We launched our first ++addmore venture. Kind of.

Forget Google’s page one. AI answers show up first. And buyers? They don’t care how many blog posts you’ve written about “digital transformation in 2025.”

You’ve tried Google Ads. You got clicks that looked great in a deck. Maybe you landed a Product Hunt feature. Nice.

But B2B buyers are no longer just typing “CRM for startups” into Google. They’re asking questions to AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Claude.

• “What’s the best CRM for startups with limited budgets?”
• “What’s the easiest way to migrate from Salesforce to HubSpot?”
• “Which HR software works best for companies under 500 employees?”

Why AI search matters in B2B

Sure, people still type “CRM for startups” into Google. But competition is tighter than ever, and you’re buried under sponsored results, directories, and 50 blog posts chasing the same keyword.

AI search cuts through that noise. LLMs aggregate, summarize, and deliver a shortlist in one confident-sounding paragraph. If your brand isn’t in that answer? You don’t exist.

And buyers are busy. They’re not downloading your gated ebook. They want a straight answer, right now.

In fact, Gartner reports B2B buyers spend only 17% of their research time meeting with vendors.

AI assistants are that shortcut. Instead of comparing 10 SaaS vendors, they ask: “What’s the top project management tool for distributed teams?” The LLM spits out a shortlist.

If you’re not on that shortlist, you’re invisible.

AI search vs. traditional SEO

Yes, keywords still matter. Yes, backlinks are still useful. But AI search doesn’t play by Google’s rules. It’s not ranking 10 blue links; it gives one neat, confident-sounding answer. And if your brand isn’t part of that answer? They won’t know you exist.

• Google SEO = 10 blue links, where keywords, backlinks, and domain authority still matter.
• AI Search (aka GEO - Generative Engine Optimization) = one confident-sounding answer, reader-friendly and structured content.

Google SEO gets you impressions.

AI SEO gets you mentioned.

So how the hell do you get AI to care about your product?

Good news: we’ve prepared a playbook for you. Bad news: it’s not your 2018 keyword strategy.

1. Make your content citable, not just clickable

AI doesn’t “click” your links. It references sources it trusts.

→ Think: ‘Would an LLM find this worth quoting?’ not ‘Will this drive traffic?’

Citable content looks like this:

• Original research: reports, benchmarks, case studies, playbooks, FAQs, and product docs - all with stats, tables, and key takeaways.
• Multimedia: videos, infographics, charts. Yes, AI can pick up on these.
• Comprehensive product info: use cases, integrations, pricing, case studies, industries, changelogs.
• Fresh content: your 2019 whitepaper is outdated. Refresh your stats and examples.
• Quotable format: short, structured insights beat walls of text.

2. Don’t just stuff keywords, answer real buyer questions

Buyers ask questions. Answer them directly, in their language:

• Instead of: “Optimizing CRM solutions for businesses”
• Do: “What’s the best CRM for a mid-sized company on a budget?”

And don’t stop at one phrasing. Cover the variations AI might see seamlessly within your copy.

3. Structure your content

You don’t have to write a novel anymore. Instead of a wall of text, use:

• Proper heading hierarchies (H1, H2, H3).
• Summaries and bullet takeaways, clean and concise answers.
• Tables, charts, and lists AI can lift easily.
• Schema markup (FAQ, How-to, Product, Article) and structured data so AI crawlers pick up on the context.

4. Prove AI that you’re the next big thing

AI doesn’t hang out on your blog all day. It pulls from different platforms, and chooses high-authority sources:

• Reddit threads, Quora answers, LinkedIn posts
• Industry publications, G2/Clutch/Capterra listings
• Product docs, changelogs, FAQs

5. Build brand authority

Thought leadership doesn’t just build authority for your product. It also proves AI that you’re a big deal.

Post studies, speak on webinars, publish guest articles, and join LinkedIn discussions. The more mentions across channels, the more signals AI has that you’re worth surfacing.

A quick GEO reality check

Keep posting. Keep trying.

Your 3,000-word “Ultimate Guide” might not get quoted in ChatGPT. But your one-page benchmark study with fresh data? That’s gold.

Your “We’re innovative leaders” About page? Boring. Your integration FAQ that answers buyer questions in plain language? Priceless.

Combine traditional SEO with GEO

Don’t ditch SEO, because it isn’t dead. Organic search is still a massive traffic driver, and accounts for 33% of web traffic in major industries (2024 Organic SEO Industry Benchmarks report by Conducto).

• Keywords, backlinks, internal linking, and technical structure (alt text, sitemaps, metadata) are what make your site crawlable in the first place.
• Schema markup, structured headings, and proper on-page formatting help AI understand your content.
• Strong organic SEO keeps you visible on Google and gives AI more reliable entry points to reference.

The shift isn’t SEO or GEO. It’s both. You need the foundation of traditional SEO to make your content accessible, but you need GEO to make it mentionable.

And remember: SEO today isn’t about keyword stuffing or cramming backlinks. Google cares about user experience: fast-loading pages, mobile optimization, clean navigation, and fresh content. Combine that foundation with GEO tactics, and you’ve got the best of both worlds.

The bottom line for B2B SaaS

Stop obsessing over where you rank on Google. Start obsessing over whether AI assistants name drop you. That’s the new visibility metric.Because in AI search, you don’t get clicks. You get mentioned. Or ignored.

If you’re ready to face the real truth, Rank is a GEO checker tool that shows you if your brand appears in AI search results.