We have talked already about the sudden wave of “Are we showing up in AI answers?” questions landing on marketers’ desks. That question hasn’t gone away. What has changed is the temperature around it.
Leaders aren’t just curious anymore. They’re starting to treat GEO as something that deeply influences how their brand is understood, discovered and validated across an entirely new interface. And that shift is creating a new kind of pressure inside organizations.
The pressure is coming from the fact that GEO doesn’t sit neatly inside any one team’s remit. It cuts across brand, content, SEO, PR, product, and customer experience. Which means the real challenge isn’t “How do we optimize for AI?” but “How do we organize ourselves around something that touches everything?”
That’s the part most teams are wrestling with.
GEO is becoming a strategic conversation, not a technical one
When we speak to clients, the questions are about brand relevance, competitive visibility, and whether their organization is set up to influence the signals that LLMs absorb.
Oliver Smith, Global Head of Brand & Communications at Awin, put it plainly:
“[GEO is] the next step in optimizing a brand in the digital ecosystem of Marketing. Much like SEO became a puzzle to crack, so is GEO. Brand relevancy and being a part of a customer’s journey should be important to every marketer operating in a digital landscape.”
“The Lorries approaching us to have this conversation was encouraging, given it had been a conversation at board-level some days previous. Critical items for us were a demonstration of GEO comprehension, a clear plan on how to progress and an idea of outcomes.
“[GEO] is now something we are actively investing time into.”
That is something we’re hearing everywhere. Teams aren’t ready to overhaul their entire comms and content operation. They are ready to understand what’s happening, where they stand, and what levers they can realistically pull.
GEO is forcing brands to look at their foundations again
The interesting thing about GEO is that it doesn’t reward hacks or shortcuts. It rewards clarity, consistency and credibility. Which means the brands that will benefit most aren’t the ones with the most content, but the ones with the most coherent footprint.
That’s why GEO is about tightening the fundamentals you already own:
- Clear, unambiguous explanations of what you do
- Proof points that are easy for humans and machines to understand
- Third-party validation that reinforces your narrative
- A reputation that shows up consistently across channels
- A content ecosystem that answers real questions
This is the part that often gets missed. GEO isn’t a new channel. It’s a new mirror. It reflects back the strength of your existing brand signals.
Early movers aren’t trying to “win GEO”. They’re trying to understand it.
The smartest teams we’re working with are trying to build early GEO literacy. They want to know how LLMs are interpreting their brand today, what sources are shaping that interpretation, and where they have influence.
Richard Brandon, VP of Marketing at RtBrick, summed up the mindset:
“GEO is in its infancy, but we know increasingly our audiences use LLMs like ChatGPT for information without visiting a website. For us, understanding those early-stage sources used by AIs is really important. We’ve started with a GEO audit and that gives us a solid plan to influence how we’re appearing.”
That’s the pattern we’re seeing. A pragmatic desire to understand the landscape before making big decisions.
The internal ownership question is becoming unavoidable
One of the most common conversations happening inside organizations right now is: who actually owns this?
If GEO touches brand, content, SEO, PR, product, and customer success, then no single team can run with it alone. But someone has to coordinate it. Someone has to translate the findings into action. Someone has to make sure the left hand knows what the right hand is publishing.
This is where comms leaders are increasingly stepping in. Because comms is often the only function with visibility across the entire narrative ecosystem. They understand how owned, earned and social signals interact. They understand how reputation is formed and how inconsistencies creep in.
That doesn’t mean comms should carry the whole thing but does mean they’re well placed to drive the conversation.
GEO is becoming a catalyst for better cross functional alignment
The most valuable outcome of GEO right now is alignment.
When teams start looking at how LLMs interpret their brand, they quickly see where their story is fragmented. They see where product descriptions don’t match marketing language. They see where PR narratives don’t match website messaging. They see where customer success stories aren’t being surfaced in ways that matter.
GEO exposes the gaps. And once you see the gaps, you can close them.
That’s why early GEO work often ends up strengthening the entire comms and content operation. It forces teams to be clearer and more consistent.
Where this goes next
GEO will mature. The rulebook will eventually stabilize, and the tools will get better. The metrics will become more standardized. But right now, the opportunity is less in chasing certainty and more in building readiness.
If your board is asking about GEO, they’re not really asking about AI. They’re asking whether your brand is showing up clearly, credibly and consistently in the places your audiences now look for answers.
That’s a strategic question. And it’s one worth getting ahead of.
