Judging by the curiosity in occasions we’ve run about it through the years, search engine marketing is persistently one of many subjects entrepreneurs are on the lookout for assist with. And the arrival of AI Overviews has added a brand new layer of complexity to grasp.
So it was no shock that our current session with Charlie Marchant, CEO of Publicity Ninja, was extremely common. There was a lot good things within the Q&A that we’re sharing it right here for these of you who couldn’t be a part of.
Watch Charlie’s session in full here.
Visitor Blogger: Charlie Marchant
Charlie Marchant is the CEO of Exposure Ninja, a digital advertising company specialising in search engine marketing, PPC and AI search. The company revealed pioneering analysis into AI search visibility elements and developed Generative Engine Optimisation services. In 2024, the company took house 9 trade accolades underneath Charlie’s management together with Finest US search engine marketing Marketing campaign, Finest Built-in Marketing campaign and Finest Use of Seek for B2C (search engine marketing).
Query and Reply
You talked about third celebration evaluations being essential, are you aware if there are any which might be weighted extra in AI search? e.g. G2 over Capterra and so forth
The third-party evaluations that get talked about range between completely different companies, industries and immediate phrasing. My finest recommendation could be to go looking your organization and a few opponents with phrases comparable to “is [name] a very good firm?” and “is [x] a very good product/service?” and have a look at which platforms are most referenced.
In my expertise:
- Reddit is regularly cited for broader shopper product evaluations.
- Wirecutter, TechRadar, PCMag and Forbes have a tendency to point out up when there’s a necessity for professional or editorial validation.
- Glassdoor generally will get pulled when customers ask about firms (not merchandise).
- I haven’t seen many citations of Trustpilot, G2 or Capterra.
Are AIO impressions the probably final result for search engine marketing/GEO? Ought to we prime purchasers to focus much less on clicks/visitors?
There’s a debate in regards to the true influence of AI Overviews. Google itself has mentioned AI Overviews can lead to larger click-through charges for the content material and hyperlinks inside them, however Ahrefs and Search Engine Land have run research displaying the alternative.
Based mostly on Publicity Ninja’s consumer base, we’ve seen AI Overviews cut back clicks and visitors barely, however conversions stay the identical. Our foremost thought is that showing in an AI Overview search gained’t all the time get you a click on however being featured there provides your online business a “stickiness” — or model recognition. Searchers see your online business, possibly see it once more in a number of different searches, and ultimately might enter into your advertising funnel. Being prime of thoughts is essential, although admittedly laborious to measure.
Clicks and visitors are metrics that we use in search engine marketing to, in the end, present progress in the direction of conversions (leads and/or income). For almost all of companies, the principle consequence they need from their web site is extra high quality leads or extra gross sales. I might all the time advocate each and to maintain focus in the direction of the top consequence that the consumer desires to attain. If whole conversions are taking place or flatlining, then it’s time to analyze.
Will Google Adverts die then, so ought to we shift extra into search engine marketing to future proof ourselves for AI?
Google Adverts is unquestionably not going to die! Google Adverts remains to be extremely worthwhile for Google ($260 billion in income) in order that they gained’t be doing something that may sacrifice their advert income.
What’s altering isn’t the existence of Adverts, however the format and placement. AI-powered advert codecs are coming quick (e.g. adverts inside AI Overviews, Purchasing integrations, adverts integrated into AI Mode and so forth).
Which means over time, companies will probably have to adapt how they promote: from conventional search-based adverts to AI-native advert placements. Nevertheless, proper now, many of those advert merchandise are new and I might advocate testing them first to see how they work for your online business.
search engine marketing and Google Adverts are each essential components of a profitable advertising combine, and the cut up of the funding very a lot depends upon the enterprise, its area of interest and its prospects.
For a legislation agency, what areas would you advise specializing in first to get ranked through AI (PR, on web page blogs and so forth.)?
Our Publicity Ninja staff loves legislation firm-based search engine marketing — it’s one in all our specialist areas and we’ve got a implausible authorized lead-generation playbook here.
For a legislation agency seeking to improve visibility in AI search outcomes, the highest three suggestions I might make:
- Map Pack & Native search engine marketing
Be sure your Google Enterprise Profile is totally optimised with key phrases, providers, and good evaluations. This boosts your possibilities of displaying up within the Map Pack — which nonetheless drives invaluable visitors and is usually referenced inside AI outcomes for legislation companies. Work on native listings, native hyperlinks and related location pages. - On-Web page Content material
Create clear, useful service pages and weblog posts that reply frequent authorized questions in plain English. Use structured codecs with clear headings, and ensure every service space (e.g. employment legislation, divorce) has its personal devoted web page. - PR and Third-Social gathering Mentions
Get featured in native information, trade blogs, or “finest solicitors” lists. These exterior citations assist AI instruments belief your agency. In case your legislation agency is local-focused, I might advocate making certain robust native hyperlinks as properly.
Right here’s an instance of a ChatGPT consequence we optimised for our authorized consumer, Patino Legislation Agency:
Is the AI overview primarily based purely on GEO, or are there paid choices?
AI Overviews are AI-generated solutions instantly within the Google search outcomes. There are ads on some AI Overviews, which have been launched in October 2024. Each Search and Purchasing adverts seem instantly inside AI Overviews when related to each the question and the response supplied. The adverts proceed to have a “Sponsored” label.
We’re area of interest, and so far as I’m conscious we’ve got not actively configured GEO, however we’re very excessive in our search phrases. How has this occurred?!
GEO isn’t one thing you may “configure.” GEO refers to “Generative Engine Optimisation” and is the method of optimising a web site to seem in AI search outcomes. You can read more about GEO here.
How can I see the place AI visitors come from on GA4?
To see AI visitors sources, visitors and conversions inside GA4, it’s essential to manually set this up by making a customized channel group. I clarify the workflow to do that in my webinar with Moz.
Do you could have any B2B service primarily based enterprise examples of search engine marketing + GEO?
We work with numerous purchasers within the B2B providers house, together with accreditors, cleansing providers, enterprise software program and sustainability consultants. search engine marketing and GEO are essential advertising techniques within the B2B house. We have case studies about those here.
With Google and Gemini being the identical product, ought to we count on that search engine marketing effort ‘Google’ first would have any higher outcomes on Gemini than on ChatGPT or different competitor platforms?
Google search, Gemini and Google’s AI Mode (which rolled out within the USA on twentieth Could) use the identical index. By comparability, ChatGPT makes use of Bing’s index, as ChatGPT’s guardian firm, OpenAI, has a partnership with Microsoft.
Whereas the outcomes proven in AI Mode or Gemini aren’t similar to conventional Google search rankings, they’re strongly influenced by them. So in case your content material ranks properly on Google, it’s extra more likely to be cited or surfaced in Gemini/AI Mode solutions.
The place do you see the way forward for AI brokers becoming in?
To grasp the place AI brokers are heading, I’d extremely advocate watching Google I/O 2025, launched on Tuesday twentieth Could. Through the keynote, Google outlined daring plans for AI brokers to maneuver far past answering questions.
In response to Google, they’ll have the ability to browse web sites on a consumer’s behalf, analysis and examine choices (like discovering a venue or authorized service) and take actions, together with reserving tickets for occasions, making reservations, and even planning and reserving total holidays.
This marks a serious shift: customers gained’t simply ask for data — they’ll delegate duties. Meaning companies want to arrange for a world the place AI brokers are looking and utilizing their web sites and making selections on them. Your web site, content material and providers have to be accessible, reliable, and actionable for brokers, not simply people.
I count on we’ll look again on how we search at this time and see it as sluggish and guide. We’re already seeing instruments like AI Mode and different LLMs scan lots of of web site articles earlier than giving us a solution, as an alternative of us having to learn via all of these hyperlinks. AI brokers will take away “laborious” search duties that at this second many people might not even realise are laborious!
CoPilot hasn’t been talked about – do you see a lot visitors/use for this AI or have any information on how this performs in comparison with those you could have talked about?
Microsoft Copilot has gained vital traction, notably inside enterprise environments. As of early 2025, Copilot has 33 million energetic customers. Nevertheless, when in comparison with ChatGPT, Copilot’s attain is notably smaller. In February 2025, ChatGPT recorded 173.3 million day by day visits, whereas Copilot’s month-to-month visitors stood at 98.9 million (Windows Central).
For our purchasers who’re throughout each B2C and B2B areas, we haven’t seen any CoPilot visitors. Given Copilot’s energy lies in its integration inside the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, from what I’ve heard, its advantages have principally been in dashing up inside duties for workplaces utilizing Microsoft 365 programs.
Would ‘paid’ PR articles nonetheless rely for AIs? I.e. typically associate content material can embrace a payment!
Sponsored articles, like every other content material, may very well be included in AI Overviews or Gen AI solutions.
What recommendation do you could have for small B@B companies on this? The place will we even begin – ought to we simply keep it up writing content material on our web sites within the meantime
My recommendation for smaller companies and start-ups is to very clearly resolve in your positioning and your goal prospects, and construct your advertising technique round this.
For instance, well-known skincare model The Ordinary constructed their enterprise round two clear positions: “science-backed skincare” and “finest worth skincare.” Their entire search engine marketing, Content material and GEO technique strongly focuses on reinforcing these positioning statements for his or her goal prospects, each on their very own web site and in off-site content material and PR.
When you’re in a aggressive market, then it’s extremely essential to distinguish your self. With AI search you can’t be “every thing to everybody”. Higher to craft a transparent area of interest, nail it in search engine marketing and AI search, develop after which develop over time if working inside a reasonably aggressive sector. When you’re working in a blue ocean sector, then competitors can be decrease and there’s much more alternative to do properly in search.
What was the sentiment evaluation instrument talked about?
The instrument is known as Profound. It’s finest fitted to giant and enterprise companies.
For smaller companies, Semrush has a great AI toolkit that features a easier model of sentiment evaluation.
Does this imply that if it’s not doing the question (ie the consumer has not requested the GPT to go looking on-line) – that the consumer might obtain outdated data?
This may very well be the case relying on which LLM you’re utilizing.
For instance, ChatGPT (Free model / GPT-3.5) doesn’t have looking entry so responses are primarily based on static information (cut-off: round October 2023). Claude (Anthropic) doesn’t have stay looking, so all solutions come from static coaching information (cut-off: round August 2023 for Claude 2.1).
When you’re utilizing the paid model of ChatGPT and have looking enabled, then it will likely be in a position to search the web and also you’ll obtain up-to-date data.
How does this work geographically? We famous that ChatGPT in UK vs ChatGPT in Czech gave completely different outcomes to the identical prompts.
Location does affect AI-generated outcomes. Even when looking is off, ChatGPT (and different LLMs) typically tailors its solutions primarily based in your IP location or chosen language. This occurs as a result of the mannequin has been skilled on geographically various content material — so it learns associations between subjects and areas.
For instance, for those who’re primarily based in Czechia, it’s possible you’ll get suggestions for region-specific firms or suppliers, or it’s possible you’ll get examples from that area.
When looking is on (like in ChatGPT Plus, Perplexity or Gemini), outcomes change into extremely location-sensitive as a result of AI pulls from regionally ranked search outcomes, might entry country-specific variations of internet sites (e.g. google.co.uk vs google.cz) and can consider native outcomes from third-party web sites.
We do our white papers and extra stuff on PDF for straightforward obtain from our web site – will AI take the textual content from these under consideration?
Generally, however not reliably. It’s finest to make sure content material is in your web site and is evident and accessible to learn.
AI instruments can learn and summarise PDF content material, supplied the PDF is publicly accessible (not behind a type or login wall), the textual content is machine-readable (not simply a picture scan) and the web page it’s hosted on is crawlable (no no-index tags, robots.txt blocks, or damaged hyperlinks).
Nevertheless, AI looking instruments typically prioritise pages over PDFs. Content material contained in the PDF will not be listed in the identical approach as your web page textual content — so it’s much less more likely to get cited. I might advocate repurposing key PDF content material into weblog posts or touchdown pages, and utilizing PDFs (whitepapers, eBooks and so forth) as supplementary content material belongings.
I solely promote to a restricted geographical space. All my visitors at present comes from native natural searches, primarily through Google. Will AI nonetheless have the identical impact on my enterprise?
AI search is getting smarter about location, so if your online business solely serves a selected space, it shouldn’t be proven to folks exterior that area. Map outcomes typically present up inside AI search outcomes on ChatGPT and different LLMs and so native search engine marketing can also be essential inside AI search.
To remain seen, native companies ought to preserve their Google Enterprise Profile totally optimised, use clear location indicators on their web site (like service space pages, native schema, and FAQs) and proceed incomes native evaluations and third-party mentions.
How can we discover out what queries the customers are typing into ChatGPT so we will match wording?
Sadly, there’s no direct option to see what customers are typing into ChatGPT. There are not any instruments like Search Console, Semrush, or others that give us question information from AI instruments (but!)
Nevertheless, I might advocate utilizing conventional key phrase instruments as a base. Many ChatGPT queries are simply pure language variations of those self same Google searches — so you may nonetheless match tone and intent.
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