What You Need To Know About AI Search
The business owner’s guide to AI search, a.k.a. generative engine optimization (GEO)
Part 1 of 3: The Small and Mid-Sized Business’s Guide to AI Search
In this article, we explain what GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) is and why it matters. In Part 2, we'll help you diagnose whether AI is actually affecting your traffic and show you why your SEO investment remains valuable. In Part 3, we’ll cover what specific actions to take if AI search is stealing your web traffic.
If you want to learn about the actual AI Search tasks we do for our clients and how we can help you, please visit our GEO Services page.
You may have heard that AI is going to kill SEO. You may be worried about the investment that you have made (or are making) in your website SEO is not worth it.
Our take? AI is not killing SEO. It’s expanding search. And smart business owners will optimize for both.
At its most basic form, Search is just expanding beyond Google, Bing, and other search engines to include AI tools. As a business owner, here’s what you need to know about GEO and AI Search.
What Is GEO?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimization. It is the practice of optimizing your website and content so that AI “search” engines (like ChatGPT, Claude, or Google’s AI Overviews) are more likely to cite your content and your business in their responses.
To put it simply: If SEO–search engine optimization–is optimizing your website for traditional search engines, GEO is optimizing your website for AI search platforms. It is about turning your website into a trusted source that AI tools reference and recommend.
GEO is an emerging field. As such, it has many alternative names including AI Search, AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization) and others.
What GEO Looks Like in Practice
Here’s a concrete example. Imagine you ask ChatGPT, “What sales tools should I use to help my small business?”
In a traditional Google search, you’d see ten blue links and click through to compare the options yourself. With AI search, you get an immediate answer that might say, “Here are the three must-try CRMs for small businesses.”
If the CRMs’ content is well-structured and their brand has established authority, they make it to that top list. Without even visiting the website, you already have a positive impression of their brand.
Now swap “sales tools” for the relevant search for your business. Putting GEO into practice means making sure that ChatGPT (and other AI search tools) reference your business in those moments.
Why This Shift is Happening Now
AI adoption is accelerating faster than almost any technology in history. AI tools have gone from experimental to mainstream in months, not years. People are discovering that AI tools can synthesize information from multiple sources and deliver answers faster than clicking through search results.
This isn’t a future trend. AI search is reshaping how your prospects research, right now. And for businesses that have built their growth strategies around being discovered through search, the implications are significant.
How GEO is Different from Traditional SEO
While SEO and GEO share some common ground, the mechanics of how they work are fundamentally different. Understanding these differences is critical to adapting your content strategy to encompass SEO and GEO best practices.
The most important practical thing to understand is if you want to get cited by AI search, you need to structure and “chunk” key pieces of your content using elements like numerical/bulleted lists, tables, FAQs and quotes AND build authority for your brand.
| Key Difference | SEO | GEO |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Interaction |
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| How These Technologies Work |
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| Optimization Strategy |
SEO best practices include:
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GEO requires all of SEO's best practices, and:
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Traditional SEO rewards you for having the best answer and the strongest authority. GEO rewards you for having the best answer, the strongest authority, and presenting that information in a format that AI tools can easily parse and cite. This is why simply having great content isn’t enough anymore: it needs to be structured in specific ways.
Which Businesses Should Care About GEO Right Now
Now that you understand how GEO differs from traditional SEO, the natural question is whether this applies to your business. Not every SMB is equally affected by the shift to AI search, but if you’re reading this, you should probably be paying attention.
👍 A rule of thumb: If your business’s bottom line is tied directly to people finding you through search, rather than already knowing your name, AI search puts you at a much greater risk.
The businesses most immediately impacted fall into a few categories:
Content and knowledge businesses that monetize through traffic (publishers, educational platforms, comparison sites) are seeing the most immediate impact, since AI tools directly answer questions that previously drove clicks to their sites.
Service-based businesses without strong brand recognition (consultancies, agencies, professional services) face a challenge: if prospects are asking AI tools for recommendations and you’re not being cited, you’re invisible in those conversations.
Specialized B2B and technical businesses (medical, legal, highly technical niches) are finding that prospects use AI tools to educate themselves before ever contacting a provider. Being cited as an authority in these initial research conversations matters.
E-commerce and product businesses aren’t immune. AI tools are increasingly used for product research, feature comparisons, and purchase recommendations. If your products aren’t being mentioned, you’re losing mindshare.
Why GEO Matters to Small and Mid-Sized Businesses Today
AI-powered search isn’t a future trend. It’s already reshaping how your prospects discover and evaluate solutions.
AI Search Is Already Here & Growing
The adoption numbers are staggering:
| AI Tool | Daily Active Users |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | ~190.6 million |
| Google Gemini | ~35 million |
| Google Search AI Overviews | Reaches 2 billion monthly users |
| Grok (xAI) | ~6.7 million |
| DeepSeek | ~22.15 million (as of Jan 2025) |
These aren’t niche tools for early adopters anymore. ChatGPT reached 100 million users faster than any consumer application in history. Google’s AI Overviews now reach 2 billion people monthly across 200+ countries and 40+ languages. While not every interaction on these platforms is a “search,” millions of queries that would have previously gone to Google are now being answered by AI tools.
And here’s the critical difference: unlike traditional search where users click through to your website, AI tools provide synthesized answers directly, often without ever sending traffic your way.
The Impact on Website Traffic
Research shows click-through rates drop 34-46% when AI-generated summaries appear in search results. Businesses that rely heavily on informational content (product comparison sites, educational resources, how-to guides) are seeing meaningful traffic declines.
For now, the impact is concentrated in specific areas. Content-driven businesses and knowledge sites are feeling it most acutely. Product-based businesses have been somewhat insulated since people can’t yet purchase directly through AI tools. But that protection may be temporary as these platforms continue to evolve.
Small and Mid-Sized Businesses (SMBs) Are Especially Vulnerable
SMBs generally have fewer resources to navigate this shifting landscape. You’re competing against larger brands that often have:
Structured data and content that AI tools can easily parse;
Brand recognition and authority that makes them more likely to be cited;
More mentions across the web that reinforce their credibility to AI systems; and
Larger teams and budgets to adapt quickly to this shift.
If you rely on non-brand, informational traffic–people discovering you through searches rather than looking for you specifically–you’re particularly exposed.The visibility game is shifting: for some brands, industry authority and structured content are becoming more critical than traditional SEO rankings.
The Early Mover Opportunity
Here’s the good news: while AI search is growing rapidly, it’s still early enough that positioning yourself now can create a meaningful advantage.
When you optimize your content for GEO, you’re teaching AI tools to recognize your business as an authoritative source in your domain. The brands that AI tools learn to trust and cite consistently will build an advantage that compounds over time, similar to how strong domain authority in traditional SEO creates momentum.
This is especially valuable in specialized niches where competitors haven’t yet optimized for AI citations. If you serve a specific industry or solve a particular problem, becoming the source that AI tools consistently reference can drive qualified prospects to your business even as overall search behavior evolves.
What This Means for Your Business
If you’ve made it this far, you understand that AI search isn’t replacing traditional search; it’s expanding it. And that expansion is changing how prospects discover, evaluate, and choose the businesses they work with.
Some business owners may be tempted to wait this out. After all, Google still dominates search and AI tools are still evolving. Why not see how things shake out before investing time and resources into GEO?
Here’s what that’s risky:
The shift is already happening. Millions of people are using AI search to find information today. Consider how often you yourself use Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, or Claude to access information instead of clicking on traditional search results. Your prospects are doing the same.
Early GEO movers may gain a serious advantage. Brands that optimize their content now are more likely to be trusted sources within LLMs. That advantage builds over time, so the longer you wait, the harder it becomes to break through competitors.
Search isn’t going away; it's morphing. If you only focus on traditional SEO, you may be missing out. Your prospects are still searching, but they’re doing it in new places. It’s important to be visible in those conversations.
If you’re still unsure about whether GEO should be a priority for your business, ask yourself:
Are your prospects conducting third-party research before making purchasing decisions?
Does traffic from organic search play a big role in your current business model or growth strategy?
Would it hurt your business if prospects were getting recommendations from AI tools and your company wasn’t mentioned?
If you answered yes to any of these, you can’t afford to ignore GEO.
Where to Start
The first step is understanding your current position. Are AI tools already citing your content? When prospects ask questions in your domain, does your brand appear in the answers? Most business owners have no idea.
At Mariner11, we help small and mid-sized business leaders assess their AI search visibility and develop integrated strategies that work for both traditional SEO and GEO. We can audit where you’re currently being cited, identify the gaps in your content structure, and create a roadmap for becoming the authoritative source AI tools reference in your space.
The companies that thrive in this new landscape won’t be the ones with the biggest budgets. They’ll be the ones that understood the shift early and positioned themselves strategically.
Want to understand where your business stands in AI search? Schedule a discovery call to learn where AI tools are (or aren’t) citing your business, and what to do about it.