By Steve Melito
Senior Solutions Specialist, FuzeHub
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping marketing at a time when many manufacturers are struggling to develop or maintain a strong online presence. Searchers are no longer scanning a list of links and deciding which websites to visit. Thanks to AI, they’re getting the answers they need at the top of their search results, or by using platforms such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, or Claude.
Meanwhile, most manufacturers can’t produce enough content to satisfy user intent. Many companies just don’t have the time to create blogs, pages, data sheets, FAQs, case studies, infographics, social media posts, and other digital assets. It’s especially challenging for small-to-medium manufacturers, some of whom don’t even have a marketer on-staff.
Fortunately, the same AI tools that seem to threaten your online presence can take it to a higher level.
Understanding the AI Threat
Search engine optimization (SEO) has long been the backbone of a strong online presence. By optimizing your website so that it’s found and ranked highly by search engines, you can attract more visitors. Not all these visitors will become customers, of course, but some will – and people can’t buy from you if they don’t know you exist.
SEO isn’t dead, but you can no longer limit your focus to keywords, backlinks, and metadata. All these ingredients still matter, but your recipe for success now includes something called generative engine optimization (GEO). Simply put, it’s the practice of optimizing your content so that it’s recognized, cited, and recommended by AI-powered answer engines.
Some of these answer engines are available by visiting a website, or by launching Copilot from your Windows taskbar. But you can also get AI-generated answers from within your web browser. For example, Gemini is built directly into Google Chrome – the same place where many searchers automatically head. (Copilot is integrated into Microsoft’s Bing search engine).
Instead of looking at links, searchers get generated answers. But where do these answers come from? Hopefully, some come from you. But that won’t be the case if your website is so basic that the AI scrapers that crawl pages for content pass you by. Manufacturers who fail to adapt risk becoming invisible, and some estimates claim that 50% of organic search may shift to AI by 2028.
Understanding the AI Opportunity
In the age of GEO, manufacturer websites need the following:
- Clear, conversational answers to technical questions
- Strong FAQ content
- Authoritative, original technical resources
- Structured data and schema markup
- Content that AI systems can easily interpret and cite.
Generative AI gives a heavy favorability score for inclusion to content that is “fresh”. It does so even more than traditional search engine rankings. Therefore, it is important that you continue to create new content or evolve old content. According to the Content Marketing Institute, approximately a 20% change in content makes it appear as refreshed or “current”.
Clear, conversational answers to technical questions are essential because generative engines prioritize content that addresses user intent. Dense, jargon‑heavy paragraphs get ignored. Crisp explanations get surfaced. If you’re struggling to create this type of content, you can use an AI tool to generate it. You’ll need to create an AI prompt, so check out these tips from a reputable resource.
Strong FAQ content is also valuable. FAQs mirror the question‑and‑answer format that AI models rely on, making them more likely to be pulled into AI‑generated summaries. What are the FAQs you need to include? Again, you can use AI to generate them. Just make sure to check the output for errors, because generative AI can and does make mistakes.
Authoritative, original technical resources signal your expertise. Think of application notes, test data, and engineering guides. Did you know you can AI to transform bullet points or initial thoughts into a draft or finished article? Just make sure to leave out any confidential information. If you company doesn’t have an AI policy (many don’t), then make sure you know how to stay safe online.
Structured data and schema markup add another layer of clarity by telling AI exactly what each page represents: a product, a specification, a how‑to, or a comparison. Something this technical might seem like a heavy lift, but you can use AI to generate the code. Just make sure to use Google’s Rich Results Test to verify it. Otherwise, what you get might be incomplete or incorrect.
Ready to Get Started?
Ultimately, the content on your website must be organized so AI systems can interpret and cite it confidently. In the age of GEO, visibility belongs to manufacturers who make their expertise easy for both buyers and machines to understand. If you’re ready to get started on your GEO journey, contact FuzeHub for a free 30-minute marketing assessment.