☝🏼 Forget SEO. GEO Is How You'll Win at Marketing in 2025...

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Hey Hey, Happy Thursday! 👋🏻

I hope May brings you at least a little clarity… and maybe even a few signs of momentum. 🌱

If you’re like many business owners and marketers we talk to, the last few weeks have felt like a pressure cooker:

💸 Costs are creeping up — again.

📉 Budgets feel tighter.

🤖 And just as we start figuring out what was working in search, AI changes the rules… again.

But here’s the good news: We cover two massive shifts in marketing—one from Google, and one from the internet itself. Let’s start with the better news…

Google Just Opened the PMax Black Box 🤯

If you’ve run Performance Max and felt like you were flying blind—relief is here. PMax just got a clarity upgrade.

🚀 What’s New:

1. Channel Performance Reporting (with cost!)
   Know exactly where your PMax budget goes: Search, YouTube, Display, Gmail, Discover, Maps—plus clicks, conversions, impressions.

2. Search Terms Visibility
   See granular queries that triggered your PMax ads—just like in standard Search campaigns.

3. Asset-Level Reporting
   Impressions, clicks, and cost by creative asset—giving you real A/B test insight again.

4. Diagnostic Insights by Channel
   Understand why certain placements underperform—whether it’s data gaps, creative mismatch, or broken funnels.

📌 These updates are rolling out now and will be fully live by mid-2025.

🔧 What You Can Do Now:

• Revisit underperforming asset groups

• Break campaigns by funnel stage or product category

• Use new search term data to tune your messaging

👉 PMax just became less of a black box—and more of a smart lever.

💡 Strategy Deep Dive: GEO Is the New SEO

Let’s talk about the second (and bigger) shift happening in digital marketing:

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

AI-first search is here. People are asking ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini for product advice, research, and reviews—often before they ever hit Google.

People now ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini for:

• Product advice

• Brand comparisons

• Reviews + how-tos

Social is now a search engine. 40% of Gen Z use TikTok and Instagram to search for local businesses, products, and how-tos.
Shopping has gone conversational. AI shopping tools recommend products in real-time, meaning your content needs to rank in more places than just SERPs.

AI tools don’t show 10 blue links. They show an answer. Maybe your brand makes the cut. Maybe it doesn’t.

📊 What This Means:

• 60% of searches end without a single click (Sparktoro)

• Perplexity AI grew 858% YoY (15M+ monthly users)

• ChatGPT traffic rose 44% in Q1 2025 (Similarweb)

⚠️ Google Isn’t Enough Anymore

Traditional SEO is falling short in a world of zero-click, AI-synthesized, voice-driven discovery. Your brand can’t just rank anymore—it needs to get cited.

That’s where GEO: Generative Engine Optimization comes in.

What Is GEO? 👀

GEO is the art of making your content discoverable—and quotable—by AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

It’s not about page 1. It’s about being the answer.

🛠 How to GEO-Optimize Your Content

✅ 1. Structure Like a Guide

Use clear headings, bullets, and Q&A blocks.

✅ 2. Answer First, Not Just Rank

Lead with clarity. Use H2s like "What is X?" and give a direct, 2-sentence answer.

✅ 3. Prioritize Brand Mentions Over Links

AI tools don’t prioritize anchor text—they prioritize consistent, contextual mentions across trusted platforms.

✅ 4. Show Up in the Right Places

Here’s where AI pulls from most often:

Tier 1: Must-Have Visibility

• Wikipedia (well-cited + notability)

• OpenAI’s publisher partners (e.g., Bloomberg, AP, Forbes)

• Your own website (open to crawlers + up-to-date content)

• Press releases that reach major syndication networks

Tier 2: Organic + Strategic Wins

• Reddit, Quora, and niche forums

• Medium, Substack, or your own long-form content hubs

• Niche publications with strong citation footprints

Tier 3: Emerging Signals

• YouTube (transcripts, descriptions, tags)

• Podcasts (indexed transcripts + AI voice input training)

⚡ 3 Quick Wins You Can Do This Week

✅ Convert 1 Blog into a GEO-Ready Block

• Turn intro into a question + answer format

• Add H2s, bullets, and citations

• Add FAQ schema (easy with plugins or have us do it)

✅ Get Mentioned in Reddit or Quora Threads

• Join a relevant conversation

• Be genuinely helpful, not salesy

• Link to a guide—not just a product

✅ Update 1 Product Page for Bing Discovery

• Add Product schema + fresh copy

• Use long-tail, conversational titles

• Keep descriptions clear, short, and scannable

📡 Why This All Matters

If you want your brand to show up when someone asks:

“What’s the best solution for X?”

…you need to be part of the data LLMs trust, crawl, and cite.

And the bonus? These GEO strategies also make you:

✅ More credible in traditional PR 

✅ More discoverable in organic search 

✅ More quotable in AI responses

📞 Want Help Building Your GEO Strategy?

👉 Book a 1:1 call with our strategy team—we’ll map out where your brand needs to show up to be seen in AI, social, and search

💬 My Final Thought

It’s a wild time to be a marketer. The channels are multiplying. The rules are shifting. But the opportunity? It’s never been bigger for those who move early.

Let’s help your brand stay in the conversation, stay discoverable, and stay ahead.

Stay curious,

Iulia

P.S. The AI revolution isn’t coming—it’s here. Let’s make sure your brand gets quoted in it.