Politics

AI-driven search reshapes brand visibility strategies with emerging GEO platforms

Monday, 29 December 2025 10:37PM UTC

As AI search systems evolve, brands must adapt to new visibility strategies centred on influencing AI model outputs. The rise of Generative Engine Optimization platforms like Akii, Semrush, and others marks a strategic shift toward structured, authoritative signals in AI-driven discovery, transforming traditional SEO into a nuanced game of model-friendly content and reputation management.

Search is no longer merely a menu; it increasingly supplies answers. As users turn to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Copilot for explanations, comparisons and recommendations, the mechanics of discovery have shifted from ranking pages to shaping how AI systems interpret and cite brands. According to the analysis by OnPattison, that transition makes Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) , the practice of influencing AI model outputs at the moment of inquiry , a strategic imperative for organisations. ^[1]^[3]^[7]

GEO reframes visibility as an interpretive problem rather than a purely technical one: AI systems do not simply retrieve documents, they weigh signals of authority, relevance and trust when forming conclusions. That means strong organic rankings alone no longer guarantee favourable mention in AI-generated answers; brands must supply structured, model-friendly context and governance to be heard. Industry platforms have responded with tools that either correct citation gaps, encode authoritative context, replicate competitor signals, or measure perception at scale. ^[1]^[2]^[4]^[6]

Akii is positioned as a purpose-built response to the visibility gap between search rankings and AI citations. According to Akii’s own materials, the platform diagnoses discrepancies in how major language models reference a brand and offers structured tools , such as AI Engage , to supply authoritative context that can prevent outdated or inaccurate narratives. Akii also publishes an AI Visibility Score and offers a free plan to let smaller publishers and local organisations test its capabilities. The company’s emphasis is on correcting what it calls the “AI-facing” omission rather than reworking traditional SEO alone. ^[1]^[2]

Semrush has moved to fold GEO into a broader marketing control centre. The company now aligns keyword rankings with conversational visibility metrics and, according to Semrush, uses Copilot to flag content losing relevance because it is not optimised for AI-generated summaries and answer extraction. Semrush’s AI Visibility Index, built from thousands of real-world prompts, is presented as a benchmark for enterprise brand discovery and underscores the need to reinforce trust and authority specifically within AI search contexts. The platform also offers AI Ad Tracker capabilities to monitor paid brand mentions across conversational surfaces. ^[1]^[3]^[7]

Ahrefs approaches the problem through authority modelling and entity relationships. Rather than focusing on output volume, Ahrefs’ tools aim to reveal which sources and signals AI systems trust when forming recommendations. Features such as Brand Radar and Citation Gap Analysis are designed to help advanced SEO teams replicate competitor authority signals embedded in AI knowledge graphs, a strategy oriented toward competitive intelligence and long-term entity building. ^[1]^[4]

Surfer AI treats language models as structured readers and prioritises content that is easy for AIs to parse and repurpose. Its GEO Mode and Snippet Predictor focus on semantic coverage and on identifying the text sections most likely to surface in AI-generated answers, which suits content-heavy publishers and niche editorial teams that need extractable, reusable content rather than traditional keyword-stuffed pages. ^[1]^[5]

At the enterprise end, Profound measures how AI systems perceive brands at scale. Rather than optimising individual pages, Profound’s Conversation Explorer and Global Sentiment Heatmap aim to quantify global share of voice and perception shifts across models, industries and geographies , a capability intended for multinational organisations needing governance, reporting and strategy tied to AI-driven reputation. ^[1]^[6]

Choosing a GEO platform therefore depends on whether the objective is tactical correction, integrated marketing governance, competitive authority building, extractable content creation, or macro-level perception measurement. Akii and Surfer AI address immediate content and citation gaps at a tactical level; Semrush and Ahrefs embed GEO into broader SEO and competitive workflows; Profound is geared to enterprise governance and sentiment intelligence. As the discovery layer continues to evolve, success will rest less on traditional ranking mechanics and more on deliberately engineered visibility: supplying the structured, authoritative signals that shape how AI systems answer. ^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

📌 Reference Map:

##Reference Map:

^[1] (OnPattison) - Paragraph 1, Paragraph 2, Paragraph 3, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 5, Paragraph 6, Paragraph 7
^[2] (Akii) - Paragraph 3
^[3] (Semrush) - Paragraph 1, Paragraph 4, Paragraph 8
^[4] (Ahrefs) - Paragraph 5, Paragraph 8
^[5] (Surfer SEO) - Paragraph 6, Paragraph 8
^[6] (Profound) - Paragraph 7, Paragraph 8
^[7] (BusinessWire) - Paragraph 4, Paragraph 8

Source: Noah Wire Services

More on this

https://onpattison.com/news/2025/dec/29/the-ai-visibility-landscape-in-2026-top-5-platforms-to-know/ - Please view link - unable to able to access data
https://akii.com/ - Akii is an AI Visibility Optimization Platform designed to enhance how brands are perceived by AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI, and Gemini. It offers tools to measure, compare, and improve brand visibility across various AI models. Akii's AI Visibility Score provides insights into how AI models reference and contextualize a brand, helping businesses identify and address visibility gaps. The platform is particularly beneficial for local publishers, community-focused organizations, and growing businesses seeking to enhance their AI-facing presence. Akii offers a free plan with 100 AI credits monthly, allowing users to test its features before upgrading to premium plans.
https://www.semrush.com/ - Semrush is a comprehensive marketing platform that has integrated AI visibility insights into its suite of tools, extending beyond traditional SEO practices. It combines AI optimization with existing SEO, PPC, and content analytics workflows, providing unified monitoring that aligns keyword rankings with AI Overview and conversational visibility metrics. Semrush Copilot flags content losing relevance due to lack of optimization for AI-generated summaries and answer extraction. Additionally, the AI Ad Tracker monitors paid brand mentions within conversational search platforms, offering a holistic approach to digital marketing strategies.
https://ahrefs.com/ - Ahrefs is a robust SEO toolset that approaches AI visibility through authority modeling and entity relationships rather than content output volume. It assists teams in understanding which sources and signals AI systems trust when forming recommendations. Ahrefs' primary strategy involves analyzing and replicating competitor authority signals embedded in AI knowledge graphs. The Brand Radar feature tracks how AI models categorize and frame a brand, while Citation Gap Analysis highlights trusted domains competitors benefit from, aiding advanced SEO teams and analysts focused on competitive intelligence and authority development.
https://surferseo.com/ - Surfer AI focuses on structuring content so AI systems can easily extract, summarize, and reuse information. The platform treats AI models as structured readers rather than human visitors, emphasizing the creation of content optimized for extraction, clarity, and semantic completeness. Surfer AI's GEO Mode prioritizes semantic coverage over keyword repetition, and its Snippet Predictor identifies content sections most likely to surface in AI-generated answers. This approach is particularly beneficial for content-heavy teams, publishers, and niche editorial platforms aiming to enhance their AI visibility.
https://www.profound.com/ - Profound operates at a macro level, focusing on how AI systems perceive brands across markets and industries. Rather than optimizing individual pages, it measures large-scale AI-driven brand representation. Profound's primary strategy is to measure global share of voice across AI-generated conversations. The Conversation Explorer provides access to real AI interaction contexts, and the Global Sentiment Heatmap tracks perception shifts by geography, industry, and model. These features are ideal for enterprise and multinational organizations with complex reporting and governance requirements, seeking to understand and influence their AI brand perception.
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250922877959/en/Semrush-Unveils-AI-Visibility-Index-Rewrites-the-Rules-of-Enterprise-Brand-Discovery-in-the-AI-Era - Semrush has unveiled the AI Visibility Index, a benchmark measuring brand performance across AI search platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Mode. Built on data from over 2,500 real-world prompts, the Index offers marketers a transparent, actionable view of brand visibility in AI search results. It highlights the importance of reinforcing trust and authority in AI search, providing a blueprint for turning AI visibility into a competitive advantage. The Index covers key industries such as Finance, Digital Tech, Business, Fashion, and Consumer Electronics, offering insights into who is winning in AI discovery and why.

Noah Fact Check Pro

The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may warrant further investigation.

Freshness check

Score: 10

Notes: ✅ The narrative is recent, published on December 29, 2025, with no evidence of prior publication or recycled content. The inclusion of current platforms and technologies indicates high freshness. 🕰️

Quotes check

Score: 10

Notes: ✅ No direct quotes are present in the narrative, suggesting original content. The absence of identifiable quotes supports the originality of the report. 📝

Source reliability

Score: 3

Notes: ⚠️ The narrative originates from OnPattison, a website primarily focused on sports content, which raises questions about its authority on AI and digital marketing topics. The lack of a clear editorial board or verifiable credentials for the authors further diminishes the reliability of the source. ❓

Plausability check

Score: 7

Notes: ⚠️ While the platforms mentioned (Akii, Semrush, Ahrefs, Surfer AI, and Profound) are known in the digital marketing and SEO industry, the narrative's focus on AI visibility optimization is a niche topic. The absence of coverage from more established and authoritative sources on this specific subject raises concerns about the plausibility and depth of the information presented. Additionally, the lack of supporting details or citations from reputable outlets further questions the credibility of the claims made. ❓

Overall assessment

Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): FAIL

Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM

Summary: ⚠️ The narrative presents recent and original content but originates from a source with questionable authority on the subject matter. The lack of supporting details and coverage from more reputable outlets on the specific topic diminishes the overall credibility of the report. ❓

AI
Search Engine Optimisation
Generative Engine Optimization
Brand Visibility