Select Language:
Since the rise of the Chinese AI chatbot DeepSeek has gained massive popularity, numerous brands have begun noticing significant online traffic flowing through their AI chat platforms, industry insiders report. As a result, many companies are shifting their marketing approaches from traditional search engine optimization to a newer method called generative engine optimization, which concentrates on creating content specifically designed to be featured in AI-generated responses.
GEO is a new marketing service where advertising agencies assist brands in crafting content more likely to be picked up by AI chatbots and included in their replies to user inquiries.
Users might not initially realize that AI recommendations are rooted in marketing content unless they click on the web pages referenced in the answers. However, once a chatbot starts suggesting a particular brand, this can act as an endorsement, especially when users share these responses on social media.
For example, when a Digital Phablet reporter asked DeepSeek for restaurant suggestions in Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, the chatbot recommended a cattle hoof restaurant, a noodle shop, a Cantonese barbecue restaurant, and seven other eateries. DeepSeek explained that this information was sourced from blogs, Baidu Baike—the Chinese equivalent of Wikipedia—and the mapping service provided by the tech company 360 Security Technology.
The reporter also searched for “DeepSeek recommendations” on social commerce platform Xiaohongshu, where various posts praised some of the brands recommended by DeepSeek.
Getting Noticed
Industry experts are already aware of what kind of content is more likely to be captured by AI.
According to Chen Jingjing, general manager of the marketing solutions division at Yu An Yin Lan, a marketing consulting firm, AI favors content supported by data, real-world examples, and detailed insights into specific market segments, as these are more likely to be highlighted by AI.
AI chatbots tend to bypass official brand content, instead extracting information from third-party sources, even when those sources are not entirely neutral, explained Luo Xiaojun, general manager of Shenzhen-based tech company MmiMC.
In the past, content was created mainly for human audiences, but now it is often first optimized for AI assistants, said Frank, chief strategy officer at marketing firm iPlus.
“Our clients using GEO include companies in robotics, smart manufacturing, software development, and well-known consumer brands,” Chen added.
Luo secured his first GEO order back in April and since then, adding GEO services to his company’s website has led to nearly daily inquiries.
Some companies are jumping on the bandwagon simply to stay competitive. One of Frank’s clients, a leading manufacturer of durable consumer goods, was caught off guard during the Spring Festival earlier this year when its sales team discovered that a competitor had been using screenshots of AI chatbot answers—the competitor’s chatbot had called it the best in the industry—in its marketing materials. The client is now reconsidering its entire marketing strategy.
Behavioral Shifts
GEO represents an evolution of the traditional SEO marketing model, where companies tweak website content to boost visibility in search engines. This shift is driven by a decline in web traffic supporting search engines’ advertising businesses, which has been moving elsewhere.
Luo notes that search engine use has slowed notably in recent years, with users increasingly turning to platforms like Douyin, Xiaohongshu, and WeChat’s Channels. Since 2020, SEO has seen a roughly 70 percent drop, as user behavior has shifted with the rise of AI. His company now receives five times more requests for GEO services than for SEO.
While ads remain a vital revenue source for search engines, their share has diminished. In the first quarter of its 2025 fiscal year, Google’s parent company, Alphabet, earned $66.9 billion from advertising, representing over 70 percent of total revenue. Chinese search giant Baidu earned CNY 32.5 billion (approximately $4.5 billion) in that same period, with half of that income derived from online marketing.
Add us on ChatGPT
Add us on Perplexity
