A fractional Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) can be transformative for businesses, especially those navigating growth, digital transformation, or shifts in their competitive landscape. But in the age of AI, fractional CMOs need to understand how to use AI tools as well as how to optimize for them. For digital content, that means having a strategy for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO).
Why GEO Matters Now More Than Ever
Traditional SEO has long focused on ranking highly on search engines. GEO, however, specifically targets visibility in AI-driven, generative search platforms like ChatGPT, Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), and similar AI tools. This shift is critical, given these eye-opening trends:
- Over 30% of Gen Z already prefer AI-generated answers to traditional search.
- ChatGPT alone has reached 300 million weekly active users as of late 2024, surpassing traffic on platforms like Bing.
- Gartner predicts traditional search volumes could drop by as much as 25% by 2026 due to rising generative search usage.
Businesses must proactively adapt their content strategy to maintain visibility and relevance.
The Strategic Role of a Fractional CMO in GEO
Optimizing for GEO is a strategic imperative affecting content creation, distribution, and overall marketing direction. To effectively leverage GEO, you need to bring:
1. Strategic Leadership
As a fractional CMO, your job is to lead and inspire your marketing team to embrace this paradigm shift. Effective GEO demands collaboration among copywriters, technical SEO specialists, PR teams, and web developers, all guided by a cohesive, long-term vision. You must direct strategy around creating content tailored explicitly for AI consumption.
2. Emphasis on Authoritative, Trustworthy Content
Generative AI platforms prioritize authoritative and trustworthy content. As a leader, your job is to ensure your content is robustly supported by credible data, expert insights, original research, and high-quality references. AI favors well-structured, highly authoritative, and clearly cited information that serves as trustworthy source material.
3. Content Optimization for AI Consumption
Generative AI platforms prefer easily digestible, clearly structured content. A fractional CMO who excels at GEO will emphasize readability, structured data usage (like schema markup), concise phrasing, and logical content flow. Additionally, clear headings, short paragraphs, well-defined lists, and frequent, concise summaries increase your chances of content inclusion in AI-generated answers. Emphasize structured data and readability optimization.
Leveraging Multi-platform Content Distribution
GEO isn’t limited to your website alone – generative AI pulls from the entire web ecosystem. Fractional CMOs should guide content distribution across multiple high-authority platforms, including forums, Q&A sites, LinkedIn, and industry-specific blogs, enhancing overall online visibility.
Maintaining Agility and Continuous Optimization
As GEO strategies continue to evolve, you must possess an agile mindset, continuously monitoring AI results and rapidly adapting your content to stay aligned with shifting AI behaviors. Small, targeted adjustments can significantly impact your brand’s visibility, reinforcing why agility and iterative testing are crucial skills. Emphasize rapid experimentation and real-time feedback loops.
Bottom Line
As a fractional CMO, companies need you to proactively embrace Generative Engine Optimization within your content strategy. By prioritizing authoritative content creation, structured optimization, platform amplification, and agility, you can position your client’s brand prominently within generative AI-driven searches, ensuring their business remains visible, relevant, and influential.