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SEO is pushing 30, and another upstart acronym could be coming for the search discovery throne—GEO, or generative engine optimization.
As consumers are increasingly utilizing large language models like ChatGPT—72% use these tools regularly, per Accenture—they’re often using them for product recommendations, making these engines “the new influencers," and creating the need for brands to make themselves visible.
While the tools are new, they’re quickly gaining momentum. The traffic AI sources are driving to retailer websites has risen 1,200% between July 2024 and February 2025, per Adobe Analytics, and grew 3,300% year over year during Amazon’s Prime Day event last week. For generative AI users, 18% say it’s a top tool for purchase recommendation, behind only physical stores and ahead of social media, according to an Accenture survey.
And the engines themselves are leaning into commerce. In April, OpenAI added shopping options assisting consumers in product research through ChatGPT, while Perplexity and PayPal linked up in May to power in-chat shopping.
“It’s going to change the way people shop,” Jill Standish, global retail lead at Accenture, told Retail Brew, and retailers and brands may need to shift their marketing strategies to keep up.
Speaking their language: Consumers can use these tools for everything from vacation outfit options to grocery shopping list suggestions based on a given recipe. Of consumers who have used AI tools to make a purchase, 57% bought groceries and household supplies, 32% for apparel and beauty, and only 3% for luxury, according to Bain, so comfort declines among higher price points, Natasha Sommerfeld, partner at Bain & Company, said.
Some may find LLMs easier than search to interact with because they can ask them questions rather than type key words, Standish said.
“I could say, ‘What should I wear to my son’s wedding in July in California?’ versus ‘Help me find a maxi length dress in blue,’” she said. “It’s very much a recommendation.”
And consumers tend to trust generative AI engines’ product recommendations because they’re essentially training the tools themselves by asking for different options if they don’t like the first recommendation, she noted.
Restart your engines: If brands and retailers are interested in adapting to the rising use of LLMs, they could start by looking at where their traffic is coming from—if the majority is still coming from traditional search, they can stay focused on SEO for now, Standish noted. But if traffic is increasingly coming from other sources, they may need to adjust their marketing to ensure their products are showing up.
“Double down on your brand,” Standish recommended, meaning not only being clear with messaging and marketing, but also optimizing product attribution to make them discoverable by the crawlers. In apparel, for example, beyond just product dimensions, material, and style, occasions it could be worn for are useful when it comes to LLMs. And use of natural language, almost in a FAQ-style, rather than just key words, is essential, Sommerfeld noted. Price and availability in store are also factors the engines take into account, especially when it comes to grocery items.
Some brands have already begun to make this shift. At Shoptalk Europe, Mark Elkins, general manager of global ecommerce at L'Oreal, noted the new need for “consumer-centric” context in marketing to adjust to shoppers’ use of gen AI engines.
“It’s going to require changes, which I think are very good for consumer goods companies, because it’s going to force us to go away from just functional descriptions of product features to need states, occasions, intent,” he said. “For example, rather than just having the SPF benefits of sun cream, it needs to be linked to the fact that you’re going on holiday.”
Big reputation: Elkins also noted this could make ratings, reviews, and communications across channels more important for brands. Bain’s Sommerfeld echoed this, as beyond ecommerce sites, LLMs also take into consideration what consumers are saying about brands and retailers across the web, particularly on platforms like Reddit (cited heavily by OpenAI and Google AI summaries). This means where customers are searching, what information these engines can pull, and, of course, what consumers are saying, is important to consider.
“One big shift for marketers is that old school reputation management becomes much more important and customer lifecycle management becomes much more important,” Sommerfeld said. This could require more top-of-funnel marketing investment focused on brand awareness as bottom-of-funnel search-related marketing could be less fruitful for brands.
+1: While all of these changes are a lot to consider, one difference between SEO and GEO will likely be welcomed by marketers: Because these engines are constantly scraping the web for answers, brands and retailers can make adjustments and see results quickly, Sommerfeld noted, unlike SEO, which could suffer a monthslong flop era before showing signs of improvement.