Why deal with it this year, not next year?
Customers are moving from the search box to the chat windows of ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity. AI search optimization (GEO, Generative Engine Optimization) makes sure AI can understand your website, cite it, and put you in the answer. Of the three numbers in EXHIBIT 1, the one with the nearest deadline falls this year.
See your score in 60 seconds (free preview). Full improvement report: US$100 (billed as NT$3,000).
The expected drop in traditional search engine query volume by 2026, shifting to AI chatbots and other virtual agents.
Source: Gartner press release, 2024-02-19The share of consumers who will use generative AI tools for high-stakes decisions such as personal finance and health in 2026.
Source: Forrester, Predictions 2026: Trust And PrivacyBy 2028, brands' organic traffic from search engines is expected to fall by 50% or more as consumers switch to generative AI search.
Source: Gartner press release, 2023-12-14Sources: Gartner (press releases of 2024-02-19 and 2023-12-14); Forrester Predictions 2026. Each number links to its source just below it.
If I rank high on Google, will AI recommend me?
Ranking high doesn't mean AI will cite you
AI doesn't pick companies by search ranking. It reads each company's website and picks the passages that are clearest and easiest to quote to build its answer. You can rank near the top and still be left out of the answer if your content is vague.
On Google search: you rank first
- 1Your company | Industrial equipment repair and maintenance
- 2Competitor A | Equipment repair services
- 3Competitor B | Maintenance contract plans
- …Seven more links
Ask AI: you're not in the answer
User asks: Which companies in Hsinchu do industrial equipment maintenance?
“Competitor A and Competitor B both clearly describe their service scope, response times and maintenance contracts…”
- Competitor ACited
- Competitor BCited
- Your companyNot shown
You rank first, but AI recommends someone else. The difference is whether AI can understand your website's content.
Illustration only, not a screenshot of a real query result; the company names and industry are fictional.
Background: Google Search Central, “AI features” documentation; Princeton GEO, KDD 2024. The illustration does not represent any real query result.
What do I lose if I put it off?
Waiting costs you in three ways, and the costs keep adding up
Competitors take your place
When customers ask AI who to hire, the answer names only a few companies. If you're not in it, the inquiry goes to the competitors it names, and the customer never even learns you exist.
International buyers can't find you
Overseas buyers ask AI in English to find suppliers in Taiwan. If AI can't understand your website, it recommends the ones it can, and you never even get compared.
Your website budget goes to waste
If AI can't understand the website you paid to redesign or build, only people who type in your URL will ever see it. Check first, then fix, so the budget goes to the places where AI gets stuck.
The third is the easiest to avoid: before changing your website, spend US$100 (billed as NT$3,000) to see exactly where it gets stuck.
About these costs: Sense's summary of common situations on business websites, not statistics.
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