With the rise of Artificial Intelligence, many brands have found themselves adjusting their digital marketing strategies. While the original goal of any product or service was to appear in the top results of search engines (like Google or Yahoo), with the arrival of AI the focus now shifts to being part of the answers offered by chatbots such as Gemini or ChatGPT.
And in Spain, the use of this tool continues to grow: the percentage of the population using AI is now 41.8%, well above the global average (16.3%), placing Spain as the sixth country in the world to adopt this technology according to the Global AI Adoption report. In this context, and according to Gartner, it is expected that the volume of searches on traditional search engines will drop by 25%, losing a significant share to chatbots. Additionally, according to a report from Search Engine Land, traffic from generative search increased by 527% between January and May of 2025.
To understand this new paradigm, experts from the digital technology school Tokyo School analyze how these new forms of internet search compel companies to rethink their strategies.
Juan Luis Frieiro, head of SEO at Tokyo School, explains that before the AI era, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) was the channel for optimizing content online and ensuring that information reached those who needed it. The evolution of AI-powered search engines has transformed this landscape by introducing the concept of GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). “This term is often presented as the ‘new era’ of ranking, and it is responsible for optimizing content so that it becomes visible in generative engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini,” explains the expert.
Ensuring Visibility in Conversational AI
Today, the challenge many companies face is to integrate their traditional SEO strategy with a new approach that improves visibility in AI environments, and thus reach a larger number of users.
Juan Luis Frieiro notes that this paradigm shift stems from user behavior, as “AI-based search engines offer bite-sized answers and reduce the number of clicks to websites, but the visits that do occur tend to be of higher quality. The user who decides to exit a conversational environment toward a specific page usually has a more defined, more filtered intent, which translates into higher conversion rates.”
For his part, Pablo Roca, instructor of the Digital Marketing Course at Tokyo School, explains that, for companies to become the reference source mentioned by generative engines, they must build authority through branding: “This means strengthening digital PR strategies, appearances in relevant trade media, collaborations with industry leaders, participating in events, and generating expert content. In short, making it clear that we know our field, and therefore, we are authority and leaders,” explains the expert.
However, the strategy focused on AI does not replace the visibility work of SEO—which companies have spent many years perfecting—but rather complements it. “GEO leverages all the SEO work done on a website, both technically and in terms of content. Generative engines feed on the work SEOs have performed over the years: solid site structures, demonstrable authority, and user experience optimized in web navigation,” says Pablo Roca.
The emergence of these new tools demands that companies immediately adapt their digital strategy, where visibility hinges on the effective integration of SEO and the new GEO approach. To secure their position in this new era, the key lies in boosting brand authority, thereby becoming the reference source that generative engines select.
