent results.

It generates answers in real time - often different answers for different people, or even different ones for the same person, depending on context, model memory, and randomness.

You might have noticed that the more you engage with ChatGPT, the more it remembers. That's because it has a memory function.

Ask ChatGPT:

What are the top alternatives to Salesforce for a 500-person SaaS company?

Then ask Perplexity.
Then Claude.
Then Microsoft Copilot.
You’ll probably get different answers. Different vendors. Different justifications.
Sometimes links. Sometimes none. Sometimes citations (often very different citations depending on the LLM). Sometimes even hallucinations.

The results are not necessarily ranked, even if they are presented to you in a certain order.

They’re composed by models with constantly shifting training data and context sensitivity.

So what are you really optimising for?

You’re optimising for the probability of inclusion.

One prompt ≠ one output

In the world of SEO, there was broadly one search results page per keyword. OK, maybe it would change a bit depending on location or device (such as mobile) for certain search terms - but usually the ranking results would be consistent.

In GEO, the permutations are much wider:

• The exact prompt wording changes the outcome
• The user’s history/AI memory can influence the result
• The model’s “temperature” setting (i.e. randomness) affects what it says
• Forms of Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) pulls in live info - or doesn’t
• Plugins, web access, or third party integrations may further skew results

Every prompt is a dice roll.

Every answer is a composition.

Every mention of your brand is a probabilistic event, not a deterministic position.

Why AI visibility monitoring is key

In the old world, you checked your keyword rankings once a week or received an email alert from your rank tracker.

In GEO, things are dynamic in that models are retrained, updated, tuned regularly and at increasing pace.

And diverse, because there are so many AI tools currently being used (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Slack copilots, custom GPTs etc etc).

And many of these tools now include memory.

That means if a buyer asked about CRM platforms three weeks ago, looked at some options and gave some feedback, ChatGPT might remember it and suggest different follow ups depending on that prior context. It might know about the buyer, their purchase history, current tools, preferences and more.

So if you’re not monitoring visibility constantly, across multiple tools, across multiple prompts, you are flying blind.

This is why platforms like Peec, our analytics partner at FirstMotion, are starting to emerge. And why we believe ongoing visibility auditing will become as fundamental as technical SEO audits used to be.

But you can still influence how AI tools decide to talk about

Here’s the good news: while you can’t force an LLM to list your brand, in the same way you couldn't force Google to, you can increase the probability that it does.

How?

• Third-Party Influence: Make sure you’re highly rated and well described on sites LLMs trust (G2, Capterra, Reddit, LinkedIn, Gartner, etc.)
• Structured, Citable Content: Use clear headers, concise answers, and semantic structure that models can extract easily
• Deep Audience Intelligence: It's fundamental to understand your buyers, their pain points, drivers, goals, buying triggers etc - otherwise effective prompt mining isn't possible
• Prompt Based Content Planning: Build content for prompts, not just keywords. Think: “How do I evaluate XYZ tools?” or “What should I ask a vendor in a demo?”
• Frameworks like PromptPath™: Map prompts across your buyer journey and shape visibility at every stage
• Ongoing Visibility Audits: GEO is not a one and done exercise - it’s a system you need to operate continuously

If you're looking for a generative engine or AI search agency to help you understand how your B2B software brand is currently visible alongside competitors in tools like ChatGPT currently, get in touch.

There’s a new villain in the B2B dark funnel.
It’s not Slack.
It’s not peers DMing on a LinkedIn.
It’s not some analyst behind a paywall.

It’s ChatGPT.

And it might be recommending your software right now…
Without a single link.
Without attribution.
Without any signal hitting your analytics.

What was the original dark funnel?

This one’s worse.

The old dark funnel was made of whispers.
Buyers talked in private Slack groups. They asked peers. They read analyst reports.
It was messy, but at least we understood the shape of it.

Now?
They’re typing prompts into LLMs.

And those prompts are replacing Google.
Replacing “best of” lists.
Replacing TOFU content.
Replacing your beautifully optimised case study that no one is clicking anymore.

And what do they get back?

A list of tools.
Some summaries.
A few alternatives.
And ideally: your brand name.

But not always a link and therefore no click. No source. No attribution.

You’re in the conversation.
You’re influencing the buyer.
But maybe you're not capturing it.

AI search has become the ultimate dark funnel

Let’s break it down:

• A buyer asks ChatGPT:
  “What are the top onboarding tools for B2B SaaS?”
• It replies:
  “Products like Appcues, Userpilot, Pendo and WalkMe are commonly used…”

No links. No clicks. No tracking.
Just a brand name floating in a black box.

Here's an example - not a link in sight.

So is Google / Organic Traffic taking the glory for AI native discovery moments?

If the user decides to search for you later, the visit might show up as “Direct” if they somehow make it to your site by themselves or “Organic” in your reports if they come via Google. But if tools like ChatGPT aren't providing direct links to your site, then your content team gets no credit. Your paid team gets no insight. And your attribution is even more broken than you thought.

It's clear that adoption of AI tools like ChatGPT is on the rise, and that use of 'traditional' Google searches is falling. AI assistants are now buyer enablement co-pilots supporting the length of the B2B buyer journey, and they are trusted by buyers as sources of truth.

So what do you do?

You fight back. Smartly.

1. Audit Your Prompt Visibility
   Use AI tools like Peec to find out if and where you're showing up in AI responses.
2. Optimise for LLMs, Not Just Google
   Structure your content so it’s prompt friendly – clear answers, concise summaries, comparative content, semantic markup.
3. Track Branded Search as a Proxy
   Start mapping when your branded search spikes after known prompt exposure - it’s not perfect, but it’s something.
4. Double Down on Name Recall
   If the link’s not coming, your name needs to stick. Make sure you’re the tool they remember (and spell correctly) when they leave ChatGPT.
5. Rethink Attribution Entirely
   The buyer journey is nonlinear and AI-assisted now. Build models that reflect influence, not just clicks.

If you’re not actively managing how your brand shows up in generative search - and understanding that visibility ≠ attribution then you’re flying blind - maybe now is the time to start building the business case for investing in AI search.

Want to see if your brand is already showing up in AI search? We can tell you.

When the most powerful VC firm in tech says Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) is overtaking SEO, marketers should pay attention. A16Z’s recent piece titled 'How Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Rewrites the Rules of Search' confirms many of own thoughts: AI search is not just a trend, it’s a fundamental shift in how discovery works.

a16z Doesn’t Bet on Fads

Andreessen Horowitz doesn’t waste time writing trend pieces. When they publish a 2,000 word piece exploring GEO eclipsing SEO, it signals a seismic shift. These are the same people who spotted the mobile wave, backed Facebook before it had a revenue model, and invested early in Coinbase while regulators were still catching up.

Now they’re betting on Generative Engine Optimisation. Not as a side channel or speculative bet but as the next foundational layer of digital discovery.

GEO: What It Means and Why It’s Bigger Than You Think

GEO isn’t a buzzword. It’s about becoming discoverable, influential and quotable inside large language model (LLM) environments like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

After all, that's where many B2B buyer journeys are now beginning.

Unlike SEO, which optimises for rank, GEO optimises for answers. It’s conversational, context rich, and increasingly personalised. Models don’t care about who paid for the keyword, they care about giving their users the most specific, structured, trustworthy information.

GEO Is Driving Conversions

Is ChatGPT already an attributable chaannel responsible for driving pipeline? It appears so.

Buried in the A16Z post is a stat that should make every growth leader sit up straight: 10% of Vercel signups now originate from ChatGPT recommendations.

Vercel's CEO shared that just a month prior, that number was only 4.8%.

https://twitter.com/rauchg/status/1910093634445422639?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1910093634445422639%7Ctwgr%5E40565b78de75b32c20bb3b1126e022ba035aff22%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fa16z.com%2Fgeo-over-seo%2F

Our view at FirstMotion is that AI tools are not just search and discovery tools. They are buyer enablement co-pilots that sit in the decision making unit and support B2B buyers from start to finish - searching and discovery sure. But also comparing, evaluating, interrogating, analysing, negotiating - any pretty much everything else that happens in a B2B buyer journey.

Here's another example:

https://twitter.com/marc_louvion/status/1929157995327529122

And a nice piece of data from a SEMRush AI Search Traffic Study,

We have seen that the average AI search visitor (tracked to a non-Google search source like ChatGPT) is 4.4 times as valuable as the average visit from traditional organic search, based on conversion rate.

From SEO to GEO

It's pretty clear the change is already here. Certain niches and industries may be impacted by others, but the data is evident - AI search poses both a big change, and a big opportunity (for those with a plan).

We're heading for a world where buyers aren’t browsing your homepage  - they’re prompting their assistant.

They’re not looking for your CTA. They’re looking for the best answer.

And if you’re not in the model’s context window, you’re not part of the decision.

GEO is no longer optional. It’s the front line of:

• Buyer research
• Product comparison
• Objection handling
• Feature comparisons
• Demo prep
• Onboarding planning
• Negotiation

And more...

Strategic Steps for B2B Teams

So what now? Here’s how to get ahead:

1. Audit your AI search visibility: Prompt tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude. Are you mentioned? Which of your competitors are winning? Why?
2. Map prompts to the buyer journey - What are buyers doing at each stage? We use data enrichment & lots of AI to supercharge this process.
3. Turn those into prompt informed content briefs - map content, spot the gaps, and understand where certain prompts might be falling short.
4. Optimise - from here, the plan really depends on what the data tells us. There's no one size fits all, LLMs all work differently, each category is different and the pace of change is rapid.

Or, get in touch with us at FirstMotion, where it's our job to help B2B software marketing leaders navigate this period of change with clarify and confidence.

Reddit isn't just for memes.

Did you know there is a subreddit on Reddit called LegalTech? It has ~10,000 members, and describes itself as being for 'those in the legal field interested in improving the legal profession through the use of technology'.

Recently at FirstMotion, we were doing some AI search optimisation strategy work for a B2B software brand in the 'contract lifecycle management' software category. Basically software that helps you manage contracts - either as an in house legal team, or in a law firm.

After lots of audience intelligence work, we developed our prompt map. One of those prompts that we established could be used towards the middle or end of a B2B buyer journey was a comparative analysis of two products in the space:

I'm comparing Ironclad and LinkSquares for legal contract automation – which is better? Who else should I consider?

For this prompt, ChatGPT used Reddit as the most frequently used source - being cited in 57% of chats relating to this prompt.

Thanks to our analytics tools, we can see the various Reddit discussions being cited by tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity when they are responding to users prompts:

So if you thought Reddit was just for investing in meme coins - think again. There are very serious professional B2B buyers, like Jennifer, the General Counsel above, using Reddit in very niche communities which are extremely highly regarded by AI search tools.

Of course Reddit wasn't the only source - here are some of the others ChatGPT used:

LegalTech is just one example. For B2B software companies in technical niches like developer tools, security, cloud etc - Reddit is likely to be even more active around these topics. Maybe it's a cliché, but it's still the case that more 'techy' buyer personas might be more likely to be spending time on Reddit.

Why is Reddit often cited by LLMs?

There’s a clear logic to why Reddit dominates:

• Authenticity: The posts are written by real users in real situations.
• Nuance: Reddit threads don’t just compare features - they surface gotchas, unfiltered opinions integration headaches and actual outcomes.
• Freshness: Active threads are updated, revisited and built upon. LLMs prefer live ecosystems over static blog content.

Reddit’s chaotic, unfiltered nature is exactly what makes it valuable. It provides a context and depth that AI models crave.

Reddit is feeding LLMs - and brands are reacting

Recently, Reddit Chief Executive told the Financial Times “20 years of conversation about everything” and so it's no surprise that LLMs love Reddit.

Multiple advertising and agency executives speaking during this month’s Cannes advertising festival told the FT that brands were increasingly exploring hosting a business account and posting content on Reddit to boost the likelihood of their ads appearing in the responses of generative AI chatbots.

In 2024 Reddit and OpenAI announced a partnership - one of only a few examples of an AI company not just crawling the web and helping themselves to content, but actually investing in a properly licensed commercial relationship. This is a clear sign of how LLMs like ChatGPT value Reddit's content.

There's never been a better time for a B2B software brand to invest in a Reddit strategy.