Omar Saheb, Chief Marketing Officer – MENA, Samsung Electronics MENA.For more than a decade, performance marketers in the region have focused on one goal: ranking at the top of search results.
We’ve built search engine optimisation (SEO) strategies, refined keywords and optimised every page element to win attention. But that playbook is starting to feel outdated.
Today, we’re entering a very different reality. One where we no longer scroll pages to find results. Where generative AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google’s search generative experience (SGE) deliver a single, synthesised answer.
If your brand isn’t part of that answer, you simply don’t exist. This change matters even in MENA, where Google holds more than 95 per cent of the search engine market share in markets such as the UAE.
From SEO to AEO and GEO: A new kind of visibility
Traditional SEO was about getting seen. Answer engine optimisation (AEO) and generative engine optimisation (GEO) are about being understood and trusted by machines. These engines don’t point people to your site. They absorb your online ecosystem content and summarise what they believe matters most. If your brand’s voice isn’t credible, clear and structured, it may never be included in that response.
This shift isn’t just technical. It’s also strategic. Brands that aren’t feeding these models with quality information will slowly fade from relevance. The challenge is no longer about search engine rankings. It’s about ensuring your brand is part of the knowledge base that powers AI-generated answers. This change is especially important for our region. While global generative models grow more powerful, Arabic content remains underrepresented, limiting the accuracy and nuance of AI-generated answers for MENA consumers. This matters because the way people search is also evolving.
The voice and speech recognition market in the Middle East and Africa hit $2.39bn in 2023, with a projected 16.1 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) until 2030. In Saudi Arabia alone, voice search usage is expected to cross 20 per cent of digital queries by 2025, driven by smart assistants and mobile-first behaviours.
Add to that the fact that 26 per cent of MENA consumers now use generative AI tools daily, with another 42 per cent using them several times a week, and you start to see the future forming in front of us. Our audiences aren’t just typing queries; they’re expecting direct, relevant answers. And while many companies are still testing AI, some organisations in the region have already integrated generative AI into at least one business function.
What marketers should do differently
How should we respond? First, we need to rethink how we create content. It’s not just about producing more; it’s about answering real questions clearly and doing it in a way that AI can parse. That means using structured formats, anticipating user intent and simplifying language without losing depth.
Second, we need to update how we measure visibility. If someone asks a generative engine for a product recommendation and your brand is named in the answer, that’s impact. It may not show up in your web traffic report, but it shapes consumer perception. It’s time to build new key performance indicators (KPIs) around presence in AI-driven environments.
Third, agencies and partners need to evolve. It’s no longer about keyword bidding or link building. It’s about technical integration, using schema markup, building brand-specific data sets and collaborating with platforms to ensure your brand is ‘understood’ by AI.
Where we go from here
We’re hearing a lot of buzz about AI, but this isn’t just another trend. The way people discover and interact with brands is being redefined – even purchase journeys are changing. For MENA, this brings both challenges and opportunities.
We have linguistic complexity, rapidly evolving platforms and highly diverse consumer behaviour. But we also have the ability to leap forward.
Here are three actions that can make a difference now:
- Prioritise Arabic-first content that is structured and credible;
- Start testing across generative AI platforms to learn what works;
- Invest in upskilling your teams on AI; from content to data to performance.
We need to start building trust with systems that will increasingly shape what people know, believe and buy. Populating the web with more content, reviews, articles and frequently asked questions (FAQs), and integrating it all will help.
The question isn’t whether this shift is coming. It’s already here. The real question is: will your brand be part of the GenAI answer?
By Omar Saheb, Chief Marketing Officer – MENA, Samsung Electronics MENA
