Being found in the age of artificial intelligence
With answers provided directly by search engines and the rise of generative AI, the way companies, products and expertise are found online is changing.
For years, the objective was clear: work on SEO to rank among the top search engine results and drive visitors to your website. This mechanism still exists, but today it is no longer the only way a company can be found.
According to data published by Similarweb in 2026, 68% of Google searches now end without a click.
In many cases, the answer we are looking for is already on the results page: in featured snippets, maps, knowledge panels and, increasingly, AI Overviews.
The impact of artificial intelligence is far from theoretical.
The Pew Research Center analysed 68,879 Google searches carried out by 900 US users: when an AI Overview appeared, users clicked on a traditional search result in just 8% of visits, compared with 15% when no AI summary appeared. And only 1% clicked directly on one of the sources cited in the AI Overview.
Ranking is no longer enough
SEO still has an important role to play: a technically sound website, properly indexed and rich in relevant information remains essential. But being found today means something more.
Alongside SEO, we are hearing more and more about GEO, Generative Engine Optimization: essentially, making a company’s content, information and expertise easier to find and use by the new AI-based search and answer systems.
There is, however, no “optimise for AI” button, nor any formula guaranteeing a citation by an artificial intelligence system.
There is something much less new and much more concrete: providing original, reliable and useful information for whoever – person, search engine or AI system – is looking for an answer.
Before you can be found, you need to have something worth finding
Technical articles, case studies, in-depth features, interviews, applications and press releases gradually build a body of information associated with a company, its products and its expertise. When this content is published not only on the corporate website but also by authoritative editorial sources, its reach extends even further.
This is why positioning, content creation and press office activities are more closely connected today than ever before.
We experienced this first-hand long before anyone started talking about GEO.
One of our B2B clients provides a good example: an ongoing strategy based on technical content and press office activities helped increase qualified traffic and double the sales generated through the website, with no increase in advertising investment.
Today, the same principle has acquired an additional dimension.
The objective is no longer simply to persuade Google to bring someone to our website: it is to create and distribute the information enabling a company to be found, recognised and regarded as authoritative when someone is looking for an answer.
Share on:
Back