Ben Pinnington, the founder of Polaris Media, writes for Splash today on the rise of generative engine optimisation.
You are not the only one reading Splash for trusted industry insight. The AI tech giants and their large language models (LLMs) are placing increasing emphasis on established and respected trade media. This is because the world of search engines is changing, and with it, how your maritime business is discovered and perceived online.
It used to be said, in marketing circles, you are who Google says you are. No more. We are entering a new realm where you are who AI search says you are. And that’s a seismic change. It’s called generative engine optimisation (GEO), and maritime businesses are going to have to learn and excel at it. GEO is already making its presence felt as click-through rates online are down by as much as a third. Users are effectively accepting the answer the LLM gives them and spurning a web surf.
This means potential customers, partners and staff are now judging you and your reputation on the answer an LLM like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Grok or Google’s AI Overview gives. And the reality is if you do not feature in an AI-generated summary – your business does not exist in the online public conversation.
Ask one of these LLMs to shortlist the top three or five businesses in your segment of maritime, or ask it to give background on the strengths and weaknesses of your business and competitors. You are likely to find some interesting feedback. And some of it may be incorrect. This is due to LLMs ‘hallucinating’ meaning they can make things up when they cannot find a reference. To fill the vacuum, you will have to improve your content creation.
Critical to this new world is publicity – the maritime and mainstream press in particular. A report by Hard Numbers published in 2024 found that 61% of AI-generated content originates from editorial; this rises to 71% for brand value queries.
My advice:
• Audit your company’s LLM responses and see what needs to change to improve your responses.
• Understand what LLMs look for, ‘think like a machine’. Consider how LLMs draw on trusted journalism, ‘owned content’ meaning news, case studies and white papers on your website as well as user generated content like LinkedIn. Note AI systems prefer content written in the last year.
· ChatGPT says its company reputation responses will consider how the company presents itself referencing awards, class society certifications, LinkedIn, trade show appearances and press releases and says: “Industry perception is often shaped by visibility and thought leadership”.
· ChatGPT further references the importance of the trade media listing Splash, and a select group other maritime titles as “authoritative and respected sources in the field”.
