Influencing AI results isn't about traditional SEO tactics. It's about getting your brand mentioned in the sources AI models are trained on, like Reddit, industry publications, and news articles. The most effective way to achieve this is through modern PR and consistent social media activity, as journalists and writers use these platforms for discovery.

Treating GEO as just an extension of the SEO team is a mistake. Because AI visibility is affected by social media, partnerships, and product data, it requires a holistic strategy. The CMO must own GEO and deploy solutions across search, social, and partnership teams.

Brands must now focus on how LLMs perceive and represent them, not just on traditional SEO. This new discipline, "GEO" or "LLM Visibility," involves managing the public web data that AI agents consume to answer user queries about brands, products, and competitors.

The skills of an SEO team—building content for algorithms and understanding technical discovery—are perfectly positioned to lead the charge in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). CMOs should empower and invest in this function, elevating it from a marketing silo to a core business priority.

Winning in AI search requires a new skillset beyond technical SEO and link building. Modern search optimization teams must integrate capabilities from public relations (for authority), data journalism (for unique content), and product marketing (for clear value props), as these skills build the consensus and credibility AI models seek.

AI recommendation engines don't just care about keywords; they evaluate your entire brand's consistency, expertise, and reputation across all platforms to determine trustworthiness. This shifts the marketing focus from technical SEO tactics to building a strong, reliable brand presence everywhere online.

Success in AI search requires a unified effort from PR, social, SEO, and brand teams. Most companies fail because these teams operate independently with separate metrics, preventing the holistic, multi-platform presence that LLMs reward and use for training.

Google's AI-driven search increasingly values brand authority, making traditional silos that separate brand/PR (reputation) from digital/SEO (traffic) obsolete. To succeed, companies must adopt an integrated strategy where content, PR, search, and social work together to build a unified brand presence across the entire customer funnel.

The classic SEO role is evolving. To gain visibility in AI search, efforts must expand to channels like YouTube, Reddit, and Quora. This gives SEO professionals a strategic seat at the table, influencing brand and PR teams on what content to create and where to place it.