AI Visibility
Biz & Tech Connections: the new landscape for brands and consumers.
Quote 2/3 righe.
Davide Cremonesi
Design Director of EngX
Generative Artificial Intelligence is reshaping the way people search for information, compare alternatives, and choose products, services, and brands. In this new landscape, visibility for companies no longer means simply securing a strong presence and ranking in traditional search engine results. It also means being recognized and cited by AI systems, which are increasingly supporting users in their decision-making processes.
This is why AI Visibility and Generative Engine Optimization are becoming increasingly relevant: strategies that help brands and organizations make their content, products, and expertise more accessible, understandable, and relevant to their target audiences, both on search engines and across generative AI platforms.
We discuss this with Davide Cremonesi, Design Director at EngX, and Alberto Torresan, Senior Client Manager Fashion, Retail & GDO at Engineering, exploring how these approaches are evolving, what new needs are emerging for brands, and what opportunities are opening up within the new AI-powered search ecosystem.
#1
TODAY, COMPANIES NEED TO BE VISIBLE ACROSS FRAGMENTED SEARCH JOURNEYS, SPANNING TRADITIONAL SEARCH ENGINES AND GENERATIVE AI PLATFORMS. WHAT NEW NEEDS ARE EMERGING FOR BRANDS, AND HOW CAN SEO AND GEO WORK TOGETHER TO ADDRESS THESE CHALLENGES?
BIZ
Davide Cremonesi
With traditional SEO, the challenge was to climb the SERP rankings by targeting the right keywords to generate clicks and drive traffic to a website. With GEO, the paradigm shifts because the answers themselves become crucial.
Consumers are no longer simply looking for a list of websites to visit; they are asking LLMs for answers and comparative analyses. As a result, the brand needs to become an authoritative source that AI selects when constructing its response.
For companies, this shift translates into three profound changes. The first is moving from keywords to context: mapping and managing complex information ecosystems, rethinking the brand’s digital presence to answer more sophisticated questions, and addressing user needs throughout the discovery and evaluation journey.
The second is the shift from visibility to authority. In traditional SEO, there was room for multiple players among the top search results. With GEO, Artificial Intelligence selects, synthesizes, and presents the sources it recognizes as authoritative and reliable. Building brand authority and digital reputation therefore becomes crucial.
The third is moving from traffic metrics to the integration of content and experience. GEO requires a profound rethink of how companies create and communicate value. This calls for particular attention to content strategy, ensuring that content is inherently understandable and citable by Large Language Models.
TECH
Alberto Torresan
From a brand perspective, the challenge today is to maintain relevance and recognition. Consumers discover products and services through increasingly diverse journeys, ranging from search engines and marketplaces to social media and AI platforms. More and more users are, in fact, using generative AI tools to gather information, compare products, find inspiration, or receive purchasing recommendations.
In Fashion & Retail, for example, this means that when a customer asks an AI assistant which brand is best suited to a particular need, which brands are more sustainable, or where to find a specific product, the brand needs to be properly represented in the information AI uses to generate its answers.
First of all, this means being able to manage and enhance the brand’s information assets consistently. It also requires the ability to create, update, and distribute content quickly, without compromising quality or consistency. In highly competitive markets, brands must also differentiate themselves by clearly communicating what makes their offering unique.
Today, all of this converges into an integrated SEO and GEO strategy designed to strengthen brand positioning regardless of how consumers access information.
#2
BUT HOW DO YOU ACTUALLY BUILD AI VISIBILITY?
BIZ
Davide Cremonesi
Building an effective AI Visibility strategy means moving away from thinking about positioning as an isolated tactic and starting to treat it as a genuine business initiative.
Large Language Models need to have a clear representation of the brand, the market in which it operates, what it does, and what differentiates it from competitors.
More specifically, an effective AI Visibility strategy rests on two fundamental pillars.
The first is content architecture and semantics. AI does not read websites in the same way people do; it interprets relationships, structured data, and cross-channel mentions. Companies therefore need to reorganize their information assets so that they are understandable to generative models, while also strengthening the brand’s presence across third-party sources, industry publications, platforms, and specialized databases that contribute to its authority.
The second concerns experience and the redesign of the customer journey. Today, the user experience begins much earlier - within the AI-generated answer or conversation, before the user even reaches the website and, potentially, without ever visiting it.
TECH
Alberto Torresan
The starting point is understanding how the brand is currently perceived by the leading generative engines: what information they provide, which products or services they mention, which competitors emerge, and whether their answers contain errors, gaps, or inconsistencies.
This means creating a genuine visibility benchmark based on the questions that customers and prospects might ask an AI assistant. In Fashion & Retail, it is not simply a matter of asking, “What are the leading brands in a given category?” It also means simulating real-world needs: which product to choose based on personal style, budget, or occasion; which brands offer specific features; where to purchase a particular item; what alternatives are available; or which brands are best suited to specific consumer profiles.
The next step is to work on the company’s information ecosystem: content, product pages, knowledge bases, structured data, storytelling, store information, sustainability, services, and customer experience. All these elements contribute to the body of knowledge AI can draw on to formulate its answers. The goal is to ensure that this information is complete, up to date, and consistent across different touchpoints, from owned websites and marketplaces to social media, platforms, and industry portals.
Finally, results need to be measured continuously: brand presence in AI-generated responses, frequency of recommendations, positioning relative to competitors, accuracy of information, products mentioned, sources used, and traffic or conversions attributable to AI-generated journeys. AI Visibility is therefore not a one-off activity, but an ongoing process of listening, optimization, and monitoring.
#3
WHY CAN INVESTING IN AI VISIBILITY TODAY MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE BUSINESS?
BIZ
Davide Cremonesi
The point is not simply to be cited by AI, but to become a recognized and authoritative source within these new information ecosystems.
In the coming years, a growing share of discovery and evaluation journeys will take place through generative AI platforms and intelligent agents.
AI Visibility therefore represents not only a new discipline within digital marketing, but also a strategic investment in a brand’s ability to maintain relevance, authority, and influence in a rapidly evolving environment.
Standing out no longer means speaking “louder”; it means understanding users’ intent and providing AI with the strongest, clearest, and most authoritative answer to deliver to those asking the question.
TECH
Alberto Torresan
GEO becomes a genuine competitive advantage when it is connected to business objectives. Greater visibility within AI systems can translate into increased brand consideration, a stronger ability to influence consumer choices and, consequently, a tangible impact on qualified traffic, conversions, and sales.
In Fashion & Retail, we are already seeing many companies asking themselves how to establish a presence in this new “playing field.” Those that begin investing in AI Visibility today have an opportunity to strengthen their positioning and build a competitive advantage while the market is still at an early stage.
However, value cannot be measured simply by counting how often a brand name is mentioned. It is important to understand the context in which the brand appears, which products it is associated with, which attributes are recognized, and how often it is actually recommended compared with competitors. A brand may be very well known but still not be considered the most suitable choice for a particular need.
Investing now therefore means building capabilities, data, and operational capacity before these spaces become crowded and key competitors consolidate their presence. The advantage will not necessarily belong to those who produce the most content, but to those who can make their proposition clearer, more consistent, and more useful, connecting it to real needs and measurable outcomes.
#4
HOW WILL THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BRANDS AND AI EVOLVE, INCLUDING ACROSS DIGITAL CHANNELS?
BIZ
Davide Cremonesi
We will see a major acceleration in technology, with tools and interfaces evolving rapidly, particularly as a result of AI. What will not change, however, is the need for companies to build a deep understanding of their markets and customers.
For this reason, the challenge is not to prepare for one specific tool or chase every new innovation. It is to develop a solid information, content, and relationship ecosystem capable of adapting to any future technological evolution.
TECH
Alberto Torresan
I believe we will see an even more direct relationship between brands and consumers, with companies becoming less focused on simply promoting products and increasingly oriented toward building meaningful relationships with people.
What does this mean in practice? The companies that stand out will be those capable of delivering distinctive experiences, building trust, and consistently fulfilling their brand promise over time.
People will continue to choose one brand over another not only because of what it sells, but also because of the quality of the experience it provides, the credibility it conveys, and its ability to understand their real needs. AI is accelerating this evolution, but people, and the relationships brands are able to build with them, will remain at the center.
Quote 2/3 righe
Alberto Torresan
Senior Client Manager Fashion, Retail & GDO di Engineering
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