As AI Chatbots Reshape Search, Brands Shift Marketing Budgets Toward 'Generative Engine Optimization'

A growing number of communicators and brands are redirecting search spending away from traditional Google rankings and toward getting cited inside AI chatbot answers, as generative engine optimization begins to rival long-established SEO. The shift reflects a fundamental change in how people find information: instead of scanning a page of blue links, users increasingly read a single synthesized response from tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, making whether a brand is *quoted* by the model the new measure of visibility.