Will the AI Remember You? Marketing in the Age of GenAI

In this episode of Misadventures in Marketing, hosts Peter Farago and Steve Haney unpack the seismic shift from search engine optimization (SEO) to generative engine optimization (GEO). They explore what it means for marketers now that consumer behavior is skipping 10 blue links in favor of instant answers from AI tools.

This isn’t about keywords anymore. It’s about whether your brand is even visible in a post-search world.

What You Can Do About It

  • The Death of Search as We Knew It: Google traffic is falling, and AI answers are replacing click-throughs. Peter and Steve break down why marketers need to rethink their metrics and mindsets.
  • What It Takes to Win at GEO: Peter shares how he’s rethinking his content strategy to optimize for LLMs: long-form pages, structured data, proprietary insights, and neutral tone. Tables help, too.
  • AI as the New Front Door: Your website might still matter, but it’s now the second stop. LLMs are becoming the first point of contact with your brand—and if you’re not in the answer, you’re not in the consideration set.
  • New Metrics, New Playbook: Forget CTRs and bounce rates. GEO success means being cited, summarized, and remembered by machines. Steve draws the parallel: “If your brand doesn’t show up in ChatGPT, it may as well not exist.”
  • Not Just SEO 2.0: GEO isn’t a minor adjustment. It’s a transformation. And it favors marketers who act now.

A Thought-Provoking Shift

According to data from Bain, 80% of users don’t click anything on 40% of AI-assisted search results, and organic traffic has dropped by up to 25% for publishers impacted by Google’s new AI overviews. As Steve points out, that means brand visibility is now less about link position and more about language modeling. If you’re not part of the LLM training diet, you’re likely off the map.

In the episode, Peter shares how he’s testing jumbo-sized, well-structured pages rich with original analysis, FAQs, and comparative tables to better align with how LLMs ingest and synthesize data. The old SEO best practices? Still relevant, but no longer enough.

The Real Question

In the era of generative engines, it’s no longer about who ranks first.

It’s about who gets remembered.

🎧 Listen to the full Season 2 Episode 2: “Will the AI Remember You?” to hear how Peter and Steve are navigating this new paradigm.

👉 Listen to the podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

📚 Check out summaries from other episodes:

Misadventures in Marketing is a weekly podcast by the AMA San Francisco chapter. Veteran Silicon Valley marketing execs Peter Farago and Steve Haney explore the messy, rewarding, and occasionally absurd world of high-tech marketing — especially in early-stage startups. Each episode covers real-world challenges, trends, and lessons from the front lines.

About The Author

Rinita Datta is Director of Product Marketing at Splunk (a Cisco company), where she drives product-led growth, developer marketing and community engagement. With a background spanning financial services and technology industries, she has led product strategy, engineered full-stack solutions, built teams, and launched novel programs that enhance customer experiences. She holds an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor’s in Electronics Engineering from VNIT, India. Outside work, she’s a rescue dog mom to an adorable Jindo named Chilli, loves mentoring budding marketers and is a huge Marvel nerd.