Search Has Changed. Adapt or Disappear.
The way people search and trust information isn’t evolving. It’s already changed. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot are rewriting the rules in real time. If you’re still leaning on traditional SEO and paid search strategies, you’re already behind.
It’s not your content. It’s not your funnel. It’s the architecture of search itself.
As Growth Strategist Rachanim Kennard recently put it: “In nearly 10 years of SEO, I’ve never seen anything quite like this… We rank #1, but the AI overview essentially a copy of our content is siphoning traffic. We went from being the answer to watching Google extract our expertise and serve it directly.”
This is Search 2.0. And in this new era, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity. Brands that want to stay relevant must adapt to the way AI engines interpret, display, and dominate content.
Even Google knows this. CEO Sundar Pichai recently acknowledged the shift, signaling that AI-driven answers aren’t a future threat, they’re the current reality.
If you want to lead in your space, stop playing by yesterday’s rules. Start optimizing for the way search actually works today.
AI Mode is the future of Search. How will you adapt? – Marie Haynes
Why AI Search Changes Everything
Classic SEO isn’t going anywhere, but it’s certainly not standing in the spotlight like it used to. Organic positions do not guarantee traffic anymore. Organic positions are going to be influencing engines like Perplexity which will distill results and show them to users. The result is that you still need some traditional SEO but you might as well cut your traffic off at the waist. In fact, as of May 2025, Google’s AI Overviews appear in 14% of all keyword searches, and that number is climbing fast. In addition to this, Semrush reported that AI summaries appeared in 13.14% of searches in March, twice as many as in January.
These AI Overviews are doing more than pushing organic links down the page, they’re answering users’ questions so effectively that searchers don’t even feel the need to click. When we look at ChatGPT, we see an entirely different search behavior. Its responses overlap with Google’s top results only 12% of the time. In other words, your high-performing content might no longer be where your audience is actually looking.
This isn’t a minor algorithm update, it’s a complete shift in how search works.
What You Need to Know About Generative Search
If you’re unsure what’s changed, here’s a quick breakdown: Google’s AI Overviews are short, AI-generated summaries that now appear above the usual list of search results. They’re powered by Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), an AI system that pulls information from across the web to provide instant, conversational answers to users’ questions.
Meanwhile, platforms like ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity use large language models to generate responses based on web content, but they don’t necessarily follow Google’s SEO rules. This is where GEO comes in: it’s the process of optimizing your content specifically for these AI summarizers. It’s about giving them what they need to understand, synthesize, and reference your content when answering searchers’ questions.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
With so many AI summaries dominating search, the numbers tell a clear story. The same content that once brought you organic traffic is now competing with answers generated by machines. If your content isn’t structured in a way these AI models can easily understand and summarize, it may never show up in this new layer of search visibility.
So, what can you do? You evolve. The first step is knowing what works.
How Marketers Are Adapting to the New Search Landscape
Forward-thinking marketers are taking a proactive approach. They’re revisiting their content and making it more structured, conversational, and aligned with what AI is looking for. That means checking and updating your schema markup more often, like once a month instead of every few months, so Google and other search engines can actually read and understand your content the way you intend. Let’s explore what they are doing:
- The Double Down: Many are doubling down on EEAT, which stands for Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust. That means highlighting author bios, adding real-world credentials, including customer testimonials, and making trust signals more obvious. No more burying credibility at the bottom of a page.
- Formatting: Instead of writing in long, narrative blocks, successful brands are converting their content into clear Q&A formats that mirror natural conversations. This makes it easier for AI models to understand intent and provide direct, quote-worthy answers.
- Freshness: Content freshness also plays a role. AI loves recent data, so refreshing your top-performing posts every 90 days can help keep them in circulation. Don’t forget about Bing and ChatGPT, either; getting indexed and optimized there improves your reach in conversational search.
- Summary Pages: Some are designing dedicated summary pages and quick-reference guides meant to be picked up directly by generative engines. Others are seeding accurate brand descriptions across public data sources like Wikidata, Crunchbase, and GitHub, all of which are scraped by language models.
Why You Shouldn’t Do This Alone
You already have enough on your plate. Between campaign planning, paid media, analytics, content calendars, and everything else on your team’s roadmap. Adding GEO to your workflow is like dropping another full-time job into the mix.
To get a handle on GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and maximize your visibility across AI-powered search and social, leading marketing teams are turning to Kalicube a trusted platform for managing brand authority in the age of generative search. But having the right tool is just the beginning.
That’s why more marketing leaders are also bringing on MyOutDesk Marketing Virtual Assistants. Our VAs are trained in AI search mechanics and are fully equipped to run Kalicube effectively, without draining your budget or bandwidth. At roughly 40% of the cost of a domestic hire, you get a dedicated pro who can:
- Run AI audits
- Implement and update structured data/schema
- Rewrite content for generative visibility
- Monitor and adapt your strategy weekly
With the right platform and the right operator, you can confidently stay ahead of search evolution and command your digital footprint.
They’re not just support, they’re strategy in action.
Real Results: A Quick Case Study
One digital agency partnered with a MyOutDesk Marketing VA to oversee 50 blog posts across three client websites. Within 60 days, the results spoke volumes: a 40% increase in featured snippet appearances, a 26% lift in AI Overview visibility, and a 21% jump in traffic coming from ChatGPT referrals.
And the cost? Less than $2,000 a month. No headcount. No burnout. Just results.
A Quick Action Plan You Can Start Today
If you’re ready to protect your visibility in this new search environment, here’s what you can do right now.
Start by reviewing your top 50 keywords and identifying which ones now trigger AI Overviews. Then, take your 10 most valuable blog posts and rewrite them into Q&A formats. Update your schema markup and submit your changes to Bing. From there, set up a refresh calendar to revisit that content every quarter. And most importantly, assign someone like a trained Marketing VA to manage and monitor all of this moving forward.
Another important task is to understand how generative AI sees and describes your brand using tools such as Otterly.AI.
With the right support, you can stay ahead of the curve while your competitors are still playing catch-up.
The Bottom Line: Future-Proof Your Marketing Now
Search is no longer just about ranking high on Google, it’s about being seen in a fragmented, AI-driven digital world. If you’re ready to take back control of your visibility without overloading your team, it’s time to bring on the support that makes it possible.
Let a MyOutDesk Marketing Virtual Assistant take GEO off your plate so you can focus on leading the bigger picture.
