Doesn't it seem like blog traffic has dropped significantly compared to last year?
In fact, this is not an issue with our brand or content itself. It is because a massive tectonic shift is currently taking place across the entire marketing channel ecosystem. With Naver's 'AI Briefing' and Google's 'AI Overview' services becoming fully operational, a significant portion of existing search queries are shifting toward AI-summarized responses. In particular, as Naver has announced plans to drastically double the application of AI Briefing, this trendis expected to accelerate further in the future.
We present Naver Search's advanced AI briefing.
This is precisely why visitors to websites or blogs decrease even when our posts appear at the top of search results. In fact, voices from the field indicate that traffic to Naver blogs has dropped to one-tenth of what it was 25 years ago. Furthermore, in searches where Google AI overview is applied, the click-through rate of top results has decreased by 58%, and a "zero-click" phenomenon is even appearing, where 83% of all searches end without any additional clicks.
In this article, we examine the structural changes in the search market and the marketing perspectives that need to shift. In particular, we will share specific implementation strategies on why GEO (Generative AI Search Optimization) is an essential choice for specialized industries where information reliability is absolute, such as hospitals and the legal sector, as well as for high-involvement product commerce where customers undergo deep comparison and verification before purchasing.
In an era where 8 out of 10 people do not click, the purpose of content must change
AI-powered search displays provided by Naver or Google summarize key information at a glance based on user queries, saving customers the trouble of manually clicking through numerous search result links. As a result, marketing strategies that guaranteed website traffic solely through top-ranking search results are no longer effective.
What brand marketers need to focus on now is not simply “how many times our posts were clicked,” but “whether our content is being cited as the basis for AI responses, and whether the brand is mentioned within those responses to induce customers to conduct secondary searches.”.
The figure that 83% of searches powered by Google AI end without a click does not mean that the value of blogs or corporate content has vanished. Rather, it signifies that the core information and content provided by brands have evolved into a structure where they are consumed not merely as 'clickable links,' but as 'key sources that constitute AI responses.'
Therefore, if you judge performance solely based on traditional metrics like views or click-through rates, you will miss the opportunity to build strong brand awareness and trust within the AI search ecosystem. GEO (Generative AI Search Optimization) is the marketing strategy that expands these discovery opportunities to create sustainable brand assets.
3 Basic GEO Settings for Our Brand's Sustainable Growth
Currently, the marketing market is flooded with numerous strategies and technical methodologies related to GEO. However, the key to creating sustainable exposure ultimately lies in brands proactively owning their own assets and telling stories of genuine value to customers.
In fact, which external channels an AI cites can change at any time due to LLM (Large Language Model) policies and unknown variables. Indeed, last August, a case was revealed where Reddit, a major source for AI citations, saw its citation share within ChatGPT plummet by approximately 86% in just a few days, dropping from 3.8% to around 0.5%. As such, AI exposure through external communities or third-party platforms can be significantly shaken by a single change in the algorithm.
However, if a brand firmly holds the original content that AI cites on its own platform, it can fully protect its value without being affected by changes in algorithms or fluctuations in external platforms.
3 Basic GEO Settings – Diagnosing Brand Mention Status, Content Assetization, and Providing Verifiable Information
1. [Diagnosis] Reporting Today's Brand Mentions to Find Opportunities
The first step is to verify how your brand actually looks in AI search. Use GEO measurement tools to check brand mentions, citation sources, and differences in exposure compared to competitor brands, while using technical diagnostics and Google Analytics (GA) to examine the content assets and search paths currently driving traffic.
Next, we analyze the answers by dividing them into questions that customers actually frequently ask and those our brand needs to preempt in the market. By entering each question into an AI search and comparing whether the brand is mentioned, in what context it is introduced, whether only competitors appear, and whether our own content supporting the answer is cited, specific gaps in the content become apparent. The results of this analysis serve as a standard for identifying which questions our brand is missing from and what information is lacking, rather than simply focusing on exposure rankings.
2. [Assetization] Must accumulate content that AI can cite on your own online store
If the source materials that AI references are scattered externally, it is difficult to convey a brand's expertise within a consistent context. You must accumulate key information that explains the brand on your own website, such as the target audience and scope of services, answers to key questions, expert profiles, customer case studies, and comparison criteria. Rather than simply expanding existing blog posts and landing pages, it is important to connect information scattered across different pages within a single theme and manage outdated content by updating it to the latest information.
3. [Verification] Providing specific and objective information that customers can trust
Even if AI mentions a brand, it is difficult to lead to consultations or purchases if customers do not trust the response. Hospitals must clearly present medical staff and inspection information; legal services must clearly identify the author and the conditions of application for the case; and high-involvement product commerce must clearly showcase official specifications, usage environments, and limitations. Content that discloses who the product is suitable for, in what cases it is unsuitable, and even when the information was verified—rather than promotional sentences that only emphasize advantages—is capable of withstanding customer scrutiny.
Especially in specialized industries, GEO should be utilized as the foundation of customer trust.
Professional industries such as hospitals, law, and healthcare fall defined by Google "Your Money or Your Life" (YMYL) ; these are high-involvement fields that directly impact customers' health, wealth, and quality of life. For choices involving such high risk, customers are compelled to go through a process of directly reconfirming and verifying the attending medical team's history, specific application conditions of the case, and official data on their own platforms, rather than blindly trusting summary responses provided by AI.
Search engines also apply high EEAT (Expertise, Authority, and Reliability) standards to the YMYL field, prioritizing the citation of only verified official sources. Therefore, a GEO strategy—equipping your website with objective and highly reliable data that serves as the basis for AI responses—becomes a core foundation of trust that goes beyond mere exposure to determine final purchases and contracts.
Google Search Center – EEAT Quality Evaluator Guidelines
- What is Google YMYL? The Google system gives more weight to content that demonstrates a high EEAT regarding topics that can have a significant impact on people's health, financial stability, safety, or the well-being and health of society. At Google, these topics related to 'economy or life' are called YMYL (Your Money or Your Life)
Case 1. Hospital Website: Patients must be able to find reliable medical information.
Hospitals are a prime example of the YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) sector , directly linked to patients' health and lives . Therefore, they must go beyond merely listing SEO keywords and satisfy rigorous EEAT (Professionalism, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness) standards.
Even after viewing the AI's summary response, patients directly reconfirm and verify the medical staff's actual expertise, scope of practice, specific treatment processes, and the latest medical evidence on the company's website. Ultimately, hospital content must go beyond one-dimensional descriptions of diseases and procedures and be operated in a manner that transparently discloses information about the medical staff responsible for the content, as well as the latest references and objective verification data.
Case 2. Law Firm Website: Content is needed to accurately explain the conditions of the case
Legal services are also a YMYL domain that can have a significant impact on an individual's property rights or physical freedom depending on the outcome. Users utilize AI responses only as primary reference material; however, when applying them to actual cases, they precisely compare and verify the application conditions, exception clauses, the lawyer's area of expertise, and case law standards on our platform.
Sensational promotional language guaranteeing unconditional victory undermines credibility on both Google and AI engines. Only objective content that clearly identifies the precise limitations and conditions of the case, the author of the legal guide, and whether the latest revised laws are reflected increases AI citation rates and leads clients to decide on legal consultation.
Case 3. Healthcare Commerce Mall: Must provide comparison and verification information before purchase.
Healthcare and high-involvement products that have a direct impact on the body or involve high costs are intertwined with the finance and health categories and require a high level of reliability.
Customers do not simply purchase products recommended by AI; instead, they rigorously re-verify official technical specifications, human clinical trial results, safety certification data, maintenance costs, and usage restrictions on the brand's official online store. Rather than merely highlighting the brand's strengths, the key strategy for passing the YMYL verification stage is to transparently disclose suitable usage environments and precautions, and to accumulate consistent and objective information centered around the company's own online store.
A strategy that enables immediate brand selection without click inducement, GEO
The fact that click-through rates are decreasing due to AI overviews does not mean the role of brand content itself is over. It simply means that the era of measuring content performance solely by the 'number of visitors' has come to an end.
Now, we must examine the overall context and flow leading from brand mentions and citations in AI responses, to reconfirming official information on the company's website, and finally to consultation and purchase conversion. The rise in 'zero-click' searches suggests that the standards for brands producing and evaluating content must also fundamentally change.
We have prepared an online webinar on September 9th to help you respond quickly to these changes in marketing strategies.
'GEO Setting Guide A to Z for Hospital, Legal, and Commerce Practitioners' webinar,we will specifically cover why GEO serves as a core foundation of trust in professional industries such as hospitals and law, where YMYL standards have been strengthened, and how this perspective can be applied to high-involvement product commerce.
If the way customers ask questions and search has changed, the way brands convey trust must also change completely. Based on structural changes in the search market and consumer behavior patterns observed firsthand in the field, Elifunt would like to share GEO strategies and implementation plans for specialized industries such as hospitals, law, and healthcare!
Register for the GEO Strategy Webinar for Websites Chosen by AI
