Generative engine optimization​: Insights and best practices

EOQ 2025 update! The numbers are in, and here’s the summary:

• AI traffic growth: Decreased from an average MoM growth of 45% (Q4) to 41.62% (Q1), but still firm.
• Organic traffic growth: Slightly increased from an average MoM growth of 1.03%
• AI traffic: Increased slightly from 0.3% of total traffic (Q4) to 0.4% (Q1).
• Organic traffic: Increased slightly from 38.11% of total traffic (Q4) to 38.25% (Q1).
• Organic sessions: Increased slightly from 38.11% (Q4) to 38.25% (Q1).
• (AI vs. Organic conversion): Increased from 0.35% (Q4) to 0.77% (Q1) in favor of organic.
• Average organic session: Increased from 5:28 (Q4) to 5:38 (Q1)
• AI bounce rate: Decreased slightly from 43.43% (Q4) to 43.31% (Q1)

The search landscape in 2025 is changing without a doubt.

How worried should you actually be about your hard-earned organic rankings?

Should you be investing in content creation? Accessibility compliance? Core web vital improvements?

Is there a way to stay on top of AI overviews? How about being recommended by answer engines like Gemini, Claude, CoPilot and Perplexity?

How fast are AI engines being adopted for search by your audience, and what’s the difference between AI engine-referred users and organic users?

To answer these and many more questions, we’ve analyzed the state of AI search of 20 SaaS companies we work with. This will give you some pretty cool insights as to how to approach SEO, or should I say GEO (generative engine optimization).

🧠 This study will be updated once at the end of every quarter to ensure the accuracy of the data and advice.

In summary (in case you are crunched for time)

• This document analyzes the impact of AI search on 20 SaaS companies in 2024.
• Key findings show that AI traffic is growing 45% MoM, but the number of sessions is significantly smaller than that of organic searches.
• Organic search drives 38.11% of traffic, while AI only drives 0.3%.
• AI conversions are lower than organic, with a 0.54% difference in conversion rate.
• AI sessions last 17.11% longer than organic ones.
• Organic traffic has a 5.71% lower bounce rate.
• ChatGPT leads in AI referral traffic and conversions with Gemini in a close second.
• The document also details best practices for content optimization in an AI-first world, emphasizing quality content and ethical AI use.

The basic logic of our approach

• We’ve selected x20 SaaS companies from various industries, such as cybersecurity, document management, whiteboard software, identity verification, and learning management systems.
• The time period we’ve analyzed is all of 2024 and will continue to add to this study 2025 numbers quarterly as they roll in.
• Why we did this: to ensure we can adjust SEO tactic direction in an AI-first world.
• Additional notes:
  • This study focuses mainly on the impact of AI search/answer engines. However, we also did research on Google AI overviews (for some of our data), so do not confuse the two concepts.
  • We’ve selected a company portfolio with the lowest amount of analytics variation and data changes to ensure data integrity (e.g. companies that do not change their event tracking, have not gone through massive data migrations, have not done major rebrands, did not engage in SEO bad practices and so on).

The impact of generative search: Questions and answers

SEO vs GEO Trends (with examples)

Below are some Q4 – 2024 and Q1 – 2025 traffic and conversion trends for a few B2B websites. Although we are seeing a considerable amount of growth in AI traffic, it is clear that organic still outclasses AI in terms of sheer volume.

A whiteboard collaboration software

Chart of AI vs Organic traffic trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

 

For Q1- 2025

A whiteboard collaboration software

Chart of AI vs Organic traffic trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

Hotel management software 

Chart of AI vs Organic traffic trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

For Q1 – 2025

Hotel management software

Chart of AI vs Organic traffic trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

An identity management platform

Chart of AI vs Organic session trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

For Q1 – 2025

An identity management platform

Chart of AI vs Organic session trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

Business process modeling

Chart of AI vs Organic session trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

For Q1 – 2025

Chart of AI vs Organic session trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

Forming trends

Will AI answer engines overtake organic traffic and conversion numbers in 2025? 

For SaaS, it is highly unlikely that AI referral traffic and AI overview-influenced traffic will overtake organic traffic by the end of 2025.

The data – Q4 2024

• Although AI conversion is growing MoM at an average of 26%, the absolute number of conversions is significantly lower than organic.
• Although AI traffic is growing MoM at an average of 45%, the absolute number of sessions is significantly lower than Google search.
• Although organic conversion is growing MoM at an average of 4%, the absolute number of conversions is significantly higher than that of AI.
• Although organic traffic is growing MoM at an average of 1%, the absolute number of sessions is significantly higher than AI traffic.

Hypothesis
Organic may be growing at a more relaxed pace (1% traffic, 4% conversions MoM), but it’s the absolute number of organic sessions and conversions that seals the deal. Google search continues to dominate in sessions, and organic channels are the undisputed conversion champions. Our bet? AI will be a valuable supporting player, augmenting the customer journey, but organic will remain the MVP for 2025.

Q1 – 2025

For SaaS, as of Q1-2025 results, it is highly unlikely that AI referral traffic and AI overview-influenced traffic will overtake organic traffic by the end of 2025, as we predicted last quarter. Although AI traffic growth is high, the absolute number is still far from organic traffic. Let’s review the updated data:

The data:

• Although AI conversion is growing MoM at an average of 32% (7% higher than last quarter), the absolute number of conversions is significantly lower than organic.
• Although AI traffic is growing MoM at an average of 41.62% (3.38% less than our previous quarter), the absolute number of sessions is significantly lower than Google search.
• Although organic conversion is growing MoM at an average of 10%, the absolute number of conversions is significantly higher than that of AI.
• Although organic traffic is growing MoM at an average of 2.59%, the absolute number of sessions is significantly higher than AI traffic.

Are AI overviews and AI answer engines a separate category from organic search?

No. Although they are considered referral sources, we should still consider them organic channels since users still start with the intent to solve a problem.

How does ranking in AIOs impact CTR?

• Ranking on position #1: The CTR is 8%
  • When an AI overview appears for a search phrase in which our website ranks in the top 3, the CTR goes down about 55% for that top 3 ranking page.
  • On the contrary, if your website does not rank in the top 10, you have very limited CTR and the AIO appearing as a source will get you additional traffic. The majority of the companies will benefit from AIOs:
    • Example: out of a keyword base of 1,000 keywords, a company may be positioning for 150 keywords in the top 10. However, with AI overviews, they will now start getting more traffic for the remainder of 850 keywords, which they were not able to position organically.
  • For keywords that do position for AI overviews (in which we have low rankings), it introduced new traffic, not augmented existing traffic.
• To trigger AI overviews: You need to use long-tail keywords with a minimum of 4 words (long-tail keywords).

Is SEO transitioning to GEO?

Yes, although most SEO principles will apply to Generative Engine Optimization, we will likely transition to calling it GEO or the like very soon.

Which AI tool is used most frequently to query for SaaS answers?

ChatGPT brings the most sessions and has the highest conversion rate by a significant margin.

Best practices for implementation to trigger AIOs and GEO results

Blog posts

• Precise and professional tone that is a human authority: Write with expertise while maintaining a conversational style. Include first-person perspectives and practical insights from direct experience, using phrases like “In my experience” or “Based on our implementation” to establish authentic credibility.

• Citations: Include references from reputable sources like academic papers, industry reports, and research studies to strengthen content credibility. Use recent citations when possible to show current knowledge of the subject matter.

• Quotes: Integrate relevant quotes from industry experts and thought leaders to add authority. Ensure quotes are properly attributed and support key points rather than standing alone without context. 

• Key takeaways + definition e.g. https://nordlayer.com/learn/network-security/network-security-management/ Start with a clear, accessible definition followed by practical takeaways that summarize main points. This structure helps AI tools identify and extract essential information effectively.

• Data points: Use recent statistics and metrics to provide concrete evidence, ensuring all data is properly sourced and presented with meaningful context rather than as isolated numbers.

• Contextual internal links: Place relevant internal links naturally within content to create depth and demonstrate comprehensive topic coverage. Links should connect to related articles that expand on mentioned concepts.

Listicles 

• Write about the top software solutions in your space
  • E.g., Top 30+ Master Data Management Tools [Updated 2024]  https://profisee.com/30-best-master-data-management-tools/

Links

• Buy backlinks in listicles that are popular 
  • E.g. https://expertinsights.com/insights/the-top-application-security-posture-management-aspm-tools/
  • The average spend per backlink across multiple SaaS industries is $495 per link

Trends graph observations (TBD)

• Observation: there is an exponential increase in AI driven conversions and traffic, however, it is a very small subset (0.31%) of the total organic traffic and conversion numbers.

• Future: in Q2 of 2025 it will be more clear (since we will have more solid baseline) as to how much of search traffic will be augmented by AI traffic.

What is the source-medium if a URL is clicked on through a result that is ranking in an ai overview?

• Google has not disclosed this, most likely it will be a custom source-medium that will be labeled as “AI Overview”.

Are AI overviews a novelty/fad? 

AIOs are here to stay, just like SERP features, their trigger criteria and layout will likely evolve over time and will purely be driven by relevancy of search intent vs content served. But, we theroize that just like like people have learned to ignore featured snippets and paid ads to seek relevant content, the aforementioned CTR rate that is 7% to 9% may slightly decrease as people adopt searching via answer engines, or, scroll to organic results.

What you should avoid 

Scaled content abuse: Don’t flood your website with AI-generated content just to rank in search results. Google will catch and penalize sites that mass-produce low-quality pages that aren’t designed to help real users. Practices that will get you penalized:

• Using AI tools to generate many similar pages without adding real value
• Scraping content from other sites and rewriting it automatically
• Combining pieces from different pages without adding original insights
• Creating multiple websites to hide mass content production
• Publishing pages stuffed with keywords that don’t make sense to readers

If your content isn’t genuinely created to help users, keep it out of Google’s index. Focus on quality over quantity – your visitors (and Google) will thank you for it.

🔗 Read more here: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies

How to Track Your AI Search Rankings

Thus far, our favorite tool remains Semrush, which will show you which keywords trigger AIOs. There are two use cases for this:

1. When you are researching: using the “Organic Research” tool you’ll be able to see keywords on any given website that have AIOs.
2. When you are position-tracking a project: in your position-tracking project, your approve keyword base will show you which keywords are eligible for AIOs.

Appendix

Research notes

• Note that the percentages (%) used in this write-up are meant for comparison purposes only to derive insights. To ensure we can do a trends analysis for the whole SaaS industry, we would need live access to 100 ports +. However, for this write-up, the 20 SaaS companies suffice as a starting point.
• Note that Productive Shop has multiple initiatives running Q4 through Q1 to keep updating on AI trends. These numbers and this report will be updated with more information and sections.

About Google’s AI overviews (AIOs)

AI Overviews are a new type of search result that provides concise summaries of a topic directly on the search results page. Instead of sending users to a website for information, AIOs present key information and links to relevant sources right there.

Where do AI Overviews appear? They appear in Google Search results when the system determines that a generative response can be particularly helpful, such as when users are seeking quick overviews of complex topics.

What factors determine when AI Overviews are shown?

• User Intent: Google’s algorithms analyze the user’s search query to understand their purpose. If the query suggests a need for a quick summary or an overview of a topic, an AIO might be displayed.
• Search query Complexity: AI Overviews can provide a structured and concise overview of complex topics with multiple facets.
• Information Availability: Google’s systems assess the availability of high-quality information from a variety of reliable sources to generate accurate and informative AIOs.
• User Behavior: Google may also consider past user behavior, such as click-through rates on search results, to determine if an AIO would be a valuable addition to the search experience.

Tools included in this study

• This list refers to the AI platforms tracked across 20 SaaS companies we work with to gather the information about organic and AI conversions and sessions presented in this study. chatgpt.com
• Perplexity
• Edgepilot
• Edge services
• copilot.microsoft.com
• openai.com
• gemini.google.com
• nimble.ai
• iask.ai
• claude.ai
• Aitastic.app
• bnngpt.com
• writesonic.com
• Copy.ai