Generative engine optimization​: Insights and best practices

  2025 summary: AI adoption continued, but organic remained dominant!

• AI traffic growth: Decreased to an average MoM growth of 30.19%, continuing the slowdown from 35.05% in Q3.
• Organic traffic share: Declined slightly to 29.82% of total traffic, down from 30.17% in Q3.
• AI traffic share: Dropped to 0.94% of total traffic, down from 1.56% in Q3.
• AI vs. Organic conversion rate: Organic remained slightly higher at 4.34%, compared with 4.14% for AI, leaving a narrow 0.20% gap.
• Average session duration: AI sessions reversed course in Q4 and became 54 seconds shorter than organic sessions, making them 13.11% shorter overall.
• AI bounce rate: Remained higher than organic at 42.90%, while organic bounce rate was 37.96%, a 4.94% gap.
• AI referral sources: ChatGPT remained the dominant referral source with 7,388 sessions and the highest conversion rate at 6.11%. Perplexity stayed in second for sessions, while Claude moved into second place by conversion rate.

📢 Q3 2025: Critical Shift in AI Behavior!

• AI traffic growth: Decreased to an average MoM growth of 35.05% (Q3), indicating a continued moderation from Q2.
• Organic traffic share: Declined to 30.17% of total traffic, continuing the downward trend from 34.55% in Q2.
• AI traffic share: Surged significantly, more than doubling from 0.7% of total traffic in Q2 to 1.56% in Q3.
• AI vs. Organic conversion rate: The organic conversion rate of 4.60% remained slightly higher than the AI conversion rate of 4.33%, though the gap has narrowed to just 0.27%.
• Average session duration: A key rebound occurred as AI sessions were 29 seconds (9.09%) longer than organic sessions, reversing the dip observed in Q2.
• AI bounce rate: Remains higher than organic, though the gap narrowed; Organic bounce rate is 3.68% lower than AI (42.49%).
• AI referral sources: ChatGPT maintains dominance with a massive 11.42% conversion rate, while Claude emerged as the only platform showing session growth this quarter.

🚨Q2 2025: Update you need to see!

• AI traffic growth: Decreased to an average MoM growth of 41.62% (Q1) to 38.36% (Q2).
• Organic traffic growth: Slightly decreased from an average MOM growth of 1.88%.
• AI traffic: Increased significantly from 0.4% of total traffic in Q1 to 0.7% in Q2.
• Organic traffic: Dipped slightly from 35.40% (Q1) of total traffic in Q1 to 34.55% in Q2.
• (AI vs. Organic conversion rate)The organic conversion rate of 4.02% was 0.68% higher than the AI conversion rate of 3.34% in Q2.
• Average session duration: A key shift occurred as AI sessions were 32 seconds (11.5%) shorter than organic sessions, reversing the trend from previous quarters.
• AI bounce rate: Decreased slightly from 43.31% in Q1 to 42.89% in Q2.
• AI referral sources: ChatGPT and Perplexity maintained their top two positions, with ChatGPT seeing an 81% increase in conversions. Other tools like Perplexity and Claude also showed strong growth.

🚀Q1 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 is still firm.
• Organic traffic growth: Increased slightly from an average MoM growth of 1.03%
• AI traffic: Increased slightly from 0.3% of total traffic (Q4) to 0.4% (Q1).
• Organic sessions: Decreased from 38.11% (Q4) to 35.40% (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 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 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

[table id=102 /]

SEO vs GEO Trends (with examples)

Below are some Q4-2024 and Q3-2025 traffic and conversion trends for a few B2B websites. Although we are seeing considerable growth in AI traffic, it is clear that organic still outclasses AI in terms of sheer volume.

A whiteboard conspiracy 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

For Q2- 2025

Chart of AI vs Organic traffic trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

For Q3- 2025

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

Chart of AI vs Organic traffic trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

For Q2 – 2025

Chart of AI vs Organic traffic trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

For Q3 – 2025

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

For Q2 – 2025

Chart of AI vs Organic session trend

Chart of AI vs Organic conversion trend

For Q3 – 2025

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

For Q2 – 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.

Q2 – 2025

The data from Q2 2025 reinforces our initial hypothesis. Organic search remains the strongest in both traffic and conversions for SaaS. However, AI’s rapid growth and its growing role as a referral source cannot be ignored.

The data:

• Although the AI conversion rate was 3.34% in Q2, the absolute number of conversions is significantly lower than organic.
• Although AI traffic is growing MoM at an average of 38.36% (slower than last quarter), the absolute number of sessions is significantly lower than organic.
• Although organic traffic is growing MoM at an average of 1.88%, the absolute number of sessions is significantly higher than AI traffic.
• Although the organic conversion rate was 4.02% in Q2, the absolute number of conversions is significantly higher than that of AI.

Q3 – 2025

The data from Q3 2025 solidifies our initial hypothesis. Organic search remains the strongest in both traffic and conversions for SaaS. However, AI’s rapid growth continues, with conversion rates narrowing the gap with organic.

The data:

• Although the AI conversion rate was 4.33% in Q3, the absolute number of conversions is significantly lower than organic.
• Although AI traffic is growing MoM at an average of 35.05%, the absolute number of sessions is significantly lower than organic.
• Although organic traffic is growing MoM at an average of 1.62%, the absolute number of sessions is significantly higher than AI traffic.
• Although the organic conversion rate was 4.60% in Q3, the absolute number of conversions is significantly higher than that of AI.

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 in 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 remaining 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 the 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 popular listicles 

• • 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 clear(since we will have a more solid baseline) how much search traffic will be augmented by AI traffic.

What is the source medium if a URL is clicked on through a result that ranks in an 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 and will purely be driven by the relevancy of search intent vs the content served. But we theorize that just like people have learned to ignore featured snippets and paid ads to seek relevant content, the aforementioned CTR rate, which is 7% to 9% may 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 approved keyword base will show you which keywords are eligible for AIOs.

Keep learning: How to track AI traffic in GA4

How to Optimize Your Brand’s Presence in Large Language Model (LLM) Responses

1. Deep Citation Analysis:
   • Position: Track where your brand appears in an LLM’s response (e.g., first mention, top 3, buried). Aim for higher visibility, as this signifies greater authority.
   • Sentiment: Understand the emotional tone (positive, neutral, negative) surrounding your brand’s mentions. Use sentiment analysis tools and human review to identify and address negative perceptions while amplifying positive ones.
   • Competitors: Analyze which other brands are mentioned alongside yours or for similar queries. This provides competitive intelligence, reveals who LLMs see as your peers, and highlights opportunities to differentiate.
2. Brand Concept Association (and Gaps):
   • Associated Concepts: Identify the core ideas, themes, and values LLMs link to your brand (e.g., a “sustainable” brand linked to “eco-friendly” practices). Ensure your online content reinforces these desired associations.
   • Missing Concepts: Discover important features, benefits, or solutions your brand offers that LLMs aren’t connecting with you. This indicates content gaps. Create targeted content that explicitly links your brand to these missing concepts using clear, structured language to improve discoverability.
3. Strategic Querying:
   • Query Clustering: Group similar LLM queries by topic or user intent (e.g., “pricing,” “customer support,” “product comparisons”). This allows for systematic analysis and reveals broader patterns in how LLMs perceive your brand and industry.
   • Keyword-Informed Queries: Leverage traditional keyword research (including long-tail and question-based keywords) to craft more effective LLM prompts. This bridges the gap between how people search and how LLMs respond, ensuring your queries reflect actual user needs and increasing the likelihood of relevant brand mentions.

By implementing these practices, you’ll proactively shape your brand’s narrative within LLM responses, boosting visibility and strengthening your reputation in the AI-driven landscape.

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