I never thought I’d see the day when “Googling” something and sifting through links would pass away. But, like many marketers over the past year, I’ve seen a massive shift in how people search for brands, products, and answers online.
More and more consumers are getting their answers directly from AI platforms like ChatGPT, and marketers are leveraging generative engine optimization (GEO) tactics to boost brand awareness and get referrals from AI answer engines.
Not sure if GEO is worth all the hype? Not to worry, I’ve collected some generative engine optimization statistics to show you just how important GEO is in modern digital marketing.
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Why is generative engine optimization so important now?
Generative engine optimization is now very important for digital marketing as the way consumers search for products and services has changed significantly over the past few years. When I first entered the digital marketing industry, consumers typically searched for answers by entering queries into search engines like Google.
They would then browse the top links provided by Google until they found the answers they were looking for.
Now, users are asking questions of AI systems like ChatGPT, Google AI, and Perplexity, and these systems are providing direct answers instead of links for users to search. As a result, many businesses are seeing a decline in website traffic.
Now, to keep up with how people are discovering brands and businesses, marketers must shift from optimizing for SERPs (SEO) to optimizing for AI-powered response engines. In other words, General Engine Optimization (GEO).
GEO enables content to be easily accessible to large language models (LLMs), so it can be summarized and referenced in AI-generated responses.
Generative Engine Optimization Statistics Marketing Leaders Should Know
Here are some facts I’ve gathered about the use and importance of generative engine optimization, including the most cited content formats, from user adoption to SERP conversions.
User adoption
1. 31% of Gen Z consumers turn to traditional search engines as well as AI tools.
2. 67% of digital marketers say GEO tracking is too complicated.
Pro tip: To simplify this complexity, tools like HubSpot’s AEO Grader can help you quickly assess how well your content is optimized for AI response engines, providing actionable recommendations without a steep learning curve.
3. Early adopters say that GEO-ready content gets discovered 10x faster through generative engines than relying solely on organic SEO.
4. Gen AI searchers are expected to overtake traditional search by 2028.
5. Perplexity processes 780 million search queries a month, up from 230 million in August 2024.
6. According to Averi and DataSlayer reports, ChatGPT reaches 800 million weekly active users by October 2025, doubling from 400 million in February. According to HubSpot’s State of AI Marketing report, marketers are responding to this growth by increasingly adopting AI-powered tools to stay competitive in this evolving landscape.
SERP changes
7. About 60% of global Google searches result in no clicks.
8. September 2025 “num=100” update caused 77% of sites to see a drop in total impressions in tracking tools.
9. AI Review now lists an average of 5 sources.
10. In January 2025, 91.3% of queries that triggered AI reviews were informational. By October, this share had declined to 57.1%, and was the share of commercial and transactional AIOs.
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11. Reddit saw a 450% increase in AI citations from March to June 2025, with the platform now accounting for 21% of Google AI review citations.
12. The top 5 domains command 38% of referrals, the top 10 reserves 54%, and the top 20 command 66%, making it extremely difficult for smaller publishers, niche sites, and emerging voices to gain AI visibility.
Behavioral change
13. The rate of AI-related traffic has increased by 600% since January 2025, reflecting the explosive growth in users clicking through to websites from AI platforms.
14. 39% of consumers, and more than half of Gen Z, are already using AI for product discovery, with the younger demographic leading adoption. HubSpot’s State of AI Marketing report confirms this behavioral shift, showing that forward-thinking marketers are already restructuring their content strategies to meet consumers where they’re looking.
16. 83% of users find AI-powered search tools more useful than traditional engines, indicating strong user satisfaction for continued adoption.
17. ChatGPT prompt volume grew nearly 70% from January to June 2025, fueling rapid adoption of AI search.
18. Studies show that when AI summaries were present, users clicked on traditional search links in only 8% of visits—compared to 15% when no AI summaries appeared, representing a 54% reduction in click-through rates.
19. 80% of users rely on AI-written summaries for at least 40% of their searches, fundamentally changing how people consume information online.
Most Cited Content Formats
20. Video is the single most cited content form in every vertical, with YouTube alone accounting for nearly a quarter of all citations, making it the leading content type for AI citations.
21. FAQs are the format most referenced by generative AI engines because they directly answer specific questions, similar to how users query AI systems.
22. LLMs are 28-40% more likely to cite material with clear formatting—categorical headings, bullet points, numbered lists, and tables, demonstrating the importance of structured presentation. Creating this structured, citation-worthy content at scale is easy with platforms like HubSpot’s Content Hub, which helps teams create, organize, and optimize content with built-in AI support while maintaining the quality standards that AI engines prefer.
23. Lists get a 25% citation rate compared to 11% for narrative blog posts and opinion pieces, indicating that structured formats significantly outperform traditional content.
24. Comparison lists, how-to guides, and FAQs are the most referenced formats across platforms, with response-first formatting being particularly effective.
Frequently Asked Questions About Generative Engine Optimization Statistics
How fast can we see an impact from GEO?
Unlike traditional SEO, which can take 6-12 months, AI visibility improvements can show up within weeks—especially on platforms like Perplexity that perform real-time web searches. Structural optimization, such as schema and formatting, can impact citations within 30-60 days, while actual research and building authority signals typically takes 3-6 months.
The fastest gains come from adding specific statistics and structured responses to existing high-performing content, with strategy changes improving visibility within 30 to 45 days.
What tools do we need to effectively implement GEO?
Start by evaluating your existing content with HubSpot’s AEO Grader to identify quick wins.
For ongoing optimization and content creation, HubSpot’s Content Hub provides AI-powered writing support with built-in structure optimization, while Marketing Hub provides analytics infrastructure to track AI referral traffic and measure GEO performance alongside your traditional marketing metrics.
How can we avoid quality issues when measuring content with AI?
Most of the content cited in AI Review is at least partially AI-generated—proving that AI-powered content doesn’t hurt rankings while maintaining quality.
The key is to combine AI performance with human expertise: use AI to create structural frameworks, data-driven outlines, and first drafts, but always allow subject matter experts to add proprietary insights, verify accuracy, and ensure it’s genuinely citation-worthy, rather than technically correct.
Focus on extraction more than word count — content should directly answer questions in 40-60 word blocks with clear attribution to sources.
When should you prioritize GEO over traditional SEO plans?
Prioritize GEO when your target audience shows high AI search adoption rates (especially B2B buyers, Gen Z, or tech audiences), when you’re in industries dominated by informational queries, and 60% of searches end without clicks, or when your competitors are already getting AI referrals.
Since 99% of AI reviews refer to organic top 10 pages, you should focus on GEO after establishing a strong traditional SEO foundation—think of it as an “SEO plus” rather than a substitute. The highest ROI comes from optimizing content that already ranks well but isn’t yet getting AI referrals.
How do we report GEO results to executives?
Track five primary metrics: citation frequency (how often your brand appears in AI answers to target questions), brand visibility score (your citation rate compared to competitors), AI share of voice (percentage of your total category mentions), citation sentiment (positive/neutral/negative), and conversion rate from AI traffic.
Clearly state the business case: AI searchers convert at 4.4x the rate of traditional organic searches, making each AI referral significantly more valuable than traditional traffic metrics.
Include competitive benchmarking that shows how often competitors appear compared to your brand, and demonstrate progress with month-to-month citation growth on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Review.
