How Generative Search Optimization (GSO) is redefining brand visibility

For more than two decades, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has shaped how brands surface in search results. But the landscape has now shifted. Generative AI search engines—Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, Perplexity—no longer display a list of links: they produce direct, contextualized, and often definitive answers.

This structural transformation is reshaping online visibility. Ranking well on Google is no longer enough: tomorrow, a brand invisible in AI-generated answers will simply be absent from consumer decision-making.

This is where Generative Search Optimization (GSO) comes in. While SEO optimized pages for search algorithms, GSO aims to influence how generative engines perceive, understand, and reference your brand in their answers. In other words, it is no longer about being clickable, but about being cited as an authoritative reference within AI-generated discourse.

This shift is profound:

• Winning a place in the algorithm is no longer enough: according to eMarketer, Google’s AI-driven Search Generative Experience could reduce organic traffic for publishers by 20% to 60% (eMarketer).
• User behavior is changing: a GrowthSRC Media study relayed by Search Engine Journal shows the click-through rate for the first organic result dropping 32% (from 28% to 19%) with the expansion of AI Overviews (Search Engine Journal).

Zero-click becomes the new normal: SimilarWeb data reported by the New York Post shows organic traffic to news sites falling from 2.3 billion to under 1.7 billion visits, while the share of zero-click searches rose from 56% to 69% between mid-2024 and May 2025 (New York Post).

The key difference is simple:

• Traditional SEO:
  The algorithm indexes web pages and displays a ranked list of results.
• GSO (Generative Search Optimization):
  The generative engine composes an answer using internal data and selected external sources, choosing whether or not to cite a brand based on visibility, authority, and content quality.

Where SEO let the user choose which link to click, GSO lets the AI choose which brand to mention.
This asymmetry gives search engines unprecedented influence and makes GSO indispensable for brands.

For executives, the issue is simple:
If you are not cited in AI-generated answers, you disappear from the customer journey.

Where SEO enabled presence in rankings, GSO determines whether a brand is recommended by AI.

Three major implications emerge:

• Visibility and credibility:
  A brand cited in an AI-generated answer is perceived as a reference. Repeated absence equates to a loss of legitimacy.
• Conversion and influence:
  Generative engines serve as trust filters. Being included in the answer places the brand at the heart of the purchase decision. Search Engine Journal highlights that the drop in CTR from 28% to 19% reflects this shift of value from traditional search links to AI answers.
• Competitive advantage:
  In a nascent field, early adopters shape how AI “learns” their sector. A Princeton study indicates that content enriched with citations and statistics increases its chance of being reused by generative engines by 30% to 40%. Early movers set the future standards.

GSO is not an optional marketing tactic.
It is a condition for survival and growth in an AI-driven attention economy.

GSO is not just a visibility challenge—it is a direct growth lever.
By influencing how AI engines mention and recommend a brand, GSO acts at the heart of the customer journey and the decision-making process.

1. Being present at the moment of decision

Generative answers reduce available choices.
Where Google displayed ten clickable links, AI answers cite only a few references. Being cited means being considered a trusted solution—placing the brand closest to conversion.

2. Transforming visibility into credibility

A brand mentioned by AI benefits from implicit validation.
In trust-driven sectors (health, finance, luxury, B2B), this can determine whether an opportunity is won or lost.

3. Benefiting from the “first-mover” effect

We are at the very start of GSO adoption.
Brands investing now shape how AI engines will talk about their sector for years. Early positioning becomes durable authority.

4. Preparing for AI shopping assistants

According to Grand View Research, the global market for conversational agents and AI assistants is expected to grow by over 23% annually through 2030.
These tools will guide everyday buying decisions. Brands visible in their answers will naturally be preferred.

5. Reducing dependence on paid channels

As organic traffic declines and media costs rise, GSO becomes a strategic alternative—allowing brands to sustain qualified acquisition without relying solely on advertising.