"Most guidance around generative engine optimization is borrowing the wrong playbook. It treats AI like search. Optimize for a prompt. Win the answer. Get cited. Move on. That approach feels familiar to PR teams trained in SEO-era thinking. But it fundamentally misunderstands how people interact with AI systems and overlooks the single biggest factor determining whether brands remain visible inside large language models over time."
"People don't use AI the way they use Google. They don't ask one question, skim one result, and leave. They ask a question, read the response, then ask another. And another. And another. Through hands-on GEO testing across client brands, one pattern keeps surfacing. The real power of GEO is not winning the first response. It is being present in the second, third, and fourth prompts that follow."
"I call this the conversation chain, and it is the most overlooked and most critical element of durable AI visibility. For PR professionals, that insight should feel familiar. Because GEO is not about rankings. It is about narrative continuity. Why search thinking breaks in AI Traditional search behavior is transactional. Someone arrives with intent, scans results, clicks a link, and exits. Visibility is measured by rank, traffic and impressions."
"AI behavior is conversational. Users are not just consuming information. They are working through understanding. Each response shapes the next question. Context builds. Meaning evolves. Sources that continue to answer follow-up questions clearly and credibly become more influential inside the interaction. This matters because AI systems do not reward one-off relevance. They reward ongoing usefulness. If your brand answers the first question but disappears when the user asks why, how or what next, the model pivots to other sources."
Generative engine optimization often applies SEO-era tactics that treat AI like search. Users interact with AI conversationally, asking follow-ups that build context and meaning. The crucial factor for brand visibility is presence across the conversation chain — second, third, and fourth prompts — not just the initial response. AI systems reward ongoing usefulness rather than one-off relevance. Brands that fail to answer follow-up questions lose influence as models pivot to other sources. PR teams should prioritize narrative continuity and sustained credibility across sequential prompts to maintain durable visibility inside large language models.
Read at PR Daily
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