AI has opened a new front: volatile quotes, shifting rules, overturning hierarchies. This is the end of uniform use of search.
In the absence of a credible challenger capable of competing with Google in the search engine market, SEO has always been done in the singular. With the arrival of AI search tools (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Claude, Mistral, Gemini, etc.) as an extension of search, the term “GEO” has naturally emerged as a common name to describe optimization practices to be visible to generative AI. However, faced with this plurality of artificial intelligences, have we not committed an abuse of language by speaking of GEO in the singular rather than GEOs? Are there differences between AIs requiring the implementation of multiple optimization strategies?
Do Gemini and ChatGPT rely on different sources?
When AI Search software appeared, the question quickly arose of knowing the sites most frequently cited by them. Two behemoths stood out in the eyes of all AI: Wikipedia and Reddit with a citation rate exceeding 40% according to the Semrush study of “The Most-Cited Domains in AI: A 3-Month Study”. An unexpected global success, particularly for the American discussion forum, benefiting greatly from AI algorithms favoring User Generated Content (UGC).
“How to establish your brand on these platforms?”, then became The Big Question for brands, until then little present. A real “Reddit-mania” has even set in to the point that the forum has launched its own advertising campaigns around the world. However, according to Semrush, the dream of expanding beyond Uncle Sam’s borders seems to be coming true for the Orange network. Indeed, since September 2025, although remaining the preferred sources of AI, the citation rate of Reddit and Wikipedia is only 15%. This sudden turnaround shows that the frantic updates of these AI models in a war declared between the American tech giant are making them unstable. In this context, any marketing strategy built solely through the prism of AI tools is not sustainable in the medium term. This is why brands must look more inward to define a clear course.
Brands dictate to AI where their presence is required
General public studies on GEO such as the AI Brand Tracker barometer published by Havas Market highlight a handful of source sites hiding a much more nuanced reality in order to be better referenced. These are built on a wide range of user requests mixing different industries. However, when we carry out more precise GEO visibility audits focused on a company or an industry, the reality is more mixed. For example, as part of a GEO audit carried out on behalf of a French energy supplier, comparison sites are omnipresent with nearly 40% mentions of generative AI. An unrivaled domination which can be explained by the fact that they are independent, reliable and present in real time all the offers available on the market. Next came:
– 12% various sites of public institutions and consumer aid,
– 11.5% traditional press media
– 6.7% of legal and administrative service platforms
– 5.5% consumer review platforms
– 4.7% the sites of the energy suppliers themselves
This analysis highlights a market reality at odds with the supposed hegemony of the Wikipedia-Reddit tandem. This is why the audit is particularly recommended in order to know the reality of your sector of activity. GEO strategies will be even more diverse with the arrival of Agentic Commerce, automated purchasing by AI.
Universal Commerce Protocol, the future of e-commerce
The Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is an extension of the Google Merchant Center, pushing the logic of outsourcing e-commerce catalogs further. Where the latter mainly allowed product pages to be displayed in the SERP, this new standard developed by the Mountain View giant profoundly redefines the terms of online sales.
With the emergence of agentic commerce, the act of purchasing is no longer limited to consultation: directly from their interface augmented with artificial intelligence, users can consult products, select variants, create a basket and finalize a purchase — independently of the AI used. If the merchant accepts the Mountain View giant’s payment application or if a bank card is registered in the Wallet, the transaction can even be automated. Buyers also retain all of their benefits, including loyalty programs, as if they were on the merchant’s site.
Still in the testing phase in the United States, this new form of commerce already relies on an ecosystem of solid partners, including major banking players such as American Express, Visa and Mastercard, as well as retail giants such as Best Buy, Home Depot, Zalando and Walmart.
For merchants wishing to participate in this evolution, three prerequisites are necessary: complete an interest form via Google Merchant Center, structure their produced sheets with the native_commerce attribute, and ensure that their payment provider supports Google Pay tokens.
The end of uniform use of search
The way we access information has always been shaped by major technological disruptions. If AI constitutes the most visible expression of this today, it is part of a more profound transformation, driven by the multiplication of tools – from Organic Search to Social Search, to AI Search – which has taken hold in the background over the last two decades. A structuring development, the impact of which remains underestimated.
On the AI Search side, ChatGPT and Gemini dominate the general public, while tools like Claude are used more in a professional context. Therefore, priorities differ: for a B2B company, producing technical documentation and contributing to specialized journals can take precedence over traditional media coverage.
Conversely, in sectors such as tourism, hotels and restaurants, uses are largely influenced by Social Search. More than 40% of Gen Z get their news via TikTok or Instagram. In these cases, developing a content strategy adapted to these platforms becomes a key lever, much more than optimizing for search AI interfaces.
Thus, depending on the nature of its activity and its audience, being visible on ChatGPT does not necessarily constitute the alpha and omega of a digital marketing strategy. For example, the meteoric growth of the Tasty Crousty restaurant chain, with more than sixteen openings in one year, was essentially based on daily humorous communication on social networks mastering the cultural codes of Gen Z in a gamified visual universe inspired by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
To date, the workings of these new AI interfaces remain largely opaque so that we can speak with certainty about GEO in the plural. The GEO strategy to adopt varies above all according to the sector of activity, the strength of the brand and the target audience, to the point of making this lever sometimes secondary in favor of other channels such as social networks.
