the previous content, we looked at global trends and insights on how AI is becoming the center of the customer purchasing journey, as well as GEO success stories that actually generated acquisition and conversion results through AI.
In that case, there might be some of you who are having these kinds of concerns!
I understand that it is important to become a brand chosen by AI, so what strategy should we devise for next year?
So, in this second part , we will discuss the core concepts of GEO in the AI era as summarized by Elifunt , along with a GEO strategic roadmap that brands should implement in preparation for 2026
It also includes a Q&A that gets straight to the point, so please stay with us until the end!
2026 Roadmap: AI Visibility Determines Marketing Performance
Now that AI has become the center of search, the answer to how brands should appear and how to be 'chosen' is contained right here in this GEO roadmap.
What is the essential concept of GEO in the AI era?
Ultimately, GEO how to make AI understand and judge our brand.
The key points can be summarized into four categories as follows.
- Brand Entity
- Website Structuring (On-site)
- Knowledge Graph Creation & Expansion (Off-site)
- Content Strategy (On-page)
Ultimately, GEO is the process of grouping brand information scattered online into a single entity and organizing it into a format that is easy for AI to understand.
If SEO was a strategy for search result 'exposure,' GEO is a strategy to 'make AI put our brand in the answers.'.
CEP, the core language that connects brands to AI
💡Category Entry Point (CEP):
The 'needs,' 'situations,' and 'motivations' that make consumers think of a specific product category, and
the internal and external 'triggers' that trigger purchasing behavior.
The reason CEP is important in the AI era is simple. People no longer ask for product names but instead ask, "Given this situation, what would be good?" and AI immediately recommends the brand that best fits the situation.
So, the core question is simple: “In what situations should our brand come to mind?”
This connection must be embedded not only in the customer's mind but also in the AI's knowledge base to lead to actual recommendations. Furthermore, since customers make purchasing decisions across multiple channels, it is also important to place content tailored to each CEP on the appropriate channels.
In other words, you must clearly define the CEP to enable AI to identify the brand and lead to a full conversion within a single conversation.
So, how would you define CEP? Try defining CEP using the 7 questions below.
- WHY – Why look for that category?
- WHEN – When do you think of that category?
- WHERE – Where does this need arise?
- WHILE – What do you do while feeling the need?
- WITH/FOR WHOM – With whom? For whom?
- WITH/FOR WHAT – With which product/service?
- HOW (feeling) – In what emotional state?
On-site is fact, and off-site is evidence
In the era of AI, on-site and off-siteseparately and redefine our strategies.
On-site refers to places like websites and blogs that contain accurate information provided directly by the brand, serving as a key data source for AI. It centers on structured facts aimed at conversion, such as product information, feature descriptions, and guides
Off-siterefers to spaces like news, social media, and communities where third-party mentions accumulate, serving as evidence that a brand is actually trustworthy. In other words, a channel for building evidence of trust to show AI.
In other words, on-site sources provide reliable facts and off-site sources support them, AI can understand and cite the brand more clearly.
Content strategy and performance monitoring are important
In the era of AI, content strategy and performance monitoringhave become increasingly important. As discussed in our previous content, Elifunt classifies content into three categories—AI-cited content, conversion content, and core content—and uses different performance metrics for each.
For AI-cited content , AI Overview, AI mention/citation monitoring, and changes in brand search volume are important; for conversion-oriented content , AI traffic, first landing page, and conversion rate are important ; and finally, for core content, long-term metrics such as organic lead conversion rate and domain index growth are crucial
Ahrefs is the key tool for comprehensively monitoring this performance, and it serves as an essential tool for the GEO strategy as it allows you to check how often major AI models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity cite our brand.
Making brands visible to AI and properly recognized
Do you have a strategy for the future now?
To summarize, the GEO strategy in the AI era ultimately boils down to making our brand 'Visible' to AI and 'Validating' it as a trustworthy brand
First, Visibility—the act of making things visible—begins with structuring web and digital assets into a format that is easy for AI to read. This involves clearly organizing page structures, logically structuring headings, and applying schema markup to help the AI quickly grasp the meaning of each page.
Next is Validation, or 'being recognized.' When evaluating a brand, AI also examines who is speaking about it externally and how. As third-party voices—such as news, interviews, social media reviews, community mentions, reviews, and web documents—accumulate, the AI trusts and recommends the brand more. Ultimately, external mentions serve as evidence of brand trust.
In summary,
Visibility = The process of enabling AI to discover and understand our brand
Validation = The process of enabling AI to validate our brand and provide a reason to recommend it
Brand performance in the AI era depends on how well these two axes are balanced.
Q&A
During the seminar, we also held a Q&A session to address questions based on the content covered so far. There was so much interest that it was difficult to answer everyone's questions. Come and get practical tips for your brand marketing by asking the most frequently asked questions on-site!🔥
Q1. Is it correct to set the goal of AI citation solely on conversion?
You need to design purposes and goals according to the business.
It depends on the brand objective. If the goal is awareness, focusing on conversion pages might actually be inefficient. However, if the core objective is dot-com conversion, like in D2C, it is appropriate to design the AI to cite conversion pages such as Product Detail Pages (PDPs).
Ultimately, the important thing is “what role AI citation should play in our business.”.
Q2. What is the basis for the figures such as traffic and conversions in the data? Also, are there tools to measure AI citation rates?
We track traffic and conversion data using GA, and AI citations using marketing data tools such as Ahrefs.
We view metrics such as traffic and conversions in GA. Also, regarding AI traffic, GA does not have automatic classification; instead, we track it by manually separating domains and referrals.
While raw data providing precise numerical AI citation rates does not exist, monitoring tools like Ahrefs allow you to check citation trends and trends relative to competitors. Currently, there is no tool that perfectly quantifies 'AI citation rates' in real-time, and all platforms rely on providing estimated data based on sampling.
Q3. What are the benefits of a newsroom on a company website? Also, can you share some know-how on creating content?
The newsroom focuses on strengthening brand trust, while content focuses on solving customer problems.
The Newsroom enhances a brand's domain authority, providing a positive effect in AI and search. It plays a role in reinforcing the question, "Is this brand trustworthy?".
When creating content, explanations tailored to the customer's level of understanding are the most important. You must plan based on the customer's search intent and the problem they are trying to solve.
Q4. AI usually cites English-language pages first. How was the Korean page of a global company like L able to be cited ahead of English-language pages?
I suspect it is the result of page quality, structuring, and brand credibility working together.
Although the exact algorithm is unknown, it is presumed that AI has started selecting Korean pages as the SEO and structuring levels of Korean sites have gradually improved, adding to their brand authority.
Because AI comprehensively reflects page quality, structure, and brand credibility rather than just simple language!
Q5. I have doubts because the queries provided by Ahrefs contain a lot of content that actual customers are unlikely to ask.
For now, it is recommended to use AI monitoring tools primarily as tools to observe trends.
We completely agree with this point. I think this is a limitation of all current AI monitoring tools. Please consider these tools as instruments that show sampling-based trends, rather than displaying actual customer questions exactly as they are.
Therefore, rather than absolute values, it is better to use relative indicators such as trends compared to competitors and changes in brand entity exposure.
Q6. Is it meaningful for B2B businesses to also have product sales pages, such as plans?
AI learning is important, but information that helps the customer experience is also necessary.
It is recommended to make it if possible.
Even if the sales page does not lead to direct sales, you can see various benefits, such as increased dwell time, lead collection, and the generation of data used for AI training.
Especially in B2B, you can start a business immediately with just a single form.
Q7. Traffic has increased after implementing various strategies, but conversions remain stagnant. What is the best approach?
Check the content type and session validity.
- Content Type
Concept Definition: Content generates a lot of traffic but does not lead to conversions. You need to increase the proportion of conversion-oriented content that solves actual problems. - Session Validity:
If you analyze only meaningful sessions, excluding churns, rather than the entire traffic, the points where conversions get stuck become clearly visible.
Now, becoming a brand that serves as the 'answer' for AI!
This seminar was notably filled with the sound of camera shutters. High levels of concentration and satisfaction were maintained, with many participants providing feedback that "it was a truly necessary discussion.".
Now that AI has become the starting point of search, I could feel once again that everyone is seriously contemplating the question of 'how brands should be perceived by AI and how they should be chosen.'.
And the conclusion is clear: in the AI era, brands must become 'AI's answers,' not 'search results.' To achieve this, a GEO strategy has become a necessity, not an option, and above all, it is important to note that the specific GEO strategies required for each brand can vary.
Elifunt designs GEO roadmaps tailored to each brand's industry, product, and customer context. From web restructuring to content strategy and AI citation optimization, we build it together based on real data.
If you want to proactively lead change without being swept away by the growth of AI during these turbulent times, now is a critical turning point.
If you need a GEO strategy, please feel free to contact us anytime. 🚀
