An undercover investigation, aired during China Central Television's annual consumer rights gala on March 15, examined how fabricated online content can shape AI-generated responses. According to the South China Morning Post, the report exposed a system called Liqing that was used to automatically publish large volumes of expert reviews, industry rankings, and user feedback for a non-existent fitness tracker called the Apollo-9.
Our content was structured with LLM readability as an explicit goal - not SEO. Consistent terminology, clear entity definition, a named methodology, and topical depth over breadth. LLMs seem to evaluate authority differently than search engines. Google proxies authority through external signals (links, engagement, domain age). LLMs appear to evaluate something closer to conceptual coherence - whether a source demonstrates genuine understanding of a subject in a way the model can parse and trust.
GEO (generative engine optimization) is the practice of optimizing digital content for AI-driven discovery so that your brand shows within AI-generated answers to user prompts. The key to winning at GEO is creating and distributing content that AI tools like to read, understand and serve up in their responses.
In a past work life, I stole search rank positions #1 and zero and even featured snippets from much larger companies, including HubSpot. That's why I firmly believe bootstrapped small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMB) can compete with big-budget corporations. Strategies like SEO, social media, and generative engine optimization for small business make it possible. I know what you're thinking, "GEO for small business? Not another thing to add to my plate."
One of the earliest turning points in personal branding, one that made career-minded professionals understand that they're responsible for their careers and the visibility that shapes them, was the launch of LinkedIn in 2003. Since then, career visibility has followed a simple rule: polish your resume, keep your LinkedIn profile current and compelling, and show up to meetings awake. But that rule no longer holds, thanks to AI.
Advertising giants like Publicis, WPP, and Omnicom aren't the only companies deploying roll-up strategies and shaking up influencer marketing. Humanz, an Israeli influencer marketing platform that expanded to the US in 2024, is going "full acquisition mode" through 2026, CEO Liran Liberman said in an interview. The company exclusively told Business Insider that it recently raised $15 million from an undisclosed group of venture capital investors to fuel several M&A deals.
As a result, many communicators are turning to multichannel comms strategies to broaden the reach of their message and improve the story's visibility and campaign ROI. To break through the noise and capture the attention of a fractured audience - including journalists and AI bots - communications strategies now demand a coordinated approach that establishes authority, amplifies reach, and delivers measurable impact.
Will ChatGPT replace Google, or will marketers need to optimize for both? We're sure many of you might disagree, but we firmly believe that both of them are and will remain equally beneficial and powerful. The only thing that changes is the future of SEO in the AI era, making it less about keyword stuffing and more about semantic relevancy and trustworthiness.
