Deepak Mankani, Head of Search Experience,
Merkle MENA.The landscape of search is undergoing a seismic shift, redefining how brands connect with their audiences. As of March 2025, the traditional dominance of search engines such as Google is being challenged by the rise of ‘answer engines’ – AI-powered platforms that deliver direct, conversational responses rather than links to websites.
This transformation is twofold: Google and other search engines are increasingly rolling out AI-first features such as AI Overviews, prioritising machine-generated answers over traditional search results, while users are gravitating toward answer engines for their ability to handle longer, more conversational queries, queries that conventional search struggles to satisfy.
For brands, this shift is both an opportunity and a wake-up call. The time to control and own the brand narrative in these AI-driven responses is now, and Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) will be the key to success. With GEO, search engine optimisation (SEO) is evolving into what experts are calling Organic Discovery Optimisation, marking a new era for digital visibility.
The twofold shift in search behaviour
The first driver of this change is the evolution of search engine technology. Google’s AI Overviews provide summarised answers at the top of search results, reducing reliance on organic links. This trend is mirrored by other engines pushing AI-first interfaces, signaling that the era of clicking through multiple pages to find information is waning.
Simultaneously, user behaviour is evolving. Searches are no longer confined to short keyword phrases such as ‘best running shoes’. Instead, they’re conversational – think “What are the best running shoes for beginners in 2025, and where can I buy them locally?” Traditional search engines, designed for brevity and precision, often fall short in addressing these complex, context-rich queries. Answer engines, powered by advanced natural language models, fill this gap by delivering tailored, human-like responses.
This shift is already impacting traffic patterns. Domains are beginning to see an additional source of traffic from answer engines, complementing traditional search referrals. More intriguingly, user engagement with content delivered through answer engines surpasses that of traditional search. Data highlights this trend: the average session duration for AI chatbot referrals is 10.4 minutes, compared to 8.1 minutes for Google traffic. Users also view more pages – 12.4 on average for AI chatbot referrals compared with 11.8 for Google traffic. This deeper engagement suggests that answer engines are not just a passing fad but a fundamental change in how users consume information.
Brand narrative at stake
For brands, this evolution poses a critical challenge: the loss of control over their narrative. When AI Overviews or answer engines generate responses, they pull from a vast pool of data – blogs, reviews, forums, social and official websites. If a brand’s content isn’t optimised to stand out, it risks being misrepresented or drowned out by competitors or third-party interpretations.
For example, an AI might inaccurately summarise a product’s features based on outdated reviews, damaging a brand’s reputation. Owning the narrative means ensuring that Answer engines prioritise accurate, authoritative content directly from the brand.
This is where GEO comes into play. Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on rankings and traffic, GEO is about crafting content that aligns with how AI systems interpret and prioritise information.
With the GEO angle gaining traction, SEO itself is evolving into Organic Discovery Optimisation (ODO) – a strategy that emphasises discoverability across AI-driven platforms, not just search engine result pages.
Brands must invest in clear, structured, and credible content to ensure their voice dominates AI-generated responses. The stakes are high and failing to adapt could mean ceding influence to competitors or generic AI outputs.
Redefining success with GEO KPIs
The KPIs of GEO go way beyond the traditional metrics of rankings and traffic. As outlined by industry insights, GEO success hinges on a new set of performance indicators that emphasise Share of Voice (SoV) and brand authority in AI ecosystems.
These include:
- Gen AI visibility index: The frequency and prominence of a brand being cited, recommended, or mentioned in AI-generated answers across platforms.
- Gen AI traffic: The volume of website visits driven by users clicking links or recommendations from AI platforms.
- Brand mention frequency: How often a brand, product, or service is referenced
in AI outputs, regardless of whether a link is included. - Keyword coverage: The percentage of queries where a brand’s content appears in AI responses.
- Response engagement: User interactions (e.g., time on site, pages per session, bounce rate) from visits referred by AI, influenced by AI-driven awareness.
- Competitor AI share of voice: The visibility of a brand relative to competitors for the same queries or topics.
The data is clear: users are spending more time and exploring more content via Answer engines, and domains are already benefiting from this traffic shift.
However, without proactive planning, brands risk losing their narrative to AI algorithms that prioritise whatever content is most accessible – whether accurate or not.
By embracing GEO and the emerging Organic Discovery Optimisation framework, brands can ensure their story is told on their terms, leveraging the power of AI to build trust and loyalty.
The future of search is here, and it’s conversational, AI-driven, and user-centric. As SEO transforms into ODO and answer engines redefine discoverability, brands that start optimising for this new paradigm today will not only survive this transition but thrive, owning their narrative in a world where machines do the talking.
By Deepak Mankani, Head of Search Experience, Merkle MENA
