Leah Nurik, Co-Founder & CEO of Brandi AI, shares insights on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and how AI is reshaping brand discovery and digital visibility.
Welcome to Business Insight Journal, Leah. We’re delighted to have you. To start, could you share your professional journey and what led you to co-founding Brandi AI?
My entire career has been at the intersection of emerging technology, communications, and the very human challenge of helping organizations stay visible during moments of disruption. Over the years, I’ve led teams through multiple waves of digital change, from the rise of cloud computing to the shift toward data-driven PR. I began to see early signals that another inflection point was coming. People weren’t just searching anymore; they were asking AI systems for recommendations, guidance, and explanations. It became clear that generative engines were quietly becoming the new front door to discovery. But no one was measuring it, and brands had no visibility into why they appeared—or didn’t appear—inside AI-generated answers. That gap is what inspired Brandi AI. We wanted to build a platform that helps organizations understand how AI sees them, how they perform against competitors, and how they can shape that visibility with intention.
You’ve said we’re moving “from SEO to GEO.” How is generative engine optimization fundamentally rewriting how discovery works for brands today?
We’ve reached a point where generative engines aren’t just an alternative to search. They’re becoming the primary way people seek answers. And answers behave very differently from Google rankings. SEO was built on the idea of earning a place on search engine results pages. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is about earning a place in a synthesized, authoritative response. AI doesn’t simply retrieve links. It interprets intent, evaluates authority, and chooses which brands are credible enough to include. That shift completely rewrites the discovery experience. You’re no longer competing for positions on a page. You’re competing for inclusion in the narrative the model creates. Understanding these new dynamics is essential, as generative engines are changing how buyers learn, compare, and ultimately decide.
With ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and others now becoming the front door to brand discovery, what does this shift mean for CMOs who have historically invested heavily in traditional SEO?
For CMOs, this shift expands, not replaces, the world they’ve been operating in. Technical SEO remains essential, but it now sits alongside a much broader visibility ecosystem. AI models draw from different signals, prioritize different types of authority, and respond to intent rather than keywords. That means a CMO could have led an excellent SEO program and still lose on AI Visibility metrics to competitors in generative answers. This requires a new level of insight into how frequently your brand appears in AI-generated content, in what contexts, and how that performance compares to your competitors. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the bridge between traditional SEO and the new AI-driven landscape, and CMOs who adopt a GEO-first approach with a technical SEO underpinning will be the ones defining their categories, not reacting to them.
One of your key focus areas is Measuring AI Visibility. How should brands think about tracking how often they appear in AI answers—and what buyer questions are driving that visibility?
The first thing I tell brands is that you can’t improve what you can’t see. Measuring AI visibility means understanding not just whether you appear in AI answers, but how often, in response to what kinds of questions, why, and in comparison to whom. It’s one thing to know you’re mentioned; it’s another to understand that buyers consistently see you when they ask “Who are the leading providers?” or “Which solution fits my use case?” That’s where the real insight lives. When you can see which buyer intents surface your brand and which surface your competitors, you suddenly have a roadmap for strengthening your authority, defining your market, and closing visibility gaps.
Beyond just appearing in AI responses, you’ve emphasized the importance of how brands are described. What are the critical elements that determine whether AI portrays a brand accurately and favorably?
Visibility is only the first hurdle. The real question is, when AI talks about you, does it get the story right? Generative engines rely on consistency, clarity, and authority. If your messaging is scattered across different properties, if your product descriptions are vague, or if trusted third-party sources like media coverage, contributed articles, and analyst reports don’t validate your claims, the model will struggle to form an accurate understanding of who you are. When the model encounters gaps, it fills them with generic language or ideas it has learned from your competitors. Brands that show up consistently, with GEO-structured domains, clear differentiators, and credible sources reinforcing their positioning, give AI the raw material it needs to represent them fairly and confidently.
If you’re early in GEO, start simple. Understand how often AI surfaces your brand, how it describes you, and where competitors are showing up instead. You don’t need a new strategy overnight—just clarity. GEO works best when it’s embedded into existing content, PR, and product marketing. As AI-driven discovery accelerates, visibility becomes credibility, and the brands that act now will be the ones AI consistently recommends.
You’ve also talked about designing “AI-citable” content. What specific content formats, entity structures, and source signals make AI systems more likely to surface and cite a brand?
AI citation is about clarity. Generative engines are drawn to authentic, credible content they can reliably interpret and summarize. That means content that directly answers buyer questions, uses specific technical structure and formatting, reinforces expertise through credible sources, and maintains message consistency across channels. When your brand’s digital footprint is coherent, you make it easier for AI to recognize your authority and incorporate your perspective into its responses. The best part is that you don’t need to overhaul everything you’ve ever written. Minor refinements include aligning content to intent, tightening your differentiators, and strengthening supporting signals such as media coverage and customer reviews; consistent descriptions across your website; strong references from reputable publications, analyst reports, product documentation, and customer case studies. They all can have a meaningful impact on whether AI perceives you as worth citing.
Many business leaders still ask how GEO visibility connects to actual revenue. How can companies translate improved presence across generative engines into real gains in share of voice, qualified demand, and pipeline progress?
Business impact is the goal of AI visibility. What generative engines influence today is the earliest, most critical part of the buyer journey: the moment someone says, “Who should I consider?” If your brand consistently appears in those conversations, you get included on more shortlists, shape perceptions earlier, and build authority before a prospect ever reaches your website. That naturally increases your share of voice, boosts demand quality, and accelerates pipeline progression. We’re seeing companies use AI visibility data to refine their messaging, improve product positioning, and reclaim competitive ground they didn’t even realize they were losing. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) isn’t theoretical. It’s already influencing revenue outcomes in very real ways.
As a CEO navigating a rapidly evolving digital landscape, what personal strategy or leadership approach has helped you stay ahead of these shifts?
It’s all about the team and close, authentic and honest relationships with customers and partners. The world is changing fast, and being able to test, refine, and gather feedback from passionate, talented people in your network helps you build great products that drive change.
What advice would you give to CMOs and marketing teams who are still early in adapting to GEO and want to remain competitive as generative engines dominate the discovery funnel?
Start simple. Find out where you stand. You don’t need a brand-new content strategy or a massive investment right away. You just need clarity on how often you appear in AI answers, how AI is describing you, and where your competitors are outperforming you. Once you have that visibility, the path forward becomes much clearer. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is most powerful when it’s woven into what you’re already doing with your content, prospect conversion, product marketing, PR, and customer and paid marketing programs. The brands succeeding aren’t the ones doing the most; they’re the ones making smarter, more informed decisions based on what generative engines are actually surfacing.
Before we wrap up, do you have any final thoughts on the future of brand discovery, the role of AI-powered visibility, or how organizations should prepare for the next wave of GEO innovation?
AI visibility is the new credibility. The companies that operationalize GEO now, by embedding it into content, PR, and product marketing, will be the ones consistently recommended by AI, shortlisted by buyers, and leading their markets as discovery becomes fully AI-driven.
Leah Nurik
Co-Founder and CEO of Brandi AI
Leah Nurik is the co-founder and CEO of Brandi AI, the leading AI visibility and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) platform. Nurik launched Brandi in 2025 after recognizing that generative AI was transforming discovery and creating a critical visibility gap for brands. Today, she leads the company in empowering CMOs, product marketers, digital strategists, content creators and PR leaders with data-driven insights and benchmarks that fuel demand creation, sharpen category positioning and build brand authority in AI-first channels.
