Hosts Laura Hill, Amanda Boatright, and Nisha Bagepalli tackle AEO and GEO this week, the alphabet soup that has quietly become one of the most consequential shifts in B2B marketing. The stat driving the whole conversation: 80% of B2B buyers are now using an AI search engine somewhere in their research before a purchase. This episode is about what that means, what is still unknown, and what leaders should actually do about it.

 

Summary

The conversation starts with the question everyone is asking behind closed doors: is this real, or is it noise. The hosts agree quickly that it is real. What used to be a conversation about SEO is now a conversation about answer engines, and the numbers make it impossible to ignore.

What makes this shift uncomfortable is where the answers are coming from. A meaningful share of AI search results are pulling from third party sites the brand does not control, including Reddit and YouTube. That is not entirely new, third party content has always shown up in search, but the weighting feels different now. User generated, unmoderated conversation can end up shaping what an AI engine tells a buyer about a brand, and there is no dial marketers can turn to influence how much weight that content gets.

The group also gets into what is changing at the content level. Early stage, how to content is losing visibility because AI engines can already summarize that information themselves. What is gaining traction is the more specific material further down the funnel: comparisons, case studies, pricing, the things that require real expertise to produce. One host shares a striking data point from her own agency’s client work, a client’s visibility numbers dropped off a cliff almost immediately after AEO work was paused, which is about as clear a signal as this space offers right now.

There is real tension between urgency and patience here. The hosts land on a shared piece of advice: do not over index on any one signal or tactic, because the algorithms behind these engines are still evolving quickly, but do not ignore it either. Rolling over and waiting this out is not a strategy.

They close by tying it back to something bigger than any single channel: buying committees are growing, now regularly eight to ten people, and those committees keep changing membership deep into the sales cycle. No single piece of content or search tactic can address that complexity. That, they argue, is exactly why marketers still have jobs. AI can help produce the content and provide structure, but figuring out the strategy across personas, channels, and a constantly shifting buying committee still takes a human sitting down and thinking it through.

 

Key Points

AEO and GEO are not hype.** With 80% of B2B buyers using AI search as part of their research, this has moved past the experimental stage and needs a real strategy, not a wait and see approach.

Brands have less control over their own narrative.** Third party platforms, especially Reddit and YouTube, are showing up as meaningful sources in AI generated answers. That user generated content is not something a brand can directly manage, which is a real shift from the SEO era.

Credibility weighting is still a black box.** Nobody yet knows how much weight these engines give to a single negative Reddit comment versus a well sourced third party article, and that uncertainty is one of the harder things to plan around right now.

Top of funnel content is losing ground.** Basic how to and what is content is getting summarized directly by AI engines rather than driving traffic to a brand’s own site. Deeper, more specific content, comparisons, case studies, and pricing pages, is where visibility is holding up.

Results can disappear fast when the work stops.** One host’s own agency saw a client’s AI visibility drop sharply almost immediately after AEO efforts were paused, a reminder that this is ongoing work, not a one time project.

Do not over index, but do not ignore it either.** The algorithms and their weighting are still changing quickly. The right posture is measured and continuous attention, not chasing every new tactic or assuming this will settle down on its own.

Buying committees keep growing and keep changing.** Eight to ten people is now typical for a B2B buying committee, and membership shifts well into the later stages of the sales cycle. Content and messaging need to speak to a moving target, not a single persona.

AI can execute, but it cannot own the strategy.** These tools can help produce content, structure information, and speed up the work. Deciding what to prioritize across personas, channels, and a shifting buying committee still requires human judgment, which is exactly why the work of a marketing strategist is not going away.

Start with an audit.** The simplest next step for any team is to test their own visibility directly. Ask multiple AI tools, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude, how they answer questions in your category and see who gets cited. That gives a real baseline for where you stand against competitors before deciding where to invest.

 

A Note From the Hosts

Have thoughts on how AI search is changing your own buyer’s journey? The hosts want to hear from you at CMOsOffScript.