TL;DR: GEO in AI search rewards longer, contextual prompts, fresh third-party mentions (YouTube matters), niche identity-based comparisons, and—most importantly—brands that genuinely solve problems. I’d use sales transcripts, creator partnerships, and updated content as my playbook.

I just watched a roundtable of five sharp SEOs digging into GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and how brands get chosen by AI answers. Their ideas were practical—and their disagreements revealing. Below I break down what they tested, what landed, what missed the mark for me, and exactly how I’d execute a GEO roadmap if I were leading this for a client.

Table of Contents

• What they tested and discussed
• What went right
• What didn’t quite land for me
• How I’d run the GEO playbook (step-by-step)
• What I’d do differently right now
• Strategic checklist (start here)
• FAQ
• Final note

What they tested and discussed

• Prompt-length vs. keywords: prompts are about five times longer than classic keywords—AI needs more context.
• Conversation mining: using sales calls, chat transcripts, Reddit, and support emails as source material for topics AI might surface.
• YouTube signals: frequency of mentions and impressions in videos correlates strongly with being cited in AI overviews.
• Listicles & comparisons: niche-specific comparison pages (e.g., “QuickBooks alternatives for graphic designers”) can get brands included in AI answers.
• Brand legitimacy: ask whether your brand would look odd if missing from an AI answer—this is a sanity check before tactics.
• Core thesis: beyond tactics, build a better business—products and brands that deserve to be cited.

What went right

• Context beats short keywords. AI-searchers explain their situation. That means long-form prompts and identity signals (who the searcher is) matter. I agree—content that maps to a user’s intent and situation will outperform generic keyword stuffing.
• Sales and support transcripts are gold. These conversations expose the exact language customers use: fears, objections, features that matter. Feeding transcripts into an LLM to extract topics is a practical, high-signal research method.
• YouTube is a major input and output. With models trained on millions of hours of video transcripts, frequent mentions and views of your brand on YouTube increase the odds of AI citing you. That matches my experience: creator mentions scale awareness quickly.
• Niche, identity-based comparisons work. Targeted comparison pages that speak to a specific persona (designer, founder, freelancer) align with personalized LLM reasoning and can capture citation slots.
• Freshness helps. Updated content and recent mentions are favored by models that cite current sources—so regular content refreshes matter.

What didn’t quite land for me

• Too much faith in gaming tactics. Some tactics—spammy listicles, aggressive sponsored mentions—work now, but they’re fragile. AI models and platforms will close loopholes. I’d treat those as short-term band-aids, not core strategy.
• Measurement gaps. There wasn’t a clear, repeatable measurement plan for how to track AI mentions vs. downstream business outcomes (traffic, leads, conversions). Getting mentioned is good, but we need to link it to value.
• Product-market fit underplayed. The final advice—”build a better business”—was obvious but lacked operationalization. How do you translate product improvements into signals the web and models can use?

How I’d run the GEO playbook (step-by-step)

If I were running this for a client, I’d combine the tactical wins above with structure and measurement. Here’s the roadmap I’d use right away.

1. Research: mine real conversations.
   • Collect sales calls, onboarding calls, support chats, and Reddit threads.
   • Run them through an LLM to extract recurring prompts, objections, and persona-specific language.
2. Map content to identity-based prompts.
   • Create comparison pages targeted to specific personas (e.g., “Invoice software for freelance graphic designers”) using the exact phrasing from step 1.
   • Write FAQ-style lead-ins that match long conversational prompts.
3. Leverage YouTube and creator partnerships.
   • Identify creators covering your space and arrange mentions, demos, or sponsor segments.
   • Prioritize channels with repeat, recent coverage—frequency matters more than a single viral hit.
4. Earn third-party mentions responsibly.
   • Pitch data-driven stories to niche publishers and review sites.
   • Target organic listicles and comparisons; where relevant, place your brand in authentic three-way comparisons rather than trying to dominate every “best of” list.
5. Refresh and signal recency.
   • Publish updates, changelogs, and recency markers on content (e.g., “Updated March 2026”).
   • Make sure social posts and YouTube uploads are recent and consistent.
6. Measure what matters.
   • Track brand mentions in AI outputs (Brand Radar, manual checks) and correlate with organic traffic, demo requests, and conversion lift.
   • Set a cadence: weekly mention checks, monthly correlation reviews, quarterly strategic shifts.
7. Product + trust work together.
   • Use voice-of-customer findings to improve product — usability wins citations long-term.
   • Invest in reviews, case studies, and authentic UGC that models can draw from.

What I’d do differently right now

• Layer creator partnerships upfront rather than waiting—creator + owned content combo accelerates mentions.
• Prioritize a small set of persona-driven comparison pages and syndicate them through guest posts and partners.
• Formalize a cadence to refresh content and publish “what’s new” notes so models see freshness.
• Measure mentions vs. conversions to avoid vanity wins—attention doesn’t always mean action, and this test proved that clearly.

“Build a better business.”

That blunt advice is the north star. All GEO signals—mentions, YouTube, listicles—are amplifiers. If the underlying product and messaging don’t deliver, the wins will be temporary.

Strategic checklist (start here)

• Collect 30+ sales/support transcripts and extract prompt-language with an LLM.
• Build three persona-specific comparison pages in the next 60 days.
• Secure 2–3 creator mentions on relevant YouTube channels within 90 days.
• Refresh high-value content quarterly and mark it as updated.
• Track AI mentions weekly and map to business KPIs monthly.
• Audit product gaps from VOC and prioritize fixes that improve customer outcomes.

FAQ

Final note

I’m a Hawaii-based strategist, and I believe GEO is as much about product-market fit and honest storytelling as it is about clever SEO. If you want one piece of advice: prioritize content and experiences that customers trust—everything else amplifies from there.