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AI is rapidly changing search, with implications for media, agencies and brands. Here’s how firms are changing strategy from search engine optimization to generative engine optimization.
by Chris Daniels March 28 2025
The bread and butter of Google’s rankings have always been website links. Over time, it expanded results to include links to video, images, the latest news, forum posts, shopping sites and more for a comprehensive view of a search query by category.
Then came “knowledge panels,” pop-up boxes offering curated information at a glance.
Now, unless you’ve been on a year-long digital detox, you’ve noticed something bigger: Google is leading many search results with AI-generated summaries, powered by its large language model, Gemini. 
The summaries don’t just provide quick answers; they add context in conversational language, compiling information in a way that makes clicking on links feel increasingly optional.
Users don’t even need to go to a traditional search engine. In October 2024, OpenAI’s ChatGTP introduced a search function.
But whether ChatGTP or Google, AI search is quickly gaining favor. On Wednesday, Joanna Stern, The Wall Street Journal’s senior personal technology columnist, wrote, “ads and search-optimized junk made a mess of the go-to engine. Now ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude — and even Google’s own AI — do it better.” 
The headline on her column reads, “I quit Google Search for AI — and I’m not going back.”
She’s not the only one. A Vox Media study in December found 61% of Gen Z and 53% of millennials turn to AI tools instead of Google or other traditional search engines to find information. This trend is also reflected in market movement. Google’s global search market share dropped below 90% for the first time since 2015 in the last three months of 2024, according to StatCounter. 
Where does the integration of AI into search leave earned media? Will traffic to media sites free-fall? What about earned media in the role of SEO strategies? 
Tejas Totade, chief technology officer at Ruder Finn, says search is at a “seminal moment.” 
“Search used to be considered a gateway to content. But it has become the end destination, which is the biggest shift in how we’re thinking about search at Ruder Finn,” he says. “As communicators and marketers, our focus had always been, ‘How do we show up positively on the first page of Google?’ Now it’s not just about showing up; it’s also about understanding what the LLM is going to say about you, because of how prescriptive it is.”
Add to that the conversational delivery, and it’s easy to see why someone might take whatever the AI generates at face value. This has massive implications for the proliferation of misinformation or disinformation. 
LLM search could also diminish the role of the byline and even the media brand as a marker of trustworthiness. 
“In the age of LLM-driven results, if the byline doesn’t appear, does a journalist’s credibility still matter?” Totade asks rhetorically. “Of course it does in the grand scheme, but from a user’s perspective, everything starts to feel like just an API — one massive RSS feed pulled into a tiny window.”
Whether it poses an existential threat or not to the media, Totade says that what’s clear is “content is becoming even more commoditized. It’s still king, but perceptions are being shaped by what appears in AI results.”  
In November, Ruder Finn launched rf.aio, an LLM-optimization service, which includes monitoring of ChatGTP, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Llama to evaluate how they respond to brand-related queries. 
Learning from monitoring will have a major impact on brands’ earned media strategy. 
“We’re already finding unexpected differences in citations from AI,” he says. “You might think, for example, a story on how to maximize credit-card points to book your next Bali vacation might cite, say, the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal. But guess what? It’s probably going to come from NerdWallet.” 
Why? That’s because AI systems tend to favor content that resonates with certain audiences, like millennials, who love practical advice, and that’s the type of content NerdWallet specializes in. 
AI platforms have also been signing licensing deals that will influence summaries and citations. ChatGTP, for instance, has partnerships with the likes of Conde Nast, the Associated Press and the Financial Times, the latter which led to concerns from PR pros in the U.K. 
“What does this mean for newspaper paywalls? Why would you continue to pay for a subscription for the newspaper if you can just get the info from AI?” posted Flo Powell, joint MD at Midnight Communications, a B2B PR agency. 
Todd Ringler, head of U.S. media at Edelman, says, “so-called generative engine optimization is going to be front-and-center in any successful brand or reputation campaign.”
“Unlike SEO,” he says, “GEO focuses on authoritative content to give it a leg up on discoverability within AI platforms. Among other changes, multimedia integration and earned media stories, including those behind the paywall, take on new currency in this changing value equation. Earned media and content strategies need to be savvy to where and how AI search is finding and structuring its answers and actively work to shape the information.”
In May, Edelman is “launching a new offering that analyses these dynamics” aimed at helping companies define critical swim lanes for their brands. “It’s an exciting evolution and layering of our current media strategies,” adds Ringler.
LLM search could also increase the prevalence of disinformation and misinformation, if fewer people dig deeper than AI summaries.
“This is something clients will need to closely monitor and act fast on, before misinformation and disinformation gets picked up by AI search,” says Christopher Hippolyte, deputy head of the corporate affairs practice at Syneos Health. 
Since LLMs appear to be prioritizing content from authoritative voices, “a part of your earned media strategy in healthcare needs to be engaging multiple stakeholders, [such as] healthcare advocates and even scientific organizations and nonprofits, such as the American Medical Association or American Association for Cancer Research.”  
“While still in its early stages, GEO is evolving quickly as a discipline and making waves,” says Charlie Baldwin, SVP of insights and analytics at We. Communications, noting “organizations worldwide are busy developing theories as they work to reverse-engineer LLMs.” 
He says it’s “all in an effort to figure out how to get their content noticed at the top.”
We. is conducting its own analysis to deepen clients’ understanding. “What is abundantly clear to us already is that telling a strong and clearly worded story is more important than ever,” Baldwin says. “Appearing in credible, authoritative publications and focusing on content that offers authentic, ownable language is essential.” 
Distinct language that stands out could become a competitive advantage for smaller brands. 
“While this approach is critically important for market leaders, it’s also a fantastic opportunity for challenger brands,” he says. “A distinctive, niche positioning hasn’t always been an advantage in search, but as people increasingly turn to AI for specific recommendations, brands that used to be buried in traditional search results could be surfaced more prominently.”
Despite the emphasis on GEO, brands still need to get their messaging across in longer storytelling.  
“Optimizing for GEO helps, but we still need to make content worth reading in full so that the message can be delivered in the full brand context, be it a story or information page,” says Ephraim Cohen, global head of data and digital at FleishmanHillard. “I refer to it as the continually evolving CliffsNotes challenge: Is it enough to read a summary of Frankenstein? Or is it worth reading the full book? Content needs to be worthwhile for the right audience.”
“Like all cycles, the challenge is figuring out what type of content is valuable enough for people to click through to and read — and, in paywall cases, pay for — versus reading what is essentially a summary or a custom article in the form of a generative AI answer,” Cohen emphasizes. 
As for where search is headed, he sees a couple scenarios. 
On one end of the spectrum, AI search could actually boost some earned media traffic with smarter summaries that drive curiosity.
“People will want to click through for the full context or deeper story,” he says. That’s what we see today in the volume of GenAI traffic versus searches that are clicked through. In that scenario, earned media can thrive, especially if outlets make sure their stories are clearly structured and easy to pull insights from — similar to SEO best practices.”
But there is also another scenario.  
“If AI responses become so good that people rarely click through, content creators will shift more toward being information providers to the machines. The challenge becomes, how do you ensure your voice, message and facts are what’s getting pulled and presented? That’s a new layer of strategy, less about optimizing for search engines, more about optimizing for AI training and outputs,” says Cohen. “There are similarities to social media, where people were looking at social content more for news versus reading original news sources. The result of that was we started treating the right content creators as news sources.”
“This is an area we are exploring with intention now: forming a capability around optimizing for AI training and outputs,” he says. 
He says new solutions could emerge, as well. LLMs, for instance, could end up working with agencies. 
“We can then aggregate our brands’ trusted content to feed directly for training models similar to how they are cutting deals with other content providers such as news organizations,” says Cohen.
This story first appeared on PRWeek U.S.
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Without a doubt, SEO can be challenging for most people.
Many factors come into play that determine whether or not your content ranks on search engines, making it easy to make mistakes and have your content never see the light of day. Gone are the days of cramming keywords into content and instantly ranking on the first page. In today’s world, the competition is intense.
That’s where incredible tools like Surfer SEO come into play.
In this Surfer SEO review, we will dive deep into the ultimate tool that can skyrocket your organic traffic. We’ll explore what Surfer SEO is and its key features, including the powerful Content Editor, Keyword Research, Grow Flow, Audits, and one of its newest features, Surfer AI.
We’ll also share our first-hand experience with Surfer SEO to give you an honest review of its effectiveness. To help you make an informed decision, we’ll discuss the pros and cons of using Surfer SEO and provide insights into its pricing plans.
If you’re ready to take your organic traffic to new heights, keep reading to discover if Surfer SEO is right for you!Surfer SEO is a robust tool for optimizing blog posts, boosting organic rankings, and driving traffic. It offers data-driven recommendations based on competitor analysis and keyword research.
With features like the content editor and SERP analyzer, Surfer SEO helps improve on-page optimization and increase content scores.
Let’s look at the key features Surfer offers to optimize your content! To explain each feature fully, I’ll give you a tour of each one and try it myself.
One of the key features of Surfer SEO is its SERP Analyzer tool, which can be instrumental in boosting your search engine rankings. Simply put in a keyword, and Surfer will analyze the top-ranking pages for your target keywords and uncover valuable insights to guide your content optimization strategy based on search intent.
Here’s how to use the Surfer SERP Analyzer!
1) Place your keyword, determine the location, and hit “Create SERP Analyzer.”2) After a few seconds, Surfer will give you valuable insights from the top-ranking results in that location, including their most common queries. Select the metrics (characters, exact keywords, word count, etc.) you want to see in the left panel. Surfer will show this on the line graph:3) You can also open or close the “eyeball” icon to determine which website’s metrics you want to see and which you do not.4) Finally, turn the “Averages” toggle on or off for Surfer to present the information as a line graph or combined as an average.This graph tells me that to rank in the top ten for this keyword, I need a word count of at least ~2,750 based on the competition.
The SERP Analyzer dives deep into the factors that contribute to the success of these pages. It identifies patterns and trends regarding content length, keyword usage, headers, and other on-page elements.
Armed with this knowledge, you can make informed decisions about optimizing your content for maximum visibility on search engines. Understanding your target audience is crucial in creating content that resonates with them and drives engagement.You’ve analyzed the competition and determined the key factors for rankings. Now it’s time to write and optimize your content using Surfer SEO’s main feature: the Content Editor!
Note: Surfer released a new feature called Surfer AI that uses artificial intelligence to write entire articles in minutes rather than manually.
1) Start by entering your target keyword into the Content Editor (feel free to add secondary keywords. It will only use one credit!)2) Once in the Content Editor, you will be given a blank document and guidelines, including keywords to include in your content to increase your score and give you the best chances of ranking.3) It will also show you the number of words, headings, paragraphs, and images to include.4) Go to the “Outline” tab to see the titles, headings, and questions you should include in your content.5) Select the gear icon to select your competitors from the top results and adjust other settings.Surfer SEO’s Content Editor is an invaluable tool for optimizing your content and improving its performance in search rankings.
It offers insights on word count, headings, paragraphs, and images, helping you create content that search engines love. It also suggests semantically related keywords to optimize your content further and increase its relevance.
With Surfer SEO’s Content Editor, you can confidently create high-quality, SEO-friendly content that drives organic traffic to your website. Whether you’re writing blogs, crafting a content strategy, or revamping old content, the Content Editor is an essential tool in your arsenal.Surfer SEO also has a handy Keyword Research tool to establish topical authority that should not be overlooked!
Like SEMrush, this Keyword Research tool helps establish topical authority by suggesting semantically related keywords. This feature ensures that your content is comprehensive and covers all relevant aspects of a particular topic, increasing its relevance in search results.
1) On the Dashboard, go to “Keyword Research.”2) Consider a main keyword you’d like to become an expert on. Maybe you want to be known as the SEO expert and become the go-to resource for everything to know about optimizing content to get it to rank. Type in the seed keyword (in this case, “SEO”), select the location, and hit “Create.”3) After about a minute, Surfer will give you topic clusters it recommends you write about to establish topical authority to blanket a niche and become an expert. In this example, I should probably write articles on “what is SEO” and “SEO tips” to establish more authority within the SEO space.4) By selecting one of the keywords, you can open a detailed view to see the monthly search volume, total traffic, and keyword difficulty. Feel free to check or uncheck the other keywords you’d like to include and start writing directly in the content editor.By utilizing Surfer SEO’s Keyword Research tool, you can optimize your content for the right keywords and improve your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages.Next up, we have Surfer’s Audit feature! Surfer SEO’s audit feature comprehensively analyzes your website’s on-page SEO factors. It helps identify areas for improvement and optimization, allowing you to increase organic traffic.
1) From the Dashboard, go to the Audit tab.2) Enter the page URL you’d like to audit and type the keyword(s) you are targeting for that article. Hit “Create Audit.”3) The Audit feature includes checks for keyword usage, meta tags, and content length, among other factors. Select “Show details on any of these factors ” to see how to optimize your content and increase your score to outrank the competition.By leveraging the power of Surfer SEO’s audit feature, you can identify and address any SEO issues that may hold your website back, ultimately improving its performance in search engine rankings.One of Surfer’s newest features is Surfer AI which takes your content creation to the next level!
Surfer AI allows you to generate high-quality content using artificial intelligence powered by Chat GPT 4. With Surfer AI, you can save time and effort by generating well-written paragraphs or entire articles with just a few clicks.
To use Surfer AI, follow these simple steps:
1) Navigate to the Content Editor tab in the dashboard.2) Select “Write with AI,” type your keyword, select your target location, and hit “Create.”3) Before generating your article, you can customize it by selecting the desired tone of voice, adjusting to competitors, and reviewing the outline.4) After about fifteen minutes, the article will be created. Review your article, examine the tone and images carefully, and enhance the final version by adding links.
With Surfer AI, you can take the guesswork out of SEO and ensure that your content is well-optimized for organic traffic. Whether you’re writing blog posts, creating landing pages, or optimizing your website, Surfer AI’s insights and recommendations can help you achieve better results with just a few clicks of a button.Surfer SEO’s Grow Flow feature provides weekly actionable SEO suggestions for your overall website, such as inserting missing keywords, internal linking, and more, to improve search engine rankings.
Depending on your plan, you can add a website (or multiple) directly on the Surfer dashboard. Once added, you will immediately start seeing new weekly SEO tasks you can complete for small SEO wins that pack a punch over time. Simply click “See tasks” and complete the suggestions!With the power of Surfer SEO’s Grow Flow, you can optimize your content, keywords, and on-page factors to maximize your website’s visibility in search results.
Previously, SurferSEO offered a 7-day trial of their on-page SEO tool, but this offer is no longer available. They now provide a 7-day money-back guarantee where you will get a full refund if unsatisfied. They also used to offer more affordable plans, but Surfer has increased their pricing since integrating Surfer AI, among other features.
Surfer SEO offers four plans that can either be paid monthly or annually.
Best for professionals doing medium-sized projects.
Price: $89/month or $69/month billed annually.
Best for experts and mid-sized teams.
Price: $179/month or $149/month billed annually.
Best for agencies and large teams.
Price: $299/month or $249/month billed annually.
Best for large businesses with high content needs.
On the Enterprise plan, everything has a custom price with unlimited organization seats. You will get everything on the previous plan, plus:
Several other SEO tools offer similar features and functionality if you’re looking for alternatives to Surfer SEO.Key Features:
Scalenut is an AI-powered SEO tool with advanced keyword research and content optimization features. It helps you analyze competitors’ top-performing pages and optimize your content.
With a user-friendly interface, beginners can easily navigate and utilize its powerful features. Compared to Surfer SEO, Scalenut generates articles in five minutes instead of fifteen, and it is more budget-friendly without compromising functionality. Plus, it will automatically place key terms in the content for you rather than having to do it manually as you would with Surfer SEO.
Consider using Scalenut to enhance your SEO strategy and drive organic traffic to your website!Key Features:
MarketMuse, founded by Aki Balogh and Jeff Coyle in 2013, is a content marketing and keyword planner tool that utilizes artificial intelligence and machine learning. Its main purpose is to analyze content, provide topic suggestions, and generate briefs that help content creators, marketers, brands, and agencies produce high-quality content.
This software allows you to conduct research, create strategies, and produce optimized content to enhance your organic search.Key Features:
Content at Scale is a tool created specifically for SEO purposes, with the ability to produce content that closely resembles human writing. It allows users to rapidly generate blog posts optimized for search engines (containing over 2,600 words!) that can be almost immediately published.
You can create content by giving it various sources, including keywords, YouTube videos, podcasts, existing blogs, PDFs, documents, or audio files. The also tool utilizes real-time research techniques using natural language processing (NLP), semantic analysis, and the most effective SEO strategies to compose complete articles in your distinctive tone of voice!
Surfer SEO is a comprehensive tool offering various features to help skyrocket your organic traffic. From its powerful Content Editor and Keyword Research tools to the extremely useful Surfer AI and Grow Flow functionalities, it provides the necessary insights and guidance to optimize your content and improve your search engine rankings.
For many successful businesses like Lenovo, Intuit, and Shopify, Surfer SEO has proven invaluable in their search engine optimization efforts (you can read testimonials from customers on the Surfer SEO homepage). Its comprehensive features and user-friendly interface it has helped them achieve remarkable results in increasing organic traffic.
What I love most about Surfer is its Content Editor. When writing content and trying to incorporate keywords, it can sometimes feel like a fun game to achieve a high optimization score in the green zone (70+). Surfer AI is the cherry on top if you don’t have the time or energy to create an SEO-optimized article manually.
Surfer SEO also offers many other incredibly useful features, like performing SEO Audits, which allow me to identify areas for improvement and optimize various on-page factors.
While it has its pros and cons, the pricing plans are flexible and cater to different needs. But if the pricing plans don’t fit your budget or needs, Scalenut, Content at Scale, and MarketMuse are worth considering as alternatives.
Overall, Surfer SEO has proven valuable for businesses and marketers looking to enhance their SEO strategies and drive more organic website traffic.
Click Here to Visit Surfer SEO.
Surfer SEO is known for its user-friendly interface and ease of use. They also provide helpful resources like video training, Surfer Academy, a community, a knowledge base, and more if you need help or guidance.
Yes, Surfer SEO works. Large brands like Lenovo, Intuit, and Shopify use it, and after implementing Surfer SEO’s recommendations, other users have reported significant improvements in organic rankings and traffic reflected in the testimonials on the Surfer SEO homepage.
Surfer SEO analyzes the top-ranking pages for a given keyword and provides recommendations to improve your content. It examines on-page factors like word count, headings, and keyword density. It also offers useful off-page SEO metrics such as backlinks and domain authority from the competition.
A good score in Surfer SEO is typically above 70 (in the green). Using a scale of 0 to 100, Surfer SEO measures the optimization of your content. Aim for a score higher than your competitors to improve your chances of ranking higher in search results. The target score may vary depending on the keyword and competition level.
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Janine Heinrichs is a Content Creator and Designer helping creatives streamline their workflow with the best design tools, resources, and inspiration. Find her at janinedesignsdaily.com.
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