AI search is changing how buyers discover and evaluate vendors, yet many industrial companies have no idea whether they're being cited in tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity. Over the past few months, we've conducted AI visibility audits for several clients to uncover exactly how often their brands appear in AI-generated responses, and why. The findings revealed clear patterns separating brands that are consistently recommended from those that are virtually invisible. In this week's episode, we share what we've learned and outline four practical strategies that can help increase your visibility, authority, and chances of being cited by top AI platforms.
In this episode, TREW Marketing's Kara Koch joined Wendy Covey to discuss the growing importance of AI visibility and the strategies industrial marketers can use to improve it. The conversation also explored the differences between SEO (Search Engine Optimization), AEO (Answer Engine Optimization), and GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). While traditional SEO remains foundational, marketers must now optimize content to become trusted sources for AI-generated answers.
To assess visibility, Kara recommends conducting AI visibility audits that evaluate brand mentions, citations, content structure, and competitor performance across AI platforms. She emphasized that many industrial companies possess deep expertise but fail to package that knowledge in ways AI systems can easily understand and cite.
When it comes to improving visibility, the most effective strategies include strengthening technical SEO fundamentals, creating problem-focused content, organizing content into topic clusters, earning third-party validation through PR and industry publications, and showcasing authentic thought leadership.
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