Brands on the Edge: Why “AI SEO” Is No Longer Optional but a Survival Game in Gemini, ChatGPT and Beyond
search engine marketing isn’t what it was once. In 2025, companies are dealing with a massive shake-up: it’s not sufficient to rank on Google, you now must be seen — and cited — in AI assistants like Gemini, Copilot, or ChatGPT.
An article from El País Profesional calls this new paradigm “AI search engine marketing” (or GEO search engine marketing), a hybrid technique that mixes basic search optimization with the race to be acknowledged in generative AI environments.
What’s Changing, and Why It Matters
- Conversational AIs are already pulling in big numbers: Gemini with over a million month-to-month queries, Copilot and Perplexity in the a whole bunch of 1000’s.
- Users don’t all the time click on by way of web sites anymore — they ask a query, get a direct reply, and cease there. That means much less web site site visitors, extra dependency on AI summaries and citations.
- For manufacturers, the problem has shifted: it’s not nearly key phrases or backlinks anymore, it’s about digital authority. Clear, dependable, error-free content material that AI fashions resolve is price citing.
How Companies Are Responding
- El País Profesional itself is pushing sponsored content material with the objective of being picked up and cited by AI engines, leveraging its area authority to win visibility each in Google and in AI.
- The buzzword is “GEO search engine marketing”: mixing conventional ways with a new layer — fixing errors, refining key phrases, structuring content material in ways in which AI can “learn” and cite.
What Didn’t Get Said (But Should Be Noted)
- Metrics are fuzzy
Nobody’s cracked the code but on methods to measure success in AI search. Is being cited by Gemini extra helpful than by ChatGPT? How do you observe conversions from an AI reply? Right now, it’s a lot of guesswork. - Third-party dependency danger
Brands are at the mercy of how AI engines resolve to quote content material. One change in algorithms or coaching sources might wipe out months of effort. - Quality is king, once more
Fluff doesn’t lower it. AI search engine marketing rewards readability, construction, authority, and real usefulness. The days of keyword-stuffed filler content material are numbered. - Ethics and copyright points
As lawsuits like Encyclopedia Britannica vs Perplexity present, how AI cites or fails to quote sources isn’t simply tutorial. It’s a authorized and reputational landmine.
My Take
I’ll be sincere, this appears like a turning level. For small and mid-sized manufacturers, it’s overwhelming — new ways, new requirements, new uncertainty. But whoever invests early in authority and credibility will likely be method forward as soon as conversational search turns into the norm.
Personally, I believe AI search engine marketing will separate the manufacturers that focus on belief and actual worth from these nonetheless chasing shortcuts.
In Short
This isn’t about selecting between old-school SEO or new AI strategies. It’s about merging them. search engine marketing is not “getting Google to note you” — it’s “getting AI to learn you, belief you, and cite you.”
If you’re adapting, good. If you’re not, nicely, don’t be stunned should you vanish from the dialog.