Senior Director, Digital and Creative
Feeling overwhelmed by AI? You’re not alone. New generative AI tools like ChatGPT and Gemini are changing how people find information and, in turn, how organizations tell their stories. Unfortunately, when AI steps in to tell your story, the results aren’t always flattering. Why? It often comes down to your digital footprint – the trail of information that AI uses to form its lightning-fast answers.
What makes up your digital footprint:
- Earned media: News coverage, op-eds, reviews you didn’t pay for
- Owned media: Your website, social channels, blogs
- Thought leadership: Your insights, speeches, reports
- What others say: Conversations on forums, social media, Wikipedia
Generative AI seeks credible sources to build trustworthy answers to a user’s query. This is where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) comes in. GEO is the practice of creating, formatting and placing content so that generative AI models can easily find, understand and use that information to generate an answer for a user. The goal of GEO is to optimize your content to be the “source of truth” for the AI-generated response to a query.
You can think of GEO as SEO’s close cousin, but with a twist. SEO (search engine optimization) aims to get your specific links ranked highly in organic (unpaid) search engine results to increase a website’s visibility and generate high-quality traffic. Generative AI models often prioritize and draw their answers directly from the top-ranked SEO results, turning those web pages into cited sources. But bear in mind, the generative response is usually simplified and provides less detail and original context than the source material. SEO focuses on driving clicks to a destination; while GEO focuses on becoming the authoritative voice that the AI “speaks” through. It’s less about winning the click and more about winning the citation.
So, how do you ensure generative AI is working to tell your story, accurately? Here are some best practices for getting good GEO results:
- Prioritize earned media: High-quality, positive coverage in reputable third-party outlets is GEO gold. It signals credibility to AI algorithms. Getting your story told accurately in the press is key to ensuring AI picks up and shares your best side to anyone looking for more information about you.
- Ensure fresh and up-to-date content: AI favors recent information. Generative AI models and search algorithms prioritize “freshness” to ensure they aren’t surfacing obsolete data or dead links. By consistently sharing and publishing new content on digital platforms, you provide the sources that AI needs to categorize you as a current authority and use your content for responses.
- Maintain your owned media content: Regularly audit your website, social profiles and digital assets to ensure all information is current and accurate. AI often uses your owned media channels to answer queries specifically about your organization. Is content accurate, up-to-date, and clear? Does your website state your mission and key facts? Are event pages relevant with correct information? Tip: Don’t forget about sharing timely updates – such as holiday hours or temporary closures – on your digital channels.
- Monitor what others are saying about you: Public forums, social media and even your Wikipedia page (if you have one) can be sources for generative AI. Actively tracking these external mentions allows you to quickly address inaccuracies or negative trends before they are indexed and repeated by AI as established fact.
Navigating the AI landscape
AI and GEO best practices are evolving rapidly, but proactive management of your digital footprint remains essential. More and more people are relying on AI overviews for the answers to their queries – also known as zero-click searches. The average user might not even be aware that the results they’re seeing in their favorite search engine are AI-generated. Employing an effective GEO strategy is the key to digital visibility in today’s increasingly AI-forward digital landscape. Understanding the conversation around you, ensuring core channels are accurate and updated, and building credibility through earned media are the foundation to successfully tell your story and ensure you aren’t left behind the AI revolution. Traversing this new terrain alone can be daunting, but don’t feel like you need to walk it alone. Goff Public’s team of industry professionals are seasoned experts in mapping this new online territory and are ready to be your guides.