For years, search engine optimisation (SEO) followed a relatively familiar playbook. AI-driven search is now changing the rules. Instead of receiving a list of links, audiences may see an AI-generated summary drawing on multiple sources, or bypass traditional search altogether and use an LLM to find information.
This is changing how organisations are discovered, interpreted and understood. The focus is shifting towards AI optimisation, or generative engine optimisation (GEO): making it easier for AI tools to find, understand and accurately represent your organisation.
Many of the comms teams we work with are asking where to begin and what this shift means for their content and media strategies. To explore how organisations are responding, we brought a group of comms leaders together for a virtual roundtable.
The discussion confirmed that most organisations are still finding their way and that there is no established GEO playbook yet. Even so, several shared priorities and emerging practices stood out.
1. Treat AI search as a stakeholder
GEO cannot be left solely to the digital, website or SEO team.
AI tools draw on information from across an organisation’s wider digital footprint, including corporate websites, media coverage, social channels and third-party platforms. This means the way your organisation is represented in AI-generated answers is closely connected to your communications, content and reputation strategies.
One participant suggested that AI tools should be treated as a new stakeholder. Just as comms teams consider what investors, employees or regulators need to know, they must now consider whether AI tools can find, interpret and accurately reproduce the organisation’s core messages.
This requires closer collaboration between corporate communications, media relations, marketing, digital and web teams. Press materials, executive messaging, owned content and corporate information all contribute to the picture AI tools build of an organisation.
2. Build a clear and consistent information environment
AI tools do not rely on a single webpage. They may draw from corporate websites, social channels, media coverage, industry publications, Wikipedia and online discussions.
That makes consistency increasingly important. When information is fragmented, outdated or contradictory, AI tools may struggle to determine which version is reliable.
Roundtable participants shared several ways they are beginning to address this.
One organisation had recently uncovered over 50 highly specific and fragmented corporate social media accounts. The team is now rationalising those accounts to reduce duplication and conflicting messages.
Others are using AI internally to check whether agreed terminology, key messages and corporate narratives are being applied consistently across content.
Participants also highlighted the importance of keeping foundational sources such as Wikipedia accurate and up to date. While organisations cannot control every external source, they can pay closer attention to the information most likely to shape how they are understood.
The objective is not simply to repeat the same wording everywhere. It is to create a coherent and credible information environment around the organisation.
3. Invest in authority, originality and third-party validation
The discussion also reinforced the importance of earned media and high-quality owned content.
AI tools look for credible sources and corroborating evidence. Several participants said this is prompting them to reconsider which media outlets and content formats matter most.
Large national publications remain valuable, but specialist and trade media may carry particular weight when AI tools are answering detailed industry questions. Coverage in a respected niche publication can provide clear evidence of an organisation’s expertise in a specific area.
Original thought leadership is also becoming more important. AI tools can already summarise large volumes of generic information. Organisations therefore need to focus on the issues where they have genuine expertise, distinctive evidence or a clear right to comment.
Third-party recognition can provide further validation. Awards, rankings, research citations and references from credible external organisations all help to substantiate the claims an organisation makes about itself.
This does not mean writing only for machines. As one participant observed, the principles of good writing have not disappeared. The challenge is to create content that is useful and engaging for people while also being clearly structured and easy for AI tools to interpret.
4. Move towards continual monitoring
Measurement remains one of the least developed areas of GEO.
Some teams are carrying out basic spot checks by asking different AI tools questions about their organisation and reviewing the answers and sources that appear. Others are working with specialist agencies to benchmark their visibility, identify gaps and understand which sources influence the results.
However, participants acknowledged that there is still no widely accepted way to measure GEO performance. AI-generated answers can vary between tools, users and prompts, making them harder to track than a traditional search ranking.
What is clear is that a one-off audit will not be enough. The information available to AI tools changes continually, as do the tools themselves.
Comms teams will need to monitor how their organisations are being represented, investigate significant inaccuracies and regularly review the sources and content shaping those answers.
What your team can do now
GEO is still evolving, but comms teams do not need to wait for a definitive playbook. You can start by reviewing how your organisation appears in AI search, checking whether key information is clear and consistent, and understanding which external sources are shaping the answers.
The opportunity is to build on the fundamentals of good communications: credible media coverage, distinctive thought leadership, accurate owned content and clear corporate messaging.
Join the conversation
Kademy regularly brings senior comms leaders together in small, closed-door roundtables to explore the challenges shaping the function and compare practical approaches.
Our autumn/winter roundtable calendar covers managing crises in the misinformation age, making data work harder for comms and leading through constant change. To register your interest in taking part get in touch with katie.james@kademygroup.com.
