Author: Andrew Dunn, Practice Lead, Streets Consulting
When was the last time you simply ‘Googled’ something?
AI is changing many sectors, and web searching and B2B marketing is no exception. For a long time, ‘Googling’ was the norm, and with it, Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) was the key to improving organic search engine rankings by optimising the content of a website.
As web searches increasingly move towards searching Large Language Models (LLMs) instead of / or alongside Google, AI-driven discovery, known as GEO (Generative Engine Optimisation), is moving into the foreground. How we search and receive information is changing rapidly, and the focus is shifting necessarily towards ensuring that content appears within AI-generated responses and summaries. This directly impacts the B2B marketing journey, and here’s how.
The SEO game is changing
55% of US and 62% of UK users are now using AI to search the web. B2B buyers are no longer just ‘Googling’; they are consulting AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s own ‘AI Mode’ for immediate and hopefully enhanced answers (although in a recent blog, we looked at the accuracy risks in relying solely on AI). This isn’t just a new, temporary trend; it’s a seismic shift in how brand discovery happens today, demanding a fundamental rethink of SEO strategies.
If your brand isn’t visible within these AI-generated responses, it risks becoming invisible during the critical early stages of the ever-more-complex B2B buyer journey. This reality requires a new playbook, one that navigates the evolution from keyword matching to AI-driven discovery.
SEO rankings are no longer enough; the AI needs to understand your brand
Traditional SEO was a relatively straightforward process, and B2B marketers became adept at keyword matching and targeting the phrases that their potential clients were likely to search for, from broad informational queries to specific, ‘long-tail’ terms.
In contrast, modern search algorithms, powered by AI systems like RankBrain, BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers), and MUM (the Multitask Unified Model), have evolved to ‘understand’ underlying concepts, context, and user intent, making Google’s searches smarter and more accurate than ever before. The ‘why’ behind a search query now matters more than the specific ‘what’.
B2B decision-makers can now pose complex, conversational questions like, “What’s the best Execution Management System for a midsize buy-side firm?” and receive a direct, consolidated answer drawn from multiple sources. This changes the user’s interaction with search results entirely. For B2B marketers, the focus must pivot from optimising for isolated keywords to building comprehensive topical authority. It is no longer enough to simply rank; your brand must be understood by the AI – the robots reading the web – as a credible, authoritative source of information. For marketers, this leads to a significant rethink in strategies, because although SEO remains important, GEO is taking its firm place alongside it.
AI-generated summaries are pushing traditional organic links further down the page
The most visible change to any web search is on the search engine results page (SERP) itself. AI-generated summaries, like Google’s AI overviews, now frequently sit at the top. ‘Zero-click searches’, where users get their answers directly from the AI snapshot without ever needing to click through to a website, are on the rise.
Statistics show this is a significant trend, with some reports suggesting up to 60% of searches may now end without a click, with AI overview answers causing reductions to organic traffic by as much as 64%. This does pose the question of whether or not Google advertising will survive the new era of GEO.
On the other hand, B2B purchasing behaviour shows critical nuances. A recent study found that while 72% of B2B buyers encounter AI Overviews, a surprising 90% still click through to cited sources to verify information and conduct due diligence.
The challenge, therefore, is to ensure your brand is the one being cited in the first place. Your content needs to be the answer.
Redefining Authority: How does AI decide which brands to trust?
This new world of GEO is incredibly nascent, but evolving at a significant pace. Understanding this new environment, keeping up and adapting as these ‘new playbooks’ develop will be key for any marketing professional. While traditional signals like backlinks still have a place, AI models seemingly evaluate a brand’s entire digital footprint, looking for ‘statistical relevance’. Mentions of your brand in trustworthy, topic-relevant content now carries immense weight.
This aligns perfectly with Google’s increasing emphasis on Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). AI systems are being trained to prioritise content that demonstrates genuine, human-led expertise and first-hand experience, qualities that purely AI-generated content cannot replicate.
What’s more, AI models source their information from a diverse ecosystem of platforms beyond corporate websites. Community-driven forums like Reddit and Quora, professional networks like LinkedIn, and video platforms like YouTube are now crucial battlegrounds for establishing authority. A brand’s presence and credibility on these channels seem to directly influence the AI’s understanding and subsequent recommendations.
Writing for Robots – A strategic imperative for B2B marketers
The shift to AI-driven search and discovery is rewriting the rules of B2B visibility. Search is now conversational, direct answers are displacing clicks, and authority is being built across a broad digital ecosystem. This is not the end of SEO, but its evolution into a more holistic and strategic discipline.
The core principles of B2B marketing, understanding customer pain points, demonstrating value, building trust with audiences, and the ability to communicate clearly, remain unchanged. However, the channels and tactics for executing this have been fundamentally altered. Navigating this new landscape requires an integrated approach where SEO, content, communication and community engagement are no longer siloed disciplines.
Success in the AI-search era will belong to the B2B brands that adapt their strategies to build genuine authority and become the most citable, trustworthy answer, for both humans and robots.
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