In an era where even purchasing decisions are made by AI, what strategies should marketers adopt to adapt to this change?
지난 12월 10일 열린 <2026 B2B 마케팅 전략 세미나>는 이러한 질문에 답을 찾으려는 분들의 열기로 뜨거웠습니다. 피곤한 수요일 저녁이었지만, 퇴근 후에도 약 50여 분의 마케터와 CEO분들이 자리를 가득 메웠고, AI가 만든 변화에 대응하는 마케팅 전략을 알아보고자 집중한 시간이었어요.
This seminar provided a comprehensive overview of the changes in the search landscape driven by AI in 2025, successful global and domestic GEO case studies, and the roadmap for 2026.
In Part 1, Kim Ye-ji, CEO of Elephant Company, summarized the major trends in AI for 2025. This was followed by Park Kyung-guk, Team Leader at HSAD, who shared global GEO strategies and insights, and CEO Kim Ye-ji, who presented successful domestic GEO case studies. Part 2, which began immediately after the Q&A session, delved into the practical GEO strategies and implementation principles that brands must prepare for in 2026 in greater detail.
In this post, based on the content shared that day, I’ll provide a clear and in-depth summary of the key insights from each session, along with strategies you can apply immediately in your work. Let’s start by taking a look at Part 1!
By 2025, what changes will AI have brought about?
AI Becomes the Central Channel in the Customer Journey
In 2025, the global market saw an average of 7 billion monthly visits to Gen AI platforms, reflecting an explosive growth in AI users. Notably, the proportion of users aged 34 and older increased in 2025 compared to 2024, demonstrating that AI has become deeply embedded in our daily lives.
Just a year or two ago, AI was viewed merely as a supplementary tool for search, but it has now established itself as the “central channel of the customer journey.” Users are now completing nearly every step of their journey—from discovery and awareness to research and consideration, all the way to the purchase decision—within AI platforms.
AI is no longer just a search engine; it has become a key touchpoint that plays a significant role in decision-making. It is involved in every step of the decision-making process, from a customer’s “first question” right up to the moment of purchase.
Customers No Longer Click – The Zero-Click Phenomenon
💡Zero-Click
:A phenomenon in which users find the information they need simply by viewing the answers provided by AI, without clicking on any search results
The most notable change in the global search landscape since the start of 2025 has been the acceleration of the "zero-click" trend.
In particular, with the growing popularity of AI Overview—which displays summarized answers directly at the top of search results—the trend where our content receives significant exposure in search results but sees a sharp decline in actual click-through rates has become even more pronounced.
And these changes are naturally leading to a decline in traditional organic traffic. This is because users no longer navigate by clicking through multiple links; instead, they can make informed decisions based solely on the condensed information provided by AI.
That is precisely why AI-driven traffic that generates high-quality leads is becoming increasingly important. Users arriving via AI have clear context and intent behind their queries, making them far more likely to convert than those from traditional organic traffic . Because of these characteristics, a new KPI called "AI Qualified Click" is emerging as a key metric.
Content Strategy: It’s Time to Redesign the Entire On- and Off-Site Experience
In the age of AI, the four traditional SEO intent categories—informational, navigational, commercial, and transactional—are no longer sufficient. User queries have become more natural, and their intent has expanded to encompass a much wider range of scenarios, as follows:
- Practical Guide
- Research and Analysis
- Creative
- Scenarios by Industry
- Personalized problem-solving
The pages cited by AI take into account information from all external channels—including not only websites but also blogs, online communities, news sites, social media, and reviews. In particular, the types of pages cited vary depending on the user’s specific intent and context!
Therefore, we need to target a variety of intents and contexts tailored to our product and service categories. We must develop a content strategy that spans all on-site and off-site channels for the brand, and each piece of content must be structured in a way that AI can understand.
Global GEO Insights for the AI Era and the Zero-Click Environment
Now that we’ve looked at how the search landscape is changing in the age of AI, it’s time to figure out how to adapt, right?
Team Leader Park Kyung-guk of HSAD shared insights derived from various global data sources.
Can generative AI surpass search engines?
Although AI search is growing explosively, it currently accounts for only a very small fraction of total search traffic in 2025. While there are various predictions regarding the traffic outlook for large language models (LLMs) versus search engines in 2030, there is one point they all emphasize.
👉 LLM-based search will play an indispensable role in the future.
In particular, Team Leader Park predicted thatthis realistic scenario “will account for about 10 to 20 percent of the market, ”emphasizing that companies must start preparing for this change now.
Furthermore, since the start of this year, there has been a rapid increase in shopping-related queries submitted to AI, and we are seeing a trend where AI is becoming deeply involved not only in information search but also in product comparison, recommendation, and purchase decision-making. Customers are now showing a preference for asking AI directly and making their choices, rather than searching and selecting on their own.
Furthermore, the click-through rate for links provided by AI in its responses has been steadily rising, clearly demonstrating that AI is no longer merely a Q&A tool but is also serving as a new purchasing portal.
Changes in Search in the AI Era, as Seen Through Real Data
We can clearly see from actual data how AI is transforming the search landscape.
First, organic search traffic is declining, while AI-driven traffic is growing rapidly.
While traditional organic traffic continues to decline gradually worldwide, AI-driven traffic has been rising sharply since the second quarter of 2025.
In other words, the way customers search for information has begun to shift in earnest toward an "AI-centric" approach! And this shift is evident in both B2B and B2C sectors.
Second, the zero-click phenomenon is becoming even more prevalent.
There is a noticeable trend where search visibility has increased, yet click-through rates have actually declined. The reason clicks are decreasing even as average search rankings improve is clear: customers no longer click through multiple links; instead, they resolve most of their issues using the summary answers provided by AI.
Third, despite this, revenue and leads from organic search are on the rise.
Although traffic volume has decreased, conversion rates remain steady as the "purchase intent" of incoming users has become clearer. However, the key point is that the increase in sales and leads driven by generative AI is significantly outpacing organic growth. In other words, while AI-driven traffic is still small in scale, it is evolving into much higher-quality traffic.
In an era where SEO alone is no longer enough, the standards for strategy have changed
In an AI-driven search environment, SEO alone is no longer enough to attract customers. With the rise of zero-click searches, the key factor is whether AI mentions our brand in its responses. To achieve this, we must proactively develop AEO and GEO strategies alongside our SEO efforts.
Furthermore, most of the traffic driven by generative AI consists of “high-intent traffic”—visitors who have already completed their research and comparison. In fact, the first page an AI directs users to is often the product detail page (PDP), and customers are ready to make a decision the moment they arrive. As a result, today’s e-commerce sites must not only provide basic information but also feature a structure and call-to-action (CTA) design that enables immediate conversion upon arrival.
We have now entered an era where AI brings in customers and the website converts them.
AI Strategy: Short- and Long-Term Roadmap
As AI-driven search environments become mainstream, brands must now establish clear roadmaps for responding to this trend from both short-term and long-term perspectives. The key lies in two pillars: ensuring content is readable by AI (AI Readability) and strengthening the brand to become one that AI trusts (AI Empowerment).
First and foremost, ensuring AI readability is crucial in the short term.
First, you need to ensure that your brand’s content on your own channels is easily readable and learnable by AI so that it can be cited. This marks a shift in focus—from optimizing for search engines to optimizing for AI.
In addition, we must strengthen AI empowerment in the medium to long term.
Next, we need to ensure that AI recognizes our brand as a “trustworthy source” through brand mentions on external channels, expert content, and consistent brand entity management. In the long term, this will enable us to establish industry-leading leadership and innovate the customer experience.
Finally, in line with these changes, KPIs must also shift from a focus on SEO to a focus on GEO.
Whereas in the past, performance was measured primarily by metrics such as impressions, clicks, and average ranking, metrics like AI Visibility, AI Mention, AI Citation, and AI Share of Voice are now key performance indicators.
Strategies That Work in the AI Era, and Successful Domestic Case Studies
Now that we’ve explored global insights, shall we turn our attention to the domestic market? Kim Ye-ji, CEO of Elephant Company, shared practical marketing principles for the AI era and successful domestic GEO case studies.
How to Thrive in an AI-Driven World: 4 Practical Principles
RULE 1. Provide content that is easily readable by AI
For AI to reference our brand, the content must not only be valuable to humans but also structured in a way that’s easy for AI to read and interpret. Since AI makes judgments based on concepts and relationships within text, we need to provide structured data, schema markup, and clear, specific headings and summaries.
RULE 2. Structuring the Site Using AI Language
What customers see on the screen is completely different from what AI sees. AI doesn’t look at design—it only reads text and structure. Therefore, the more clearly defined the page type, key sentences, and relationships are, the more accurately AI can recognize that “this page contains this information.”
RULE 3. Creating Content for Specific Purposes
Now, rather than content designed for high search rankings, we need content that AI will want to reference. Elephant Company broadly categorizes content into the following three types:
- AI-generated content: We cover a wide range of topics that our audience might be interested in, providing in-depth analysis and sharing our unique perspective.
- Conversion-focused content: Specifically explains why users should choose our service and convinces them that we can solve their problems.
- Core Content: We strongly demonstrate the brand’s expertise to build brand trust.
This is how we create a system where AI attracts customers and content persuades them.
RULE 4. Designing a Structure That Drives Change
Since customers referred by AI have already done their research, they are often on the verge of making a purchase the moment they arrive on the site. That’s why your website needs to be structured to drive conversions. The key is to create a flow where AI generates leads → drives traffic to the site → leads to inquiries or purchases.
📊In fact, the conversion rate for users acquired through AI was 1.4 times higher on average—and up to 4.3 times higher—than the overall conversion rate!
With AI-driven traffic on the rise, brands must ultimately integrate SEO and GEO to achieve growth . While SEO lays the groundwork for basic discoverability, GEO is an expanded strategy that builds on that foundation to help AI understand and reference our brand. In fact, we’re seeing that when these two strategies are implemented in tandem , both organic and AI-driven traffic grow at a faster rate.
Brand growth now depends not on search engines, but on how much AI chooses us!
A Case Study of GEO Growth for a Korean Company by Elephant Company
The companies that have adapted most quickly to the changes of the AI era share a common trait: they have created structures that AI can understand and developed content that accurately addresses the intent behind user queries. The three case studies below are prime examples of how Elephant Company’s GEO strategy has translated into tangible growth, having been directly formulated and executed by the company.
Machine Vision AI Sage
💡Growing online leads for B2B businesses focused on offline sales? All you need is AI-optimized structure and conversion-focused content!
Sage was in the early stages of its business, with a focus on offline sales, and wanted to generate leads through online channels. To achieve this, we completely restructured their existing website and developed conversion-oriented and AI-friendly content that took into account industry regulations and technical contexts. We also applied AI-readable structures, such as schema markup, across the entire site. As a result, the previously offline-focused brand quickly gained traction online, with AI-driven traffic increasing by 1,309% in just six months.
Retail Management Solution for Small Businesses, Hanwha Vision Keeper
💡Even in a highly competitive market, AI-generated content that anticipates customer questions can be a breakthrough for driving new traffic!
Keeper’s goal was to build brand awareness and drive new traffic in a market already dominated by strong competitors. To achieve this, Elephant focused on redesigning the website to secure organic traffic, creating conversion-oriented content tailored to specific industries and scenarios, and developing AI-powered, quote-based guide content designed to address the questions of users searching for startup information. This approach resulted in a 5.3-fold increase in AI-driven conversion rates, creating a breakthrough for Keeper as it entered a market dominated by major players.
IT Asset Management Service, Simply
💡A content structure tailored to brand identity and the purchase funnel drives growth in both organic and AI conversions!
Although Simply was growing rapidly, potential customers lacked awareness of their problems and understanding of the solutions. To address this, we clearly defined the brand’s identity, aligned content with the actual customer purchase funnel, strengthened AI-generated content that addressed specific needs, and established a content structure based on geographic targeting. As a result, both organic traffic and AI-driven conversions increased significantly, making this a prime example of substantial growth in brand awareness and lead generation.
So, what strategy should we adopt for next year?
In Part 1, we examined the current landscape of 2025, where AI has become the new standard for search and the purchasing journey, as well as domestic and international success stories that have delivered tangible results. As you’ve likely observed, the goal of marketing has shifted beyond simply achieving “top rankings” to becoming a brand that is “chosen by AI.” To ride this wave and achieve rapid growth, now is the time to realign our brand’s content and structure to meet AI’s expectations.
So, how should our brand prepare for 2026? In Part 2 of this series, we’ll summarize the 2026 marketing roadmap—which outlines specific actionable principles—along with highlights from the lively Q&A session. We’ve prepared a practical guide filled with essential tips for working marketers, rather than vague theories, so be sure not to miss the next post!
