The Rise of AEO and GEO: How B2B Marketing Leaders Can Dominate AI-Driven Search

By Amanda Biddlestone, Founder & CEO, Algorithm Digital Marketing

Welcome to the Next Era of Search

Over the past two decades, I’ve watched digital marketing evolve from the early days of print to web, from keyword stuffing to content-driven SEO, and from desktop-first to mobile-first strategies. But what we’re witnessing today is something even more seismic: the rise of AI-powered answer engines and generative search.

If you’re a CMO, CEO, or B2B marketing leader still relying solely on traditional SEO, it’s time to adapt. SEO isn’t dead, but it’s no longer enough. To stay visible and competitive, you need a strategy that incorporates Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) tactics that ensure your content shows up in both human-facing search and machine-generated responses.

What Are AEO and GEO? A Guide for B2B Marketing Executives

We’re no longer just optimizing for Google’s 10 blue links. With tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) becoming ubiquitous, the search experience is now a conversation and often a conversation with an AI.

That’s where AEO and GEO come in:

• Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): Focuses on getting your content picked up as a direct answer to user queries in tools like ChatGPT or Google’s featured snippets.
• Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): Ensures your brand’s content is cited and summarized in AI-generated outputs across platforms and interfaces.

These approaches go beyond traditional SEO to support visibility across search engines, chatbots, voice assistants, and AI copilots everywhere your buyers are getting answers today.

How AI Is Shaping the B2B Buyer Journey

Let’s be clear: your buyers are using ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI assistants to make decisions. Even if they aren’t navigating to ChatGPT, search engines are driving more “zero-click traffic” where a user types a search and never clicks because they get the answer on the search page. From vetting software vendors to researching industrial solutions, AI is now part of the B2B buyer’s journey. Unlike traditional search, where you might win with a #1 SERP ranking, generative engines in early 2025 often cite only one or two sources, or none.

B2B buyers are increasingly turning to AI tools, not just Google, for insights and vendor selection.

• 68% of B2B buyers report using ChatGPT or Gemini during vendor evaluation.
• Zero-click traffic is surging users get what they need directly from AI summaries, skipping websites entirely.
• Generative engines often cite only one or two sources, not ten. If you’re not one of them, you’re invisible.

Example: A buyer asks ChatGPT, “What are the top AI compliance platforms for healthcare data?” If your brand isn’t part of the answer, you don’t make the shortlist—period.

If your brand isn’t part of the AI-generated answer, you’re invisible to that 80% known as the “zero click traffic”.

Why B2B Marketing Leaders Must Prioritize AEO and GEO Now

Today’s buyers—whether CTOs researching DevOps tools or HR leaders evaluating SaaS platforms—use AI tools as research assistants.

• 68% of B2B buyers say they’ve used ChatGPT or Gemini during a vendor evaluation.
  
• “Zero-click” queries are rising—buyers get answers without ever visiting your site.
  
• Generative search engines reference trusted, well-structured, expert-driven content only.

The threat? If you’re not optimized for AEO and GEO, your competitors will own that visibility.

AI isn’t just influencing search, it’s shaping perception. Buyers trust what AI tools return. If you’re not appearing in these results:

• You’re losing traffic to competitors.
• Your credibility and authority are undermined.
• You miss out on being part of the buyer’s early consideration set.

Comparison Table: SEO vs AEO vs GEO for B2B Marketers

Practical AEO & GEO Tactics for B2B Brands

To win in this landscape, you need to rethink how you produce and structure content:

• 1. Build Topic Authority, Not Just Keyword Relevance
  • AIOs (AI optimization systems) reward depth, context, and clarity.
  • Create topic clusters around key themes (e.g., “AI compliance in finance”).
  • Use interlinking and consistent messaging across assets.
  • Build out long-form and supporting content to showcase expertise.
• 2. Answer the Actual Questions Your Buyers Ask
  • Go beyond surface-level topics and mirror the language your ICP uses.
  • Use tools like People Also Ask, Answer the Public, and forums like Reddit or Quora to understand real user intent.
  • Don’t just write about “enterprise data security.”
    • Answer: “What should CFOs know about data compliance in 2025?” or “How do enterprise SOC 2 requirements differ from SMB needs?”
• 3. Use Structured Data and Schema Markup
  • Feed the algorithm what it needs to recognize and categorize your content.
  • Implement FAQ, How-To, Product, and Article schema.
  • Prioritize JSON-LD formats and ensure your pages are crawlable and fast-loading.
• 4. Optimize for Generative Summarization
  • Make your content quotable and skimmable—AI loves clarity.
  • Use bullet points, stat callouts, and quote blocks.
  • Add clear author bios and show expertise (think E-E-A-T: Experience, Expertise, Authority, Trustworthiness).
• 5. Publish Where AI Lives
  • Some platforms get scraped and indexed by LLMs more frequently.
  • Share content on Substack, Medium, and LinkedIn Articles.
  • Repurpose blog content into community answers and wiki-style posts on platforms like Stack Overflow, Reddit, or GitHub (where relevant).

Understanding GEO and Its Role in Generative AI Search

While AEO focuses on getting picked up in direct answers, GEO is about being cited in summarizations, insights, and multi-source outputs. Think of it as your content’s eligibility to become part of the AI’s “training summary” for a given question.

Key GEO Strategies:

• Include research-backed claims with citations. Cite credible sources and be one.
• Add original thought leadership, frameworks, and downloadable assets.
• Ensure your brand is associated with high-value, low-noise insights that generative models will “quote” and synthesize.
• Include clear takeaways, quotes, and stats, the kind AI models love to surface.
• Ensure your author credentials and company expertise are clearly presented. Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) still matters.

Action Plan: Preparing Your Content for AI-Driven Discovery

• If you’re responsible for demand generation, brand visibility, or sales pipeline in a B2B org, here’s your immediate action plan:
• Audit your current content for topical authority and structure.
• Map out question clusters that your ICP (ideal customer persona) is asking.
• Create or refresh pillar pages and related content that comprehensively answers these questions.
• Implement structured data across your site.
• Experiment with publishing on AI-friendly platforms like Medium, Substack, and community-driven blogs that may be indexed more frequently by LLMs.

The Competitive Advantage of Early Adoption

In 2005, your homepage was your digital storefront.
In 2015, it was your Google search result.
In 2025, it’s the AI-generated answer box.

The brands that recognize this shift—and act on it—will win attention before buyers ever visit a website.

At Algorithm Digital Marketing, we’ve helped forward-thinking B2B organizations stay ahead of this transformation. We began implementing AIO best practices early, integrating them into SEO strategies long before generative search became mainstream. We knew the day would come when content would be consumed differently—and that moment has arrived.

Our early-adopter clients are now seeing referral traffic not just from Google, but from leading AI platforms. That’s the reward for investing in future-ready content: visibility, authority, and measurable demand before the competition catches up.

Need help making sense of AIO and GEO?

If you’re navigating how to adapt your content for AI-driven discovery, you’re not alone. These strategies are still evolving, and it’s okay to have questions. Whether you’re auditing existing assets or just starting to explore answer and generative engine optimization, there are practical steps you can take.

Ready to talk to our team about implementing AEO & GEO for your demand gen strategy? Contact us here.

About the Author

Amanda Biddlestone is the Founder & CEO of Algorithm Digital Marketing, a B2B marketing agency specializing in demand generation, performance content, and AI-integrated SEO for enterprise SaaS, technology, and professional services companies.

With over 20 years of experience in SEO, Paid Search, and Digital Marketing for B2B organizations, Amanda has built a career helping brands drive measurable revenue, optimize pipeline performance, and scale content operations. Before founding Algorithm Digital Marketing in 2018, she spent 15 years building and leading digital marketing teams, including serving as Marketing Director for leading B2B SaaS companies, giving her a strategic, insider’s perspective on the challenges and opportunities of enterprise growth marketing.

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