Google isn’t the default anymore
Here's something that caught me off guard: when customers want to buy something now, they're not necessarily Googling it. They're asking ChatGPT. Or Perplexity. Or one of the other AI assistants popping up everywhere. And honestly? It makes sense. Why click through 10 blue links when you can just ask and get a straight answer?
By late 2025, this isn't fringe behavior anymore. About 34% of people are using an LLM daily or near-daily, and more than half have tried LLM search at least once. We're talking about people asking AI agents where to buy stuff, comparing prices, reading reviews—basically doing everything they used to do on Google, but in a conversation. And the scale is wild: platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are handling over a billion weekly queries by October and November 2025.
For younger consumers? It's even starker. TikTok, Instagram, and AI chatbots are often the first stop for product research, not Google. The buyer's journey is getting faster, more conversational, and increasingly invisible to brands stuck in last decade's playbook.
Why GEO matters right now
Here's the uncomfortable truth: being ranked #1 on Google doesn't mean your customers will see you anymore. LLMs don't care about your domain authority or backlink profile the way Google does. They're selecting sources based on structure, freshness, expertise, and whether you actually sound like you know what you're talking about.
This shift matters because 42% of US and European users now kick off their research with an LLM instead of a search engine—that's almost double from a year ago, according to Forrester's July 2025 survey. For B2C brands, this is serious. If your product isn't getting cited and recommended inside AI conversations, you're losing sales to competitors who figured this out first.
The technical term is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), and it's basically the "you need to do this now or you'll regret it" shift that SEO was ten years ago. Except this time, it's moving faster.
The future of buying
Fast-forward to 2028, and LLMs are projected to pull 30-50% of all search volume. Picture this: customers won't be navigating websites anymore. They'll have AI agents do it for them. The experience becomes about getting the right answer quickly—sometimes without ever clicking a link. You might have virtual try-ons inside chat windows. Checkout could happen right there in the conversation. Attribution gets weird. Everything changes.
The brands winning in this future aren't the ones with the biggest ad budgets. They're the ones whose content, data, and brand signals are built for AI to find, understand, and recommend.
How can you win?
Alright, so what do you actually do? Start with these fundamentals:
1. Make Your Content Real
Stop writing corporate fluff. LLMs reward accuracy, transparency, and actual expertise. Cite your sources. Share real case studies. Get actual customers to review your stuff. Make sure there's a human name attached, not just a faceless brand.
2. Get Your Technical House in Order
Mobile has to be perfect. Your site needs to load fast. Use smart internal linking so you look like you own your topic, not just a single page. Structure your FAQ in a way that's easy for AI to extract. Schema markup (especially FAQ, Product, and Review schema) is not optional anymore.
3. Show Your Expertise
Display author credentials. Link to primary research when you can. Build a real digital footprint across platforms (not just your website). Let LLMs see you're legit.
4. Keep Stuff Fresh
Update your content regularly. If you're citing data, it should be current. Check what competitors are doing and match their pace. Dead, outdated content doesn't rank—in Google or in AI.
5. Know Your Category
If you're selling products, integrate user reviews and influencer partnerships. If you're local, make sure your NAP (name, address, phone) is consistent everywhere. Different categories play by slightly different rules.
How to measure results
Here's where most brands fall short: they implement GEO changes but don't track what actually happens.
The problem is, LLM visibility is fluid. It changes when models get updated. It varies across platforms. Manual checking won't cut it anymore—you need a data backlog started immediately. Track where your brand appears, in what context, and how often. See who's citing you, where, and why.
This is where specialized software saves your life. One solid option is Kime.ai. It tracks your citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok—basically all the major LLMs. You get:
- A live view of where your brand shows up and why
- Alerts when things change
- Competitive benchmarking so you know if you're losing ground
- Integration across all the platforms your audience uses
- Real data to back up your content strategy decisions
Getting this set up early gives you a huge edge. You'll spot trends before competitors do. You'll know exactly what's working and what isn't.
The bottom line
The B2C buyer's journey is fundamentally different now than it was two years ago. People aren't starting with Google anymore—they're starting with AI. That's not changing; it's accelerating.
Brands that move now, optimize deliberately for GEO, and set up proper measurement will win the next wave. Brands that wait? They'll be the ones paying for the traffic they used to get for free.
The path is clear: adapt your content, prove you're an expert, get your technical foundation solid, and track your progress. Do that, and you'll be the answer customers find when they ask their AI what to buy.
Data sourced from Master of Code, TTMS, Hive Digital, Forrester, IDC, BCG, Omnius, and Kime.ai.
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