Module 1 Draft: The New Search Landscape

Module Challege

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Explain how generative search differs from traditional search.
2. Identify the difference between a ranking, a brand mention, a citation, and a recommendation.
3. Compare how different AI systems answer the same business-related prompt.
4. Recognize why GEO requires more than simply writing blog posts.
5. Apply the idea of AI visibility to your own business or website idea.

The Big Idea

“How can we rank higher in search results?”

Traditional SEO often asks:

Generative Engine Optimization asks a broader question:

“How can we become a source that AI systems understand, trust, retrieve, cite, and recommend?”

Google’s current guidance says that site owners do not need “special tricks” for AI features such as AI Overviews and AI Mode, and that strong SEO fundamentals, useful content, and accessible websites still matter. Google also warns that many claimed GEO or AEO “hacks” are not supported by how Google Search actually works.

That means this course will not focus on gaming AI systems. It will focus on building useful, credible, well-structured websites that are easier for humans and AI-connected search systems to understand.

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How to Use This Module

This module is divided into two prep labs that match the two class periods for this week.

Complete Prep Lab 1A: How AI Search Changes Discovery before the first class period. This prep lab will help you compare traditional search with AI-generated answers and begin noticing how brands, citations, and recommendations appear in generative search.

Complete Prep Lab 1B: How AI Search Changes Marketing Strategy before the second class period. This prep lab will help you connect AI visibility to your own business or website idea.

As you work through the module, do more than read. You should observe real AI search results, apply the ideas to your own business, save evidence of your work, and come to class prepared to discuss what you found.

Your graded preparation assignments for this module are located in Canvas. Canvas will tell you exactly what to submit, when it is due, and how it will be graded.

By the end of this module, you should have saved the following items for your semester portfolio:

• One screenshot or example from an AI search or traditional search comparison
• Your initial business or website idea
• Three possible AI discovery prompts related to your business
• One early reflection on your biggest GEO challenge

Visual Framework

Use this model throughout the course:

User Question → AI Interpretation → Source Retrieval → Answer Synthesis → Brand Outcome → User Action

1. User Question

The customer asks a question, often in natural language.

Examples:

• “What is the best meal prep service for busy college students?”
• “How do I choose a good piano teacher for a beginner?”
• “What should I know before hiring a local SEO consultant?”
• “Which lawn care company is best for a small yard?”
• “What are the safest supplements for endurance athletes?”

These are not always short keywords. They are often full questions, comparisons, scenarios, or decision-making prompts.

2. AI Interpretation

The AI system interprets what the user really wants.

It may identify:

• The topic
• The user’s intent
• The location
• The type of answer needed
• The likely comparison set
• The level of detail needed
• Related follow-up questions

3. Source Retrieval

The system may retrieve information from websites, search indexes, databases, prior knowledge, business profiles, or other sources.

This is why your website must be:

• Crawlable
• clear
• organized
• trustworthy
• specific
• useful
• connected to other credible sources

4. Answer Synthesis

Instead of giving only a list of links, the AI may summarize, compare, recommend, or explain.

It may say:

• “Here are three options…”
• “The best choice depends on…”
• “This company is known for…”
• “According to the sources…”
• “You should consider…”

5. Brand Outcome

Your business may receive one of several outcomes:

Outcome	Meaning
No appearance	The business is not mentioned or cited.
Brand mention	The business is named, but not linked or cited.
Citation	The business or page is used as a supporting source.
Recommendation	The AI suggests the business as a good option.
Misrepresentation	The AI describes the business inaccurately.
Competitor displacement	Competitors appear while your business does not.

6. User Action

The user may then:

• Visit a website
• search the brand directly
• ask a follow-up question
• compare options
• contact a business
• buy something
• do nothing because the AI answer satisfied the need

The goal of GEO is not merely to appear in AI answers. The goal is to appear accurately, credibly, and usefully in ways that support business outcomes.

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Key Terms

Traditional search

A search experience that primarily returns a ranked list of webpages, ads, maps, videos, images, or other search results.

Generative search

A search or discovery experience where AI generates an answer, summary, explanation, comparison, or recommendation rather than only showing a list of links.

GEO: Generative Engine Optimization

The process of improving an organization’s content, structure, authority, and technical accessibility so AI-powered discovery systems can better understand, retrieve, cite, and recommend it.

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

The process of improving a website so it can be crawled, indexed, understood, ranked, and visited through traditional search engines.

AEO: Answer Engine Optimization

The process of making content more likely to answer specific questions clearly and directly.

AI visibility

Whether and how a brand, website, product, person, or organization appears in AI-generated answers.

Brand mention

A situation where an AI answer names a brand or organization.

Citation

A link or source reference used to support an AI-generated answer.

Recommendation

A situation where an AI system suggests a brand, product, service, or source as a good option.

Source ecosystem

The collection of websites, platforms, profiles, reviews, articles, videos, directories, and other sources that shape how AI systems understand a topic or brand.

Prompt cluster

A group of related AI search prompts that represent a common user need or decision.

Prep Lab 1A: How AI Search Changes Discovery

Complete this section before the first class period of Week 1.

The Shift from Searching to Asking

For many years, search behavior looked like this:

1. User types a keyword.
2. Search engine displays links.
3. User clicks several pages.
4. User compares information.
5. User makes a decision.

That still happens. Traditional search is not disappearing.

But AI search adds a new pattern:

1. User asks a detailed question.
2. AI interprets the situation.
3. AI gathers or retrieves information.
4. AI generates a summarized answer.
5. User asks follow-up questions.
6. User may act without clicking many websites.

Google describes AI Overviews and AI Mode as generative AI experiences that help users explore information and ask more complex questions in Search.

This matters for marketers because the website is no longer always the first place where the customer forms an opinion. The AI answer may shape the customer’s understanding before the customer ever visits your site.

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Traditional Search Versus Generative Search

Question	Traditional search often provides	Generative search often provides
“Best running shoes for flat feet”	Links, ads, product pages, articles	Summary, recommendations, comparisons
“How do I choose a piano teacher?”	Articles and local results	Criteria, steps, warnings, options
“Is this company trustworthy?”	Reviews, articles, website links	Reputation summary and source-based judgment
“Compare Company A and Company B”	Search results about both companies	Direct comparison
“What should I do next?”	Related searches and pages	Advice, sequence, suggested action

Traditional search asks users to assemble the answer.

Generative search often assembles the answer for them.

That creates both opportunity and risk.

Opportunity

If your business is clearly explained, credible, and well-supported, AI systems may surface it in useful moments.

Risk

If your business is vague, invisible, poorly structured, or weakly supported, AI systems may ignore it or rely on competitors and third-party sources instead.

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Activity 1A: See the Difference

Use at least two of the following systems:

• Google Search with AI features, if available
• ChatGPT search, if available
• Gemini
• Microsoft Copilot
• Perplexity, if available
• A traditional Google search result page

Choose one business category that interests you.

Examples:

• piano lessons
• meal prep
• tutoring
• lawn care
• fitness coaching
• photography
• handmade jewelry
• study products
• small-business marketing
• local tourism
• cleaning services
• ecommerce clothing brand

Run the same or very similar question in two different systems.

Use a question such as:

“What should I look for when choosing a ______?”

or

“What are the best options for ______?”

or

“Compare the best ______ for someone who ______.”

Record what you observe.

Observation Table

Question	Platform	Did it give links?	Did it name brands?	Did it cite sources?	What seemed to influence the answer?

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Reflection: What Changed?

After completing Activity 1A, answer these questions:

1. Did the AI system answer differently from a traditional search result?
2. Did it mention specific brands or businesses?
3. Did it cite sources?
4. Did it seem confident?
5. What would a business need to do to be included in that answer?
6. What could go wrong if the AI answer was inaccurate or incomplete?

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Prep Lab 1B: How AI Search Changes Marketing Strategy

omplete this section before the second class period of Week 1.

GEO Is Not Just “SEO for ChatGPT”

It is tempting to think GEO means:

“How do I get ChatGPT to mention my business?”

That is too narrow.

GEO involves several related goals:

1. Help AI systems understand what the business is.
2. Help AI systems understand who the business serves.
3. Help AI systems understand what makes the business credible.
4. Create content that answers real customer questions.
5. Make the site accessible to search and AI-connected crawlers.
6. Build external authority so other sources confirm the business’s claims.
7. Measure whether the business appears accurately and usefully in AI-generated answers.

OpenAI’s publisher guidance states that public site content can be included in ChatGPT summaries and snippets when the site does not block OAI-SearchBot, and that publishers can track referral traffic from ChatGPT in analytics platforms such as Google Analytics.

Bing Webmaster Tools has also introduced AI Performance reporting that shows how publisher content appears as citations across Microsoft Copilot, AI-generated Bing summaries, and selected partner integrations.

These developments suggest that AI visibility is becoming measurable, even though the field is still developing.

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Four Levels of AI Visibility

In this course, we will analyze AI visibility at four levels.

Level 1: Eligibility

Can the website be found, crawled, indexed, and understood?

Questions:

• Is the site public?
• Is it crawlable?
• Does it have basic SEO setup?
• Are important pages indexed?
• Is the content accessible?
• Are pages blocked by robots.txt or noindex tags?

Level 2: Understanding

Can AI systems understand what the business is and why it matters?

Questions:

• Is the business category clear?
• Are products and services explained?
• Is the target audience obvious?
• Is the location clear, if relevant?
• Are authors, owners, or experts identified?
• Are entities connected consistently across the site?

Level 3: Trust

Is the business credible enough to be used in an answer?

Questions:

• Are claims supported?
• Is there evidence?
• Are there reviews, case studies, examples, or data?
• Are sources cited where needed?
• Is the site current?
• Do outside sources confirm the business’s claims?

Level 4: Selection

Does the AI system actually mention, cite, or recommend the business?

Questions:

• Does the brand appear in AI answers?
• Is the site cited?
• Are competitors cited instead?
• Is the description accurate?
• Is the recommendation favorable?
• What kinds of prompts trigger inclusion?

These four levels will guide the entire semester.

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GEO Is a Marketing Strategy, Not a Trick

Some marketers will treat GEO as a shortcut. They will look for ways to manipulate AI systems.

That is not the approach of this course.

This course takes the position that durable GEO comes from becoming:

• Clearer
• more useful
• more credible
• better structured
• easier to crawl
• easier to cite
• better supported by external sources
• more aligned with real customer questions

In other words, the best GEO often looks like better marketing.

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Common Mistakes in Thinking About GEO

Mistake 1: “AI will replace websites.”

AI changes the role of websites, but it does not eliminate them. AI systems often need sources. Customers still need places to evaluate, trust, contact, subscribe, or buy.

Mistake 2: “GEO is just adding FAQs.”

FAQs can help, but GEO is much broader. It includes entities, authority, site structure, evidence, technical access, and off-site source ecosystems.

Mistake 3: “If AI wrote the content, it must be optimized for AI.”

AI-generated content can be vague, unsupported, repetitive, or inaccurate. Content is not strong simply because AI helped produce it.

Mistake 4: “Schema guarantees AI visibility.”

Structured data can help machines understand information, but it does not guarantee ranking, citation, or recommendation.

Mistake 5: “The goal is to appear everywhere.”

The goal is to appear accurately and usefully for the right audiences, prompts, and decisions.

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Activity 1B: Your Business and AI Discovery

If you already have a business idea, use it. If not, choose a serious possible business you could build a website for this semester.

Complete the following profile.

Business Profile

Question	Your answer
What is the business or website idea?
What product, service, or information will it offer?
Who is the primary audience?
What problem does this audience have?
What decision might this audience ask AI to help with?
What action do you eventually want users to take?
What would make this business credible?
Who are 2–3 likely competitors or alternatives?

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Activity 1B Continued: AI Discovery Scenario

Write three prompts a potential customer might ask an AI system before discovering your business.

Use this pattern:

Prompt 1: Problem prompt

Example:

“How can I eat healthy meals as a busy college student without spending hours cooking?”

Your prompt:

Prompt 2: Comparison prompt

Example:

“Meal prep service vs grocery delivery for students—what is better?”

Your prompt:

Prompt 3: Recommendation prompt

Example:

“What are the best affordable meal prep options near Rexburg?”

Your prompt:

Now answer:

1. If an AI system answered these prompts, what businesses or sources would probably appear?
2. Would your business appear today? Why or why not?
3. What would your website need to include to deserve appearing in the answer?

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Use AI, Then Verify

Use an AI tool to help you improve your three prompts.

Copy and paste this prompt:

I am a marketing student creating a website for a business idea. My business is: [describe business]. My target audience is: [describe audience]. Help me create five realistic AI search prompts that a potential customer might ask before finding my business. Use a mix of problem, comparison, recommendation, risk, and cost prompts. Do not make the prompts sound like keywords. Make them sound like real customer questions.

After AI gives you suggestions, choose your best three.

Then verify them by asking:

• Would a real customer actually ask this?
• Is this connected to a real decision?
• Would the answer potentially influence whether someone chooses my business?
• Is it specific enough to reveal useful competitors or sources?

Save to Portfolio

Save the following items. You will use them later in your final GEO strategy portfolio.

• Your business profile
• Your three initial AI discovery prompts
• Your screenshot from Activity 1A
• Your reflection on the biggest GEO challenge for your business

At the end of the semester, you will look back at these early assumptions and compare them with what you learned from actual GEO testing.

Module Summary

Generative search changes how people discover, evaluate, and choose businesses. Instead of only scanning links, users can ask AI systems to summarize, compare, recommend, and explain.

For marketers, this means visibility is no longer only about ranking. It is also about whether AI systems understand, trust, cite, and recommend the business.

In this course, you will build a website and improve it through a GEO process. You will not simply try to manipulate AI systems. You will learn to make your website clearer, more useful, more credible, better structured, and more connected to the source ecosystem that shapes AI-generated answers.

The work begins with one question:

When your future customer asks AI for help, does your business deserve to be part of the answer?